All right, I think it is safe to admit it now. I’m starting to get a little nervous about taking the N1 exam. I know I said I was okay with failing it, but still I want to be able to at least have a decent showing on test day, something to be proud of that I can at least show off. The closer July comes, the more I feel like that might not happen this time.
I guess it really hit me when I picked up the So-Matome N1 Listening Book and started leafing through it. There is a lot of stuff in there that I simply haven’t heard before. I’m going to be doing a lot of listening from here on out just so that I can make a showing in the listening section. I’m starting to get really curious to see how well I can do, and how much of an improvement I can manage.
This is all coupled with all of my new responsibilities as a dad. My little daughter loves to not sleep. It seems like it is her favorite thing to do in the whole wide world as a matter of fact. I’m personally in the I love sleep camp. It is a lot more fun in that camp, but I haven’t been able to persuade my daughter of that, YET.
Make it your Own
If you crack open your typical JLPT drill book you’ll see a ton of example sentences to help you understand the different grammar points. Textbook authors, in general, try to give a very representative example of the type of sentences that use a particular grammar point and for the most part they do that job pretty well.
But, a lot of the sentences are really, well, boring. They are pretty vanilla stuff. One of the reasons for this is that the JLPT, by design, is suppose to test over Japanese used in everyday conversation. This limits the scope of the vocabulary and topics that come up on the test to smaller band of things.
This is a good thing. It follows the comprehensible input principle of language learning, which is that in order to learn a language, you should be absorbing content in the target language that is just above your level. Just difficult enough that you can follow along and learn a few new things because you understand just enough of the other content.
To really Learn it, you DO have to Use it
Those vanilla sentences are great for demonstrating the meaning of the grammar point or vocabulary, but will they help you to be able to remember it? For me, a lot of these meanings just roll on out for me. It has a really hard time sticking, and I feel like I study a lot repeating the sentences over and over again for on real gain.
Since the sentences often don’t pertain to me, or are about a subject I’m not exactly jumping up and down to read about, they don’t stick. It can also be incredibly boring to go through as well, which tends to slow down or even stop your studying.
How do you solve this problem? How do you put an end to the monotony? There is actually a pretty simple solution for this one.
Start Experimenting with it
In my experience, you really need to make a particular grammar point your own. Make example sentences about you and your life. Don’t put up with some vanilla sentences to help you remember the grammar, write something that will actually help you.
And once you come up with that sentence, make sure you get it checked. Then, make that darn thing your anthem for the day. Try to apply it everything you possible can. When you have a few free moments in the day try to recall it back up again. Really focus on that stubborn grammar point if it won’t stick in your head.
How Active are you?
Do you re-write the grammar sentences or just leave them be? Have you ever come up with some real funny or comical sentences to help you remember a particular point? I’d love to hear them in the comments below.
Photo by Wonker
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Oh, I gave up on the July JLPT N1 in Feb, and didn’t even bother applying. My post-grad science course is even more demanding than I anticipated and balancing a job with it leaves me no time to study, and I was forced to drop out of a language class conducted by a Japanese native. Although I’m pretty much done with the N1 grammar, the vocab and kanji makes me want to tear my hair out!!! So it’s the Dec JLPT for me, hopefully.
How’s the N1 Sou-Matome Listening book? I have the New Kanzen Master one, but I haven’t listened to it yet, I thought I would ease into listening using the Sou-Matome first. I’ve been wanting to order it for months, but the prolem with my debit card just isn’t getting resolved.
And your little darling is still a newborn, I still don’t manage a full night’s sleep with a 4 year old!
I still haven’t gotten around to cracking the N1 So-Matome Listening book. It is sitting here by my desk waiting to be used. I’m hoping to go through the last couple of weekends before the exam, just to preview some of the listening. Like I’ve said before, I’m not planning on passing, but I do want to focus on getting a respectable score in grammar and vocabulary. We’ll see.