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5 years of 日本語 TAC 13 桜/Schnitzel | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| cathrynm Senior Member United States junglevision.co Joined 6126 days ago 910 posts - 1232 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Finnish | Message 377 of 436 05 October 2013 at 5:52am | IP Logged | ||
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One thing, at least I'm totally calm now about taking and failing these tests. I can go in, fail, and not break a sweat. I do have a practice test book and I'm about half-way through that, and I'm also taking a class for N2 where we go over grammar. We'll see. Edited by cathrynm on 05 October 2013 at 5:53am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| g-bod Diglot Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5983 days ago 1485 posts - 2002 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: French, German | Message 378 of 436 05 October 2013 at 9:31am | IP Logged | ||
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Before the test started last year the invigilator asked the group how many people were taking
the test for the first time. It was less than half. I totally didn't expect to pass first time. I generally avoided drill books and practice tests in the run up to the test. I did take N2 level grammar classes at Japonin, which were invaluable. I also found the Kanzen Master reading book to be very useful, despite only studying the first few pages. I watched a lot of TV which really helped for the listening section (where I got my best score), particularly shows set in office or other professional settings. I also worked through a few chapters (not many) in the Kanji in Context workbook, analysing the sentences and using Anki to review. Basically I spent a lot more time on comprehension than exam practice, and for me it paid off. I did do the official practice test under timed conditions so there would be no surprises in the format though. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| cathrynm Senior Member United States junglevision.co Joined 6126 days ago 910 posts - 1232 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Finnish | Message 379 of 436 05 October 2013 at 10:07am | IP Logged | ||
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Small world, really. Actually my class uses the Kanji in Context workbook, and I've been doing 1 chapter a week for almost 3 years now (which seems incredible to me having written that, but the years do fly by). We use the Kanzen Master grammar book, but not the reading book. I think the instructor pulls reading questions from other sources, not sure what exactly.
I did subscribe to Crunchy Roll this year, and I've been trying to watch as much as I can -- though my listening comprehension is still pretty spotty. Listening is by far my weakest score. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| g-bod Diglot Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5983 days ago 1485 posts - 2002 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: French, German | Message 380 of 436 05 October 2013 at 10:26am | IP Logged | ||
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Yeah I keep doing a few chapters on Kanji in Context and then giving up. The thin workbooks
are misleading - it's a massive resource! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| g-bod Diglot Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5983 days ago 1485 posts - 2002 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: French, German | Message 381 of 436 05 October 2013 at 5:49pm | IP Logged | ||
Sometimes inspiration comes in unexpected ways. I spotted the following line in this thread:
Without a doubt I am fed up of being half literate in Japanese. I've dealt with my frustrations this year mostly by avoiding Japanese and putting time into "easy" languages - which made a lot of sense given my travel plans this year and has given me a lot of pleasure in unexpected ways. However, my Japanese literacy problem is not going to go away. I can either continue putting it off, give it up as a lost cause or actually deal with it. It's definitely autumn here in the UK. The weather is getting wetter and the nights are getting darker, which as depressing as it is does create perfect conditions for curling up with a book. I don't have any real conflicting commitments in terms of languages - no courses, exams or immediate travel plans to worry about. My tutor has also suggested we work through some short stories in my lessons, which has so far worked really well. So why not spend this winter finally becoming literate in Japanese? As a starting point I've signed up for October Tadoku. I've also started back on my kanji book, which is just an unavoidable thing when it comes to getting literate in Japanese. I also think I should work on closing some of those gaps in my N2 grammar knowledge, although I think just going through these short stories with my tutor should be a huge help in that respect. The first priority is to start reading. The next priority is to keep reading... 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| g-bod Diglot Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5983 days ago 1485 posts - 2002 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: French, German | Message 382 of 436 06 October 2013 at 12:36pm | IP Logged | ||
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I've finally graduated to third grade!
Sounds a bit strange for someone who does read some adult level stuff too. But I finally finished reading the last of my second grade graded readers. I'd avoided them for a while (kids stories might be kind on kanji but the downside is they are often kind of boring too) but after a long break it didn't take too long to finish off the final volume. Now I'm reading a science book for third graders. It's great! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| kraemder Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5185 days ago 1497 posts - 1648 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish, Japanese | Message 383 of 436 06 October 2013 at 12:58pm | IP Logged | ||
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Where did you get the science fiction book for third graders? That sounds good.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| g-bod Diglot Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5983 days ago 1485 posts - 2002 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: French, German | Message 384 of 436 06 October 2013 at 5:59pm | IP Logged | ||
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Sorry to disappoint but it's not science fiction. It's a collection of explanations of various natural phenomena aimed at elementary school kids. This one.
I did read a collection of short stories for elementary school kids by 筒井康隆 (who also wrote 時をかける少女 which I still haven't got round to reading) with a science fiction/fantasy theme called 三丁目が戦争です三丁目が戦争です. Some of it is pretty dark for a kids book (although maybe if you compare it to Hans Christian Andersen and the like, it's not so surprising) but the language is still very readable for adult learners like us. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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