Register  Login  Active Topics  Maps  

日本語+Suomi

 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log Post Reply
420 messages over 53 pages: << Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ... 39 ... 52 53 Next >>
kraemder
Senior Member
United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 4943 days ago

1497 posts - 1648 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: German, Spanish, Japanese

 
 Message 305 of 420
02 December 2013 at 4:33am | IP Logged 
Hope you guessed well on your test. I hope I did too lol. I'm curious how I did and unfortunately not at all
confident in the outcome. I was a lot like you though.. I was totally calm and collected throughout and that
surprised me since it's not like I was acing it.
1 person has voted this message useful



cathrynm
Senior Member
United States
junglevision.co
Joined 5884 days ago

910 posts - 1232 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Japanese, Finnish

 
 Message 306 of 420
02 December 2013 at 5:13am | IP Logged 
It could be after 6 JLPT's, I'm like the Buddha.   I can just float through without emotional attachment.

And, yeah, it's an odd fish this JLPT.   I just know from my sample test that I've been doing about 50% on the written which, last year at least, was borderline pass.   I'm guessing the real test is going to be in that ballpark. I do know that there are answers of things that I specifically remember learning in my class, so I think I'm cautiously hopeful I'll be better than last year. But for me the listening is always very iffy, and on the sample tests, sometimes the answers I'm sure are right end up being wrong. And I did zone out a few times during the listening and had to guess completely. So to achieve an actual pass will take a few lucky breaks here and there.   
1 person has voted this message useful



kraemder
Senior Member
United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 4943 days ago

1497 posts - 1648 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: German, Spanish, Japanese

 
 Message 307 of 420
02 December 2013 at 10:20am | IP Logged 
Heh I zoned out badly on one question. It was a couple questions into the 2nd to last section or so and I
realized that the pictures I was staring intensely at had nothing to do with the questions.. they were for the
next section and the current questions had no visual aid at all.
1 person has voted this message useful



cathrynm
Senior Member
United States
junglevision.co
Joined 5884 days ago

910 posts - 1232 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Japanese, Finnish

 
 Message 308 of 420
08 December 2013 at 8:22pm | IP Logged 
Yeah, one time I massively botched listening and got out of sync, and answered like one behind or something -- and then I rushed around, erased and tried to fix it. It was basically a disaster, though my score wasn't much worse.   I was in sync this time, but still a lot of guessing, really.   And sometimes when I think I basically understand, I'm still not sure of the answers. This is a tough nut to crack for me, at least.

Funny thing, at JLPT during the break I get out, and about 7-8 of us all gather in a circle sharing war stories.   I've been doing this awhile, so I run into a lot of people at JLPT. It's funny. The guy right behind me in the class room is a classmate from the sokogakuen.   We all exchange stories -- I mentioned the weird essay on the 'sweat glands' -- and one guy didn't remember this atall.   There was another slightly abstract thing on the imagination from some Manga artist. I forget who it was. Not so sure how I did on that one.

Oddly, the listening, I don't remember any questions. I did have one advantage this time and that I was right in front of the speakers. The audio can be a little bit 'boomy' at these things, so being close to the speakers is a nice difference. I need quiet and clarity, or I'm really beyond hopeless.
1 person has voted this message useful



cathrynm
Senior Member
United States
junglevision.co
Joined 5884 days ago

910 posts - 1232 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Japanese, Finnish

 
 Message 309 of 420
09 December 2013 at 12:23am | IP Logged 
One other thing -- at my current job, the employees are maybe 40-50% Chinese from China. Really, I hear Chinese all the time in the hallways. Anyway, I have no time or interest in Chinese, but we did have an interesting discussion on how exactly do you pronounce Chinese names.   A lot of Chinese guys adapt English names, just because they can't stand hearing the strange pronunciation from English speakers of their name.

But I figure, well, this is the kind of thing I should be able to try, so I had them all say their names.   Suddenly we had a small circle of CHinese guys all saying their names. What I remember specifically, is that xing -- is pronounced, to my ears sort of like 'sheen' -- but they made the point that the 'sh' sound isn't quite the sh sound in English. That it's kind of half-way between 's' and 'sh' is how they described it. A few times, like I say it and they say 'OOh, that's exactly right' -- and then I try again and I can't repeat it. So I think maybe I'm close but can't quite get reliable on this.
1 person has voted this message useful



kraemder
Senior Member
United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 4943 days ago

1497 posts - 1648 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: German, Spanish, Japanese

 
 Message 310 of 420
09 December 2013 at 12:48am | IP Logged 
I wonder if we get different tests or if they're the same. I didn't have anyone to talk to outside this time. Kind of
lonely. I liked meeting people at the N4.

Edited by kraemder on 09 December 2013 at 11:02am

1 person has voted this message useful



proudft
Senior Member
United States
Joined 4912 days ago

124 posts - 156 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Mandarin

 
 Message 311 of 420
09 December 2013 at 7:07am | IP Logged 
Tongue position is what differentiates X and SH.

Tongue up in front touching teeth for X, tongue cupped in back for SH. Some people say 'smile when you say X' but I find the tongue position far more reliable.

This positioning is also the difference between Q (front) and CH (back), and J (front) and ZH (back).

You can add a tiny hint of an R sound with the tongue back sounds but it's not universal.

I admit I have been looking at the job postings there and wishing I was further along in Chinese. :)


1 person has voted this message useful



cathrynm
Senior Member
United States
junglevision.co
Joined 5884 days ago

910 posts - 1232 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Japanese, Finnish

 
 Message 312 of 420
10 December 2013 at 5:32pm | IP Logged 
Hey Tom, thanks.   I'll try this out. Maybe this will make me look like a Chinese name pronunciation genius. I asked
the Chinese guys how they did this, and they had just no way to explain it at all.


1 person has voted this message useful



This discussion contains 420 messages over 53 pages: << Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53  Next >>


Post ReplyPost New Topic Printable version Printable version

You cannot post new topics in this forum - You cannot reply to topics in this forum - You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum - You cannot create polls in this forum - You cannot vote in polls in this forum


This page was generated in 0.3438 seconds.


DHTML Menu By Milonic JavaScript
Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved
No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization.