flonnebonne (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
flonnebonne) wrote2008-12-09 12:55 pm
flonnebonne) wrote2008-12-09 12:55 pm
Entry tags:
JLPT was...okay? Maybe? Plus JLPT study tips
So I took the JLPT 2-kyuu test on Sunday, and it was a bit harder than the practice tests, but that's how it always is with me. I get nerves! It makes it hard for me to do the listening portion, especially.
Anyway, it might be presumptive of me to give advice on writing the JLPT, considering that I might not have even PASSED the damn thing (I was getting 70-75 on my practice tests, so there's a chance I messed up and failed), but I figure I should write down my study tips while I still have them fresh in my mind. It's partly for my own benefit--the next time I take the JLPT, I want to study better instead of harder.
JLPTstudy cramming tips
1. Do one practice test before you start studying
Or, if you can't do that, at least look at a practice test very, very closely. Preferably, you should look at the most recent test. Why? Because before you start studying, you need to know what kind of questions they're likely to ask you. Then you can decide how well you need to know the know the material. Do you need to be able to recognize most words from just their kanji alone? From hiragana alone? Pay attention to how much furigana they give you. And pay attention to the ways they try to trick you. Make sure to check whether the listening section is doable for you or if you need to do lots of listening practice.
The four levels of the test have different types of questions, so even if you know what the 2-kyuu test is like, that doesn't mean you know all the types of questions they'll throw at you for 1-kyuu.
I know this bit of advice is pretty obvious, but a lot of people tend not to look at the practice tests until near the test date. Myself included.
2. Make a plan
You might not be able to stick to it, but you should at least try. I forced myself to learn 50 vocab words a day plus 3 to 4 grammar points. When I fell behind schedule, I upped it to 60 words a day. Yeah, that sucked. But I found that I got faster as I went along, once I knew what I was doing and as I learned more kanji and just got better at reading.
For me, it made more sense to learn the kanji as I went along. Some people recommend learning the kanji first, then the vocab, then the grammar. Everyone has a different way of studying. Find what works best for you and systemize it. Be efficient! For me, being efficient meant learning certain keyboard shortcuts and putting Yahoo! Dictionary in my search bar. This made a BIG difference in terms of time, frustration, and the prevention of carpal tunnel syndrome.
3. Do study the vocabulary
My friends who took 2-kyuu before me gave me one piece of advice: study the vocab. Prioritize it over grammar even. You may not want to look at that awful list of several thousand words, you may not have any interest in knowing how to say supply and demand in Japanese, but by god supply and demand came up on the test this year and if I hadn't studied those words I wouldn't have had the faintest idea what that article was talking about.
That said, don't be a moron like me and find the longest JLPT study list on the internet and learn every single thing on it. Skip the words that are less likely to be on the test (like "microscope") if you don't have the time to study them.
Group words together in a way that makes sense to you. Words that share a kanji character, a similar meaning, or just go together naturally, llike the aforementioned "supply and demand" (actually "demand and supply" in Japanese). Do the grouping as you go along--you often won't know how to do it in a way that makes sense until you encounter the words in real sentences. Which brings me to my next point...
4. Study example sentences
You can't just study words by themselves--you have to know how they work in sentences. The JLPT questions often ask you to pick the word that "fits best" and then it gives you a bunch of similar words to choose from. Sometimes you'll just know the answer because it "sounds right." And sometimes you will say to yourself "argh I hate you JLPT exam-makers die die die."
Anyway, it's often difficult and time-consuming to find "real" Japanese articles, stories, whatever that contain the target vocab/grammar/difficulty level that you're studying for. And if you're desperately cramming for the JLPT, you really don't want to spend all your time looking for that stuff. So study the example sentences from textbooks to learn the grammar, and example sentences Yahoo! dictionary (or something similar) for the vocab.
By the way, when I say "study example sentences," I don't mean memorize them. That's way too much work. Just be familiar enough with them to apply them to a 4-choice multiple question. Easier said than done, right? What I did was I input a lot of example sentences into a program called Anki and did daily reviews based on the program's scheduling system. Worked pretty well, but it was very time consuming, and Anki is meant for long-term study more than cramming. A lot of people study sentences by copying them out by hand. Figure out what works for you.
5. Do lots of practice tests before the test
Obvious, I know.
Some people recommend mainly studying practice exams, which might not be a bad idea. I haven't tried it, so I wouldn't know. You should, at least, do a bunch of practice exams just to get used to the types to questions they ask and to learn the ways in which the exam is designed to trick you. In particular, you need to get used to the format of the listening section.
You should also decide, before you go to take the test, what order to do the reading/grammar section in. Long reading questions first, since they're worth a lot? Short grammar questions first, because they don't take much time? Most people do the grammar first, methinks.
5. Read and listen a lot
You ought to be doing this throughout the study process. I kind of skipped this step, truth be told. But it's important! It's ultimately what you're aiming for, right? To become better at understanding Japanese! And It's very heartening, to pick up a manga or a video game or newspaper (hah!) and realize how much your studying has actually made you better at Japanese.
Study for the JLPT for the long-term benefits, not for the piece of paper! And after the test, don't forget everything you learned!! Otherwise, what's the point? (Says the girl who just spent the two days after the test playing FFXII...in English. What can I say, I don't have the game in Japanese)
Also, one of the great benefits (?) of studying for the JLPT is that you learn how to study on your own. You can learn Japanese without a teacher! And you can do it efficiently! Amazing, huh? Even if you don't pass, be glad that you did it.
That's all I've got to say. Anyone want to add their two cents?
p.s. This Chinese site already has scans of this year's tests (except for 4-kyuu). 0_o
[Edit] This is NOT an ideal way to study Japanese. It is, however, not a bad way to cram for the JLPT.
Anyway, it might be presumptive of me to give advice on writing the JLPT, considering that I might not have even PASSED the damn thing (I was getting 70-75 on my practice tests, so there's a chance I messed up and failed), but I figure I should write down my study tips while I still have them fresh in my mind. It's partly for my own benefit--the next time I take the JLPT, I want to study better instead of harder.
JLPT
1. Do one practice test before you start studying
Or, if you can't do that, at least look at a practice test very, very closely. Preferably, you should look at the most recent test. Why? Because before you start studying, you need to know what kind of questions they're likely to ask you. Then you can decide how well you need to know the know the material. Do you need to be able to recognize most words from just their kanji alone? From hiragana alone? Pay attention to how much furigana they give you. And pay attention to the ways they try to trick you. Make sure to check whether the listening section is doable for you or if you need to do lots of listening practice.
The four levels of the test have different types of questions, so even if you know what the 2-kyuu test is like, that doesn't mean you know all the types of questions they'll throw at you for 1-kyuu.
I know this bit of advice is pretty obvious, but a lot of people tend not to look at the practice tests until near the test date. Myself included.
2. Make a plan
You might not be able to stick to it, but you should at least try. I forced myself to learn 50 vocab words a day plus 3 to 4 grammar points. When I fell behind schedule, I upped it to 60 words a day. Yeah, that sucked. But I found that I got faster as I went along, once I knew what I was doing and as I learned more kanji and just got better at reading.
For me, it made more sense to learn the kanji as I went along. Some people recommend learning the kanji first, then the vocab, then the grammar. Everyone has a different way of studying. Find what works best for you and systemize it. Be efficient! For me, being efficient meant learning certain keyboard shortcuts and putting Yahoo! Dictionary in my search bar. This made a BIG difference in terms of time, frustration, and the prevention of carpal tunnel syndrome.
3. Do study the vocabulary
My friends who took 2-kyuu before me gave me one piece of advice: study the vocab. Prioritize it over grammar even. You may not want to look at that awful list of several thousand words, you may not have any interest in knowing how to say supply and demand in Japanese, but by god supply and demand came up on the test this year and if I hadn't studied those words I wouldn't have had the faintest idea what that article was talking about.
That said, don't be a moron like me and find the longest JLPT study list on the internet and learn every single thing on it. Skip the words that are less likely to be on the test (like "microscope") if you don't have the time to study them.
Group words together in a way that makes sense to you. Words that share a kanji character, a similar meaning, or just go together naturally, llike the aforementioned "supply and demand" (actually "demand and supply" in Japanese). Do the grouping as you go along--you often won't know how to do it in a way that makes sense until you encounter the words in real sentences. Which brings me to my next point...
4. Study example sentences
You can't just study words by themselves--you have to know how they work in sentences. The JLPT questions often ask you to pick the word that "fits best" and then it gives you a bunch of similar words to choose from. Sometimes you'll just know the answer because it "sounds right." And sometimes you will say to yourself "argh I hate you JLPT exam-makers die die die."
Anyway, it's often difficult and time-consuming to find "real" Japanese articles, stories, whatever that contain the target vocab/grammar/difficulty level that you're studying for. And if you're desperately cramming for the JLPT, you really don't want to spend all your time looking for that stuff. So study the example sentences from textbooks to learn the grammar, and example sentences Yahoo! dictionary (or something similar) for the vocab.
By the way, when I say "study example sentences," I don't mean memorize them. That's way too much work. Just be familiar enough with them to apply them to a 4-choice multiple question. Easier said than done, right? What I did was I input a lot of example sentences into a program called Anki and did daily reviews based on the program's scheduling system. Worked pretty well, but it was very time consuming, and Anki is meant for long-term study more than cramming. A lot of people study sentences by copying them out by hand. Figure out what works for you.
5. Do lots of practice tests before the test
Obvious, I know.
Some people recommend mainly studying practice exams, which might not be a bad idea. I haven't tried it, so I wouldn't know. You should, at least, do a bunch of practice exams just to get used to the types to questions they ask and to learn the ways in which the exam is designed to trick you. In particular, you need to get used to the format of the listening section.
You should also decide, before you go to take the test, what order to do the reading/grammar section in. Long reading questions first, since they're worth a lot? Short grammar questions first, because they don't take much time? Most people do the grammar first, methinks.
5. Read and listen a lot
You ought to be doing this throughout the study process. I kind of skipped this step, truth be told. But it's important! It's ultimately what you're aiming for, right? To become better at understanding Japanese! And It's very heartening, to pick up a manga or a video game or newspaper (hah!) and realize how much your studying has actually made you better at Japanese.
Study for the JLPT for the long-term benefits, not for the piece of paper! And after the test, don't forget everything you learned!! Otherwise, what's the point? (Says the girl who just spent the two days after the test playing FFXII...in English. What can I say, I don't have the game in Japanese)
Also, one of the great benefits (?) of studying for the JLPT is that you learn how to study on your own. You can learn Japanese without a teacher! And you can do it efficiently! Amazing, huh? Even if you don't pass, be glad that you did it.
That's all I've got to say. Anyone want to add their two cents?
p.s. This Chinese site already has scans of this year's tests (except for 4-kyuu). 0_o
[Edit] This is NOT an ideal way to study Japanese. It is, however, not a bad way to cram for the JLPT.