yuhakko Tetraglot Senior Member FranceRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4450 days ago 414 posts - 582 votes Speaks: French*, EnglishB2, EnglishC2, Spanish, Japanese Studies: Korean, Norwegian, Mandarin
| Message 1 of 6 23 September 2012 at 11:32pm | IP Logged |
Hello, this is my second log but this one will quite different from the mandarin one
considering the starting level is very different.
First of All, Japanese. I have been studying it on and off for about four years but my
study time has been getting longer with the years. I started with evening classes for 2
years during which... well, I basicly learned the very basics. I was pretty deceived by
the content but at the end of the second year I had the opportunity to get directly in
second year of the Japanese degree bachelor so I studied 400 kanjis fast to catch up
with the first year students and got in. The next year, my level grew pretty fast but
as I was doing a double diploma, I had just time to study the lessons and no extra
study. Since last year, I've been studying on my own. I tried the JLPT n2 last december
which I failed by 4 points but it got me even more motivated. After, I went to Tokyo
for 4 months for an exchange and as a result my level greatly improved. I passed the
jlpt n2 in July without studying for it at all with 60/60 in listening. However, the
rest was pretty bad (worst than in december for one...). Since I came back, I kinda
stopped studying actively to focus on Chinese (which i just started about a month and a
half ago). I just read here and there a book I bought in Japan (「すごい勉強法」っていう
本), wrote once or twice on Lang-8 and talked with my japanese friends. I decided to
pass the jlpt n1 with ease in december 2013 (once per year in france.....) so I bought
yesterday one book called 日本語総まとめ(読解)N1 and I am planning to finish it (as I
am supposed to) before the end of the year so that when my friends come from japan they
can bring me more stuff. I'll also be reusing a book that helped me greatly for my
grammar last year : 完全マスター試験に出る文法と表現N2-N1 except that this time, I
will be focusing on the N1 part.
My second Language I will be writing about will be korean. I started one year later
than japanese but actually never studied it actively for a prolonged period and got to
my "at ease" level with a bit of TalkToMeInKorean and a total of 3months in Korea in
the past 2 years. I can basicaly have a normal talk in Korean without much trouble but
my range of vocabulary and grammar are pretty thin so I'd like to Improve those, even
though I will not spend much time on Korean for now (focusing on Chinese mostly and
Japanese a bit too). It may change with time though. I will be using mostly books I got
from Seoul National University, a website called "advancedkorean" and TTMIK here and
there.
Anyway, time for my goals!
Japanese:
- Pass the JLPT N1 without any problem in 2013
- Read with ease a book, a newspaper article or pretty much anything by July 2013
- Improve my capacity to produce the language (really be able to make nuances in my
speech)
Korean:
- Improve my speech speed (too slow compared to my Japanese)
- Be able to read books without to much trouble by the beginning of September 2013
- Find out which level I could be in the TOPIK and take it in the end of 2013 (no idea
whatsover for now)
Anyway, long post, but a bit needed. I'll be posting every 2 or 3 days if I can.
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druckfehler Triglot Senior Member Germany Joined 4686 days ago 1181 posts - 1912 votes Speaks: German*, EnglishC2, Korean Studies: Persian
| Message 2 of 6 24 September 2012 at 1:07pm | IP Logged |
Nice to see a new addition to the Korean logs :) Good luck with your language goals!
From what you have written it sounds like you'd easily pass TOPIK level 2. You will probably want to aim for level 3 or 4 of the Intermediate test.
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yuhakko Tetraglot Senior Member FranceRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4450 days ago 414 posts - 582 votes Speaks: French*, EnglishB2, EnglishC2, Spanish, Japanese Studies: Korean, Norwegian, Mandarin
| Message 3 of 6 24 September 2012 at 3:39pm | IP Logged |
I'd actually probably go for 5 or 6 next year I think. I have no problem at all expressing
myself whatever the topic, even though my answers might be easy sentences. For now, I
guess I could be at level 3/4 but with some holes in my knowledge of Korean here and
there. 2 years ago, I took an intermediate evening class for a year and I was pretty much
the best (well, I was coming back from Korea after all..)
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yuhakko Tetraglot Senior Member FranceRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4450 days ago 414 posts - 582 votes Speaks: French*, EnglishB2, EnglishC2, Spanish, Japanese Studies: Korean, Norwegian, Mandarin
| Message 4 of 6 02 October 2012 at 6:34pm | IP Logged |
Quick Update :
Japanese : I haven't done much in the end. I finished the first week of 日本語総まとめ
N1読解 on saturday but because of a busy schedule these days, I haven't started week 2
yet. I think I'll do that today if all goes well.
I'm up to page 80 of my book. Not reading really much these days but a few pages every
one or two days.
I am however using my japanese on a daily basis to talk to friends and search for a few
things on internet. I actually also started today to listen to NHK news on my phone.
Felt good so I will probably continue.
Korean: It just happens to be even worse than japanese.. I literally did not do any
formal study at all. All I did was watch a full drama (응답하라1997) and it was
actually pleasant to hear the busan dialect which I had heard only a few times before.
I also checked my three first books of Active Korean from SNU to look for any grammar
point I did not know (I stopped studying those around the middle of the second) and saw
none all the way to the end of book 3. I'll check book 4 tonight or tomorrow. It might
have something considering it's the last one of this series.
Conclusion: A sad week for those 2 languages but it should get better now that I am
(finally) getting a better routine..
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yuhakko Tetraglot Senior Member FranceRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4450 days ago 414 posts - 582 votes Speaks: French*, EnglishB2, EnglishC2, Spanish, Japanese Studies: Korean, Norwegian, Mandarin
| Message 5 of 6 20 October 2012 at 8:20pm | IP Logged |
First update for 2 weeks, but i should be back in a more regular routine from now on.
Japanese : Still going on with 日本語総まとめ and I am now up to week 3 lesson 5. The
level varies highly depending on days and extracts. I sometimes have no idea what the
text is about while sometimes I can read it as if it was English. Still, I am clearly
aware that my Kanji skills are not quite here yet and thus I am trying to figure out a
way to take care of that. I have heard of the Kanji in Context but cannot seem to find
it here in France. Any other ideas?
Related to speaking though, I spent a week pretty much fully with Japanese friends and
by the end of it, I was feeling much more at ease. I guess it does come back quickly.
Korean : Quite bad... Actually horrible. I haven't done anything for the past ... I
don't know how many weeks. Just talked a bit to friends, watch 1 or 2 films and that's
it. However I am starting to feel the urge to study it once more so I should be back
soon enough.
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yuhakko Tetraglot Senior Member FranceRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4450 days ago 414 posts - 582 votes Speaks: French*, EnglishB2, EnglishC2, Spanish, Japanese Studies: Korean, Norwegian, Mandarin
| Message 6 of 6 27 October 2012 at 10:55pm | IP Logged |
Well.. Still not on a regular routine. Being looking for a job is making feel guilty
when I am not searching for a work so my study is still quite messed up.
Japanese: missed a few days on 日本語総まとめ. I am now at week 4 lesson 3. I think
when I will finish this book, I will go back to 試験に出る文法と表現 for n2 and n1
which I used for n2 last year, skipping all grammar for n1. I guess it's about time to
dive back in. For now though, I am just going on with 日本語総まとめ and watching a few
dramas or movies here and there. I had a website to download them in Jap subtitled in
Japanese and Chinese but I can use it for now so unfortunately, I am stuck with English
subtitles.
Korean : Still not study at all. I did watch a few films and a few videos from talk to
me in korean. The last one I saw was an Advanced level that they just started. I felt
quite bad when I realized I should understand everything but did not.. I am really
looking forward to find my job so that I can concentrate on my languages again.
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