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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| berabero89 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 4643 days ago 101 posts - 137 votes  Speaks: English, Amharic* Studies: Spanish, Japanese, French | Message 1 of 11 18 May 2013 at 12:06am | IP Logged | |||||
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I am a sophomore right now and I have decided to take advantage of the summer months to
begin studying Chinese and Japanese. I know that juggling 4 foreign languages will be difficult once school starts, but if it really comes down to it I can drop one of these two and continue studying it in the future. My school offers AP exams for both Chinese and Japanese (most likely due to large minorities of native speakers of these languages as there are no classes offered for these languages). I would like to be able to take the AP exams for Japanese and Chinese (I would have 2 years of study) and receive a 4 or a 5. Does this seem like a reasonable goal? How hard are the tests and what level on the CEFR do they correspond to? 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Paco Senior Member Hong Kong Joined 4278 days ago 145 posts - 251 votes Speaks: Cantonese* | Message 2 of 11 18 May 2013 at 4:35pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Members here and data from FSI suggest that Chinese and Japanese are among the most
difficult languages to an English speaker. (I do not think your Amharic is of much help.) You should think twice before starting both at the expense of dropping your European languages. I suggest you keep developing your Spanish and French. I guess you have achieved something, and you do not seem to have lost interest, so why drop them? And you have the advantage of the English language plus you are living in the US, thus making Spanish and French relatively easy to acquire. And these 3 languages are a self- reinforcing set of languages. It is for similar reason that I personally focus on European languages (since I speak English) while also studying 1 exotica (Sanskrit) right now, rather than starting Sanskrit, Arabic and Russian at the same time. While you keep the two European tongues, you may add 1 of the two Asian languages, which will be a valuable asset when you start the other one, or you will find your interest will have changed. I believe you will have a better use of time in this way, rather than stretching yourself for two exotica from the same exotic cultural circle. Or do you have any good reasons to start both now (even at the expense of dropping Sapnish)? I would love to know. It is encourging to know someone having an interest in exotica, especially when the exotica of interest are languages of the cultural circle I belong to. Unfortunately, I cannot offer the specific advice you are asking for about exams and learning materials. Edited by Paco on 18 May 2013 at 4:45pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| berabero89 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 4643 days ago 101 posts - 137 votes Speaks: English, Amharic* Studies: Spanish, Japanese, French | Message 3 of 11 18 May 2013 at 8:22pm | IP Logged | |||||
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No, I said I would drop one of the two languages I mentioned (Chinese and Japanese),
although maybe I wasn't too clear on that. Don't get me wrong, there is absolutely no way I would drop Spanish or French. And yes, I do realize that FSI rankings put both Japanese and Chinese in their highest level, but I tend to ignore these and try to focus more on people's experiences. Of course, I do not expect to have mastered these languages in two year's time, but I am interested in the level that the tests require and if it would be possible for me to reach that specific level. And to answer your second question: my wanting to learn Japanese grew out of an obsession with anime (which I no longer watch on a regular basis) but the will to learn has stuck with me even now. As for Chinese, my main reasons to learn it are its possible usefulness and studying historical texts and literature written in Chinese. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Paco Senior Member Hong Kong Joined 4278 days ago 145 posts - 251 votes Speaks: Cantonese* | Message 4 of 11 18 May 2013 at 11:57pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I am sorry that I got you wrong. I must be drunk when I first read it...
By the way, I hope I am not hijacking this thread, but anime was really addictive when I was younger. Though now I seldom watch them and have a better taste (somehow; was at one time following over 20... both nice stuff and junk), I am glad that I have been introduced to the world of anime - even in anime we can see how good Japanese are at depicting sentiments and lives, let alone in their literary tradition. Best of luck to you in your East Asian adventure! 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| dampingwire Bilingual Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4666 days ago 1185 posts - 1513 votes Speaks: English*, Italian*, French Studies: Japanese | Message 5 of 11 19 May 2013 at 11:33am | IP Logged | |||||
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For Japanese it looks like the exams are here:
http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/members/exam/exam_info rmation/157014.html Looking very briefly at the samples, I think this is pitched somewhere between JLPT N5 and JLPT N4. One big difference seems to be that there is a speaking element. Anyway, I'm planning to sit JLPT N4 this summer, at which point I'll have been studying Japanese for 18 months. There seem to be plenty of people who manage to reach that level in the same sort of time frame (or more quickly), so that should give you a very rough idea of what it'll take. Of course, you're planning to tackle Japanese and Chinese (Mandarin?) simultaneously, so that will make it harder for you. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| theb0mbers4ever Diglot Newbie United States Joined 4365 days ago 4 posts - 6 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin Studies: Japanese | Message 6 of 11 30 May 2013 at 4:27am | IP Logged | |||||
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I've taken both exams a few years ago (Japanese in my junior year of high school, Chinese
senior year) and I would say its very hard...but doable. Of course, my opinion's biased since Mandarin's almost my second native language and I speak it at a constant basis, but there is enough overlap between the two (kanji, pronunciation, etc.) that if you learn wisely and put in the effort its possible. If it matters, I got a 5 in Chinese and 3 in Japanese (Even though I've been learning Japanese for 5 years before that, it was not on a very intensive level.) Beware, that since many native speakers take the AP exams for an easy '5', Collegeboard makes the exam pretty hard. Best of luck! 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| leosmith Senior Member United States Joined 6551 days ago 2365 posts - 3804 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Tagalog | Message 7 of 11 30 May 2013 at 7:03pm | IP Logged | |||||
Starting any 2 languages at the same time is a bad idea. Throw in the facts that they are very difficult, and that you are maintaining other languages at the same time, and the bad idea becomes idiotic. 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| berabero89 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 4643 days ago 101 posts - 137 votes Speaks: English, Amharic* Studies: Spanish, Japanese, French | Message 8 of 11 31 May 2013 at 12:24am | IP Logged | |||||
While I do appreciate constructive criticism, I do not appreciate being called idiotic, whether that be directly or indirectly. Thank you. 8 persons have voted this message useful |
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