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TAC 2013, Sakura 桜 - dampingwire

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g-bod
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 Message 89 of 137
20 July 2013 at 10:16pm | IP Logged 
Learning expressions in the format noun particle verb can definitely be helpful. But at a
slightly more abstract level it's probably a good idea to get as familiar as you can with
fundamental grammar features which shape particle use, in particular transitive/intransitive
verbs, and also giving/receiving and the passive.
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kraemder
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 Message 90 of 137
21 July 2013 at 12:01am | IP Logged 
I just read your post on the test. It sounds like you did very well and finishing the reading section on time is a
lot better than most other people. I'm betting you passes based on that but obviously we'll have to wait for
the results. Regarding particles. Are you sure it's all about the verbs? I know there are certain verbs that
require certain particles like お風呂に入る but I don't remember there being so many on the test and it was
more about understanding which particles were used for specific grammar. Maybe I'm wrong it's been a while
for me since I took it. But for stuff like giving and receiving just read up on the grammar there. The passive
uses に etc.

When do you plan to do the test again? I'm thinking about December for an attempt at N3. I remember
talking to one of the other test participants and be wasn't going to try N3 until he passed N4 even if the test is
only once a year. Personally I'd like to try N3 even though I missed on N4. And it sounds like you may be
lucky in that the test is offered twice a year in London?
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dampingwire
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 Message 91 of 137
21 July 2013 at 8:48pm | IP Logged 
g-bod wrote:
Learning expressions in the format noun particle verb can definitely be
helpful. But at a
slightly more abstract level it's probably a good idea to get as familiar as you can
with
fundamental grammar features which shape particle use, in particular
transitive/intransitive
verbs, and also giving/receiving and the passive.


Those cases are probably the easy sorts of usages. I'm fine with those (when I remember
the specific usage or when I recognise the grammar :-)). I'm also OK with the simple
ones (が for potential, を for transitive, に for destination with a verb of motion).

As a random example, why is this に:

これは とい ところを みるの に 使い ます。

I don't seem to be able to find any general rules that allow me to work this out from
first principles.







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dampingwire
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 Message 92 of 137
21 July 2013 at 8:58pm | IP Logged 
kraemder wrote:
I just read your post on the test. It sounds like you did very well
and finishing the reading section on time is a lot better than most other people.


I managed to colour in circles quite quickly - but did I colour in the right ones :-)
Actually during the test, I though that I raced through the first page of the first
test and yet I could hear several pages turn before mine. Next time I may turn my page
after the first 10 seconds, just so I can win at something ...

kraemder wrote:
When do you plan to do the test again? I'm thinking about December for
an attempt at N3. I remember
talking to one of the other test participants and be wasn't going to try N3 until he
passed N4 even if the test is
only once a year. Personally I'd like to try N3 even though I missed on N4.


Well I want to have a good grounding in N3 vocab before I try for N3. Since that means
pronunciation and kanji I think that the 5 months (oops, no 4 months now!)
before the next sitting at the beginning of December is too short a time. So I
certainly won't be trying again before the summer. I'm not sure whether I'll sit N3 or
just head on to N2. If I'm going to use JLPT as a benchmark for progress, then I think
I want to sit one every year or so, so I don't want to leave (say) a 2-3 year gap until
N2. The nice thing about aiming for N3 in July 2014 is that it should spur me on to
keep working through the vocab, grammar and listening.

kraemder wrote:
Personally I'd like to try N3 even though I missed on N4. And it sounds
like you may be
lucky in that the test is offered twice a year in London?


If I fail N4 then I don't think I'd re-sit it. N4 isn't worth anything in the job
market and, for me, it's just a measure of where I'm at. It's served it's purpose and
highlighted my weakest areas. So the next exam I sit will be N3 (or N2). I can't think
of any reason why you shouldn't try for N3. Certainly the Japan Foundation doesn't
require you to sit the exams in order ... you can go straight for N1 if you want.

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g-bod
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 Message 93 of 137
21 July 2013 at 9:42pm | IP Logged 
dampingwire wrote:

As a random example, why is this に:

これは とい ところを みるの に 使い ます。

I don't seem to be able to find any general rules that allow me to work this out from
first principles.


I'm guessing you meant とおい rather than とい?

In this case the particle expresses a use or purpose. It's actually listed in my grammar dictionary as のに (although the の is dropped if placed after a noun or if you follow the に with a は so maybe technically it is just a に).

I think usages like this just need to be learned as specific sentence patterns. And now you've started scratching at the intermediate phase of Japanese grammar, you'll find most stuff that appears as "grammar" in your textbook is basically another sentence pattern. Fun.
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dampingwire
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 Message 94 of 137
24 July 2013 at 2:53pm | IP Logged 
g-bod wrote:
I'm guessing you meant とおい rather than とい?


Yes. Sorry, it wasn't meant to be a sneaky test :-)

g-bod wrote:
[QUOTE=dampingwire]
In this case the particle expresses a use or purpose. It's actually listed in my
grammar dictionary as のに (although the の is dropped if placed after a noun or if you
follow the に with a は so maybe technically it is just a に).


That makes much more sense. I suspect that it is a に, as then I could parse the の as a
nominaliser and I don't need to worry about the exceptions for nouns etc. But maybe
that's not how Japanese grammar works.

I think that, given a question with a missing particle and 4 possible answers, I just
don't know enough grammar to see which fit and which don't. At least I don't see it
quickly enough. So much more practice will be necessary.

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g-bod
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 Message 95 of 137
24 July 2013 at 7:39pm | IP Logged 
To put a more positive spin on things, if you could always pick the right particle, you'd probably be speaking at advanced fluency already!

The good news is that I think the "pick the missing particle" type questions are less frequent the further you get up the JLPT ladder - presumably because there are a lot more different types of expressions it is possible to test you on.

Whether you want to pass a test or simply speak good Japanese, particle knowledge is important. But at least it's not the only thing you need to worry about!

Naoko Chino's book All About Particles is not a bad reference guide to particle usage. Interestingly, this usage of に is also filed under のに in this book too, even though I would agree with you that the の looks more like a nominaliser.
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dampingwire
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 Message 96 of 137
24 July 2013 at 11:41pm | IP Logged 
g-bod wrote:
The good news is that I think the "pick the missing particle" type
questions are less frequent the further you get up the JLPT ladder - presumably because
there are a lot more different types of expressions it is possible to test you on.


I'm pretty poor with the "we've cut this sentence up, please put it back together
properly" type questions too. Maybe they could combine the two techniques and blank out
a particle too just to make it more challenging :-)

g-bod wrote:
Naoko Chino's book All About Particles is not a bad reference guide to
particle usage. Interestingly, this usage of に is also filed under のに in this book
too, even though I would agree with you that the の looks more like a nominaliser.


I do like that book. Definitely one of my better purchases. Eventually I'll internalise
it ...




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