The Gamer's Quarter

GSL · Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 4:42 pm Post subject: JLPT Study Materials

Okay, so I know at least Lestrade has taken the JLPT, and I thought there were a few others here as well who had taken the exam.

I'm looking at picking up a study guide or two; what do people recommend for the Level 3 test? Really good Level 2 materials are welcome as well, so I can get a head start, but the main focus is Lv. 3. Thanks!

Redeye · . Joined: 02 Oct 2006 Posts: 986 Location: filth

Ahhhh, so...
_________________
I felt sheer anarchic joy when I ran over my first pedestrian.

GSL · Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2007 2:51 pm Post subject:

Yeah, sorry I didn't bother to define the acronym.

Then again, I suppose the people who know what it stands for would be most in the position to help out, but that wasn't my initial line of reasoning and would really make me sound like an ass if it were: "If you get what I'm talking about, then it's cool, you can help me."

Bulkor · . Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 55

Unicom's "Jitsuryoku Appu! Nihongo nouryokushiken" books worked pretty well for me, although I don't know how they are for level 3.

Isn't the test in December? Are you just crazily on the ball?

GSL · Posted: Mon Jan 22, 2007 12:49 am Post subject:

Thanks, I'll look into that series!

And yeah, the test is in December with registration starting sometime in the summer; I'm not so much on the ball as I am trying to make a very accurate assessment of my grasp of the language. I want to figure out if I'm getting to the level where I could seriously approach one of the tests and if not, then estimate if I WOULD be ready by registration at my current rate of progression. So it's all pretty up in the air right now.

seryogin · Posted: Mon Jan 22, 2007 3:56 am Post subject:

From what I understand, taking that test is a waste of time...though I don't understand much.

Also, I think Chris has been around long enough to deserve a custom title.
_________________

Lestrade · Posted: Mon Jan 22, 2007 8:20 am Post subject:

I'll try to see what my tutor used and what my teacher taught from. My tutor used a book that she got in Japan, though it was obviously geared towards non-Japanese speakers. My teacher used something like "Let's Fucking Pass the JLPT, Yo!" but I'll get a confirmation.

Good on you for studying early. You can never be prepared enough! How are you with kanji?

I won't even get my test results until the end of February. My guess is that all the tests were sent on little bamboo sailboats, emblazoned with the official seal, and the results will be sent back likewise. What other reason could there be for waiting three months for test results in 2007?

Sushi d · Moderator Joined: 15 Oct 2004 Posts: 239

i would like to know if there is a good book along the lines of "Everything that you need to know about the JLPT to pass it"

i've been studying off and on all on my own and last year i managed to play through 'mother 3' with the help of a good dictionary. i still can't read kanji though (i'm working on that!). i've been wanting to try out those exams for quite a while but i dont know what level of materials i will be tested on. so i want a book like that to help me plan what i'm supposed to learn so i can at the least pass the exam..

or something like that.
_________________
X_X

Nana Komatsu · weak sauce Joined: 17 Jul 2006 Posts: 1293

Man, this discussion makes me wish I had the mental capacity to remember more than six hiragana/katakana symbols (let alone 2000 kanji).
_________________
resetbutton.net: videogames for unattractive people

GSL · Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 5:15 am Post subject:

seryogin · Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 6:37 am Post subject:

Oh, I see then. It's just...there seems to be a fair amount of derision of this test from many sources, so I generally assumed that it was quite useless.
_________________

Lestrade · Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 7:00 am Post subject:

GSL, I'll try to scan some of my kanji lists this week. I actually didn't get all 300 memorized for my test, but luckily about 90% of what I did know was actually on the exam. My tutor gave me these sheets and told me to focus on the kanji there, so maybe that will help you.

Kanji is a strong point of mine, and I figure it's because I draw. I have a good visual and motor memory—i.e., if I draw Samus once, chances are I'll always remember how to do so thereafter. Kanji is similar, and since they're just pictures, I can make up little stories in my head to remember them.

One good example: the verb "hakobu" (運ぶ), which means, "to transport," is really just a car with a lid on it sitting on a boat. :-) I see the car on the boat, and I know somebody in North America just bought a Toyota, and that shit's being transported.

Also, having a wife who's Chinese helps. A lot!

My weakest point is vocabulary, because I can't memorize things without context. I need to have verbal, audio, and motor cues to jog my brain into remembering that a closet is "oshiire" (押し入れ).

Bulkor · . Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 55

Re: the test being a waste of time, yes and no. From personal experience, level 1 does not equal fluency, and it's not enough by itself to get you jobs involving Japanese, although it does help. If you're outside a classroom setting, though, the JLPT is a great way to motivate yourself to study. Plus, the sample sentences are a hoot.

The legitimate reason to scoff at the JLPT is that there's no writing or speaking involved, and you are gonna have to do those sometimes. I imagine the actual reason people scoff at it is just to be punks, however.

As a side note, how do you get Japanese text to show up on this thing?

Lestrade · Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 12:55 pm Post subject:

Bulkor, I don't know what browser/OS you're using, but see if there are any Text-Encoding options in your menus. In FireFox/Mac OS X, the best thing to do is, under View > Character Encoding, go to Auto-Detect and choose Japanese.

Nana Komatsu · weak sauce Joined: 17 Jul 2006 Posts: 1293

Lestrade · Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 2:53 pm Post subject:

Wait, I didn't say any of those things you quoted there!

Nana Komatsu · weak sauce Joined: 17 Jul 2006 Posts: 1293

Ack, you didn't! Sorry for the misquote!
_________________
resetbutton.net: videogames for unattractive people

GSL · Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 6:02 pm Post subject:

Sergei: As Bulkor was getting at, its almost like any other certification test, really: TOEFL, A+, MCSE, etc. etc. in that passing it doesn't necessarily equal competence and conversely, not passing doesn't mean you have no grasp of the material. But it is one of those quantifiable things you can show people that says, "See? I know (some) of the language!"

...Come to think about it, that sounds a lot like a college degree...

Lestrade: Thanks for the offer of help with the kanji; I'd really appreciate it but there's no hurry whatsoever.
My vocabulary is pretty bad, but for some reason learning the kanji is really helping a lot. I used to think that learning vocab in hiragana and then moving to kanji seemed needlessly difficult, but once I started to run into words spelled the same, knowing the different kanji became a total lifesaver. I'm having an easier time picking up vocab with the kanji now--like you, I try to use mnemonics whenever possible (安い--a woman who never leaves the house is quite inexpensive, as suggested by my classmate). The kanji textbooks that I'm using tend to group each chapter by an important radical or two, which is also quite helpful in picking out the general meaning for unfamiliar kanji.

But I totally agree on the context thing. My brain works in very funny ways with regard to what information it chooses to retain, and I often remember vocabulary through the strangest cues like a snatch of song lyrics, a part in a movie or book, or a conversation with one of my Japanese friends. Unfortunately, I have no real control over what my brain chooses to hang onto, and I'm endlessly frustrated that I can remember things like 安楽死 (euthanasia. One especially humorous and very literal reading is "the cheap, fun death) but can't for the life of me remember things like 'novel' or even 'author', for that matter.

Swimmy · . Joined: 16 Sep 2005 Posts: 990 Location: Fairfax, VA

I keep thinking this thread is about John Darnielle's blog.
_________________

"Ayn Rand fans are the old school version of Xenogears fanboys."
-seryogin

Lestrade · Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2007 12:27 pm Post subject:

Who? Enlighten us!

GSL, it sounds like our brains work very similarly. And yeah, I read the kanji for "euthanasia" and caught the literal meaning immediately—kind of creepy!

I enjoy discussing kanji with my wife and comparing their meaning between Japanese and Chinese. My favourite kanji is for "kanai" (家内—sort of formal for "my wife"). "Look!" I say to my wife, when I'm feeling particularly mean. It means "Stay inside the house!" And then I demand she takes her shoes off and gets in the kitchen to make me pie.

Swimmy · . Joined: 16 Sep 2005 Posts: 990 Location: Fairfax, VA

Dude from the Mountain Goats. He runs LPTJ. So you see!
_________________

"Ayn Rand fans are the old school version of Xenogears fanboys."
-seryogin

Lestrade · Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 2:40 pm Post subject:

Well, I received my JLPT results the other day, and I...

...

...

...

totally failed. :-(

By one and a half percent! Oh fuck me I suck! Well, that's the last test I ever take.
:-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-(

RedLightning · . Joined: 27 Nov 2006 Posts: 17

Lestrade, if you think you had it bad...

My friend, who also took level 3, got exactly 239/400. Sad

Yes, he missed the mark by a QUARTER of a percent.

Being so close to passing means that you would have likely passed given a slightly different selection of questions, though, so don't let it get you too down. There's always next year.

On the topic of study materials, I borrowed the "実力アップ！" combined level 1 / level 2 book/tape set for the 2005 test and the level 1-only set for the 2006 test, and... well, in both cases they just sort of sat there unperused for the entire loan period. The advantage of them is that they're extremely detailed and give examples of what the most common mistakes are for each grammar form. Every chapter is ended off with a few pages of questions (multiple-choice questions in the same style as the ones that will appear on the actual test). The disadvantage for me was that it was almost too detailed, and I could never get through more than a handful of pages before putting the book down from my head hurting trying to digest it all.

Consequently, if you're only looking to pass the test, you may want to look into getting some materials that are a bit more concise. However, I do believe that going through the entire books in this series will improve your Japanese significantly on a more practical level, so it's still worthwhile.

dessgeega · Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 7:32 pm Post subject:

Lestrade · Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2007 5:54 am Post subject:

Yes. :-(

Thanks for the tips and encouragement, RedLightening. I think the most disheartening thing was that prior to the test I was writing practice exams, and I passed those.

I know I'm a terrible student; I have a hard time focusing. I personally blame videogames (and I'm quite serious!).

aerisdead · . Joined: 03 Dec 2006 Posts: 254 Location: Toronto, Canada

You'll make it, man. Just don't give up like I have (mostly.)

I'm going to start classes again soon, though. I know you do yours on a Saturday morning, but I'm not sure I can roll with that...
_________________
aerisdead

Lestrade · Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2007 11:11 am Post subject:

aerisdead · . Joined: 03 Dec 2006 Posts: 254 Location: Toronto, Canada

Oh!

It was the kind of class that you "graduate"?

I just want to do something once a week that'll keep my JP ticking over, instead of degrading. I was roughly JLPT3 level without taking the test but it's all fell out of my head, so I'm probably roughly JLPT4 again.

So not sure what kind of class or what I would take, anyway.
_________________
aerisdead

Lestrade · Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2007 2:58 pm Post subject:

I done got schooled here, Aerisdead. The course contains seven levels (like Hell!), so I "graduated" because I completed level seven.

That's what my tutor is for—maintenance. It's waaaay too easy to forget, innit?

Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

sorry man. You're better than I am if that makes you feel any better.

probably not though
_________________
“The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932

"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!"

Lestrade · Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2007 11:58 pm Post subject:

Yeah, maybe you should ask other folks for translations from now on...

GSL · Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2007 12:01 am Post subject: