Studying for Japanese Exam
Yesterday I received confirmation of the Japanese exam I will be taking on the 2nd December. I have spent most of today trying to learn new vocabulary. I realised yesterday that the grammatical constructs I am currently being taught are not hard and the reason I was having difficulty putting sentences together was that I didn’t know enough verbs or adjectives. I have a month to make sure I know the 700 or so words that could appear on the exam.
November 3rd, 2007 at 12:50 am
For some reason, I find myself horrified by the idea of having to know a set number of words. I guess I don’t like the reduction of the richness of language to a number. I mean, isn’t the quality of words as important as the quantity? “Apt” is a much more interesting word than “Cat”, even though it’s the same length. Maybe it’s a bit less useful too. Demand to choose your own vocabulary!!
November 3rd, 2007 at 1:33 am
It’s the joy of having to pass a particular exam.
Everything I have studied recently, law, computing, English, was being taught with the final exam in mind. But now I am being taught Japanese in what appears to be a more haphazard way. It’s a better way because I am being taught based on my own circumstances and with a course that is tailored for me but now I am faced with an exam that is full of words and grammar I just don’t know.
I need to know 103 kanji, and I actually know more than 103 kanji but I still have another 30 or so kanji to learn as I know lots that aren’t on the syllabus. And I know lots of words that aren’t part of the required vocabulary. These help me live in Japan but I feel really under prepared for this exam.
So now I am going through the syllabus to try to find all the gaps in my knowledge as I don’t like the idea of failing any exam.