What should I do next? 次にどうしたらいい？

[Skuu]

Yo, all. At the moment I'm still studying for my A-level. In case you don't know what that is it's the English course which gives you the grades needed for university. However I'm not sure if I'll be able to get into university, so I was wondering if anyone had any advise on how to continue my Japanese education? At the moment I'm using a textbook to study the specific grammar, kanji etc for the exams, but after that what could I use? How have people started intermediate Japanese?
At the moment I'm using 'minna no nihongo' (can be seen on Amazon).
Thanks for any tips you can give me.

 

[Ryuk]

Well even if you don't get the grades you want you can still do college courses and then use that as a platform for entering university (a friend of mine sucked at english and had to do a year college course before he could do his Art degree).

If you want to continue your study of Japanese, have a look at universities around the country and see what the entry requirements are (sometimes, you don't need much language experience to start a course). I did my undergrad at Edinburgh university and they have an excellent languages department (or so i'm told, I didn't actually study languages at uni). Here's a linky for you anyway - good luck with your exams.

University of Edinburgh: Asian Studies, Japanese Studies, Undergraduate

 

[Skuu]

Cheers for the link, dood.
Yeah I've applied at Edinburgh, they haven't rejected me while two others (Leeds and Sheffield) have. Fingers crossed about that. Thing is if I have to study for another year then I'd have to work... which I hate doing lol! Lazy. So I'm more likely to look at looking for Japanese unis or visiting Japan for a time to help my Japanese.
It's just a bit allover the place at the moment so I get a bit stressed.

 

[Jaseur]

If you could go to Japan and study, that would be ideal.

Bear in mind for your future that you'd find it hard to get work in Japan without a degree.

There should be a few places in the UK that offer the JLPT. Not sure what level an A-level would take you up to - maybe between 3 and 2? I heard Masters degrees usually require a JLPT 1 pass.

 

[Haruspex]

Get the kanji learners dictionary published by kodansha, possibly the one that has 2300ish kanji. Possibly even get all the little kodansha books. Buy breaking into japanese literature, and exploring japanese literature. Start reading them, and as you read learn kanji-by-kanji using flashcards. Use flashcards for kanji and for the words word-by-word.
That would be my advice. After you got some grammar, which would be the skeleton, you need to fill the gaps with fat and flesh: kanji and vocabulary.

 

[Skuu]

Thank you all very much for your advise. I've got several options including getting further private tuition, going to a Japanese university/language school as well as studying/living/working in Japan. I'll be just fine.

 

[Haruspex]

Thank you all very much for your advise. I've got several options including getting further private tuition, going to a Japanese university/language school as well as studying/living/working in Japan. I'll be just fine.

Come on, you have to choose the latter. Thats the fastest method

 

[Skuu]

Rofl, you think so? I dunno. I'd rather go to uni, seems a safer bet if I get in. I wanna eventually get a cool job with Japanese so a degree might be better for me don't ya think.

 

[Mikawa Ossan]

How about studying in Japan? I think that would be wise if you want to stay in Japan long-term (by which I mean forever.)

 

[Skuu]

I don't actually wanna live in Japan eventually because my family is here in England. I do love Japan though. Besides that, the main reason I'd wanna go there is because it would be the quickest way to become fluent.

If I wanna study in Japan I have to find an institution that will accept me. I'll start looking for one if I get rejected by all of the English unis.

 

[magevampjoe]

JLPT exam;
http://www.soas.co.uk
this is the place in London to take the JLPT. I'm not sure you can do JLPT anywhere else (I've been searching Northwest/west midlands (stoke-on trent) but can't find anywhere.

Also, a problem for you.

If you fail to get into the English Universitys, what makes you think you have a chance in hell of getting into a Japanese one?
1) If you don't have good enough grades to get into UK uni, you'll have the same in Japan
2)There is a limited no. of spaces in any Uni, so the Japanese unis would want a Japanese person who knows the language and has better grades than you, rather than you.

I seriously suggest you study hard if you want to study in Japan. That means no more going out on Friday night, no going out and at least 5 hours of revision each day (On top of college) on Japanese and any other subjects you have.

And remember, if you have level 3 JLPT, you may still need to do a Japanese language entrance exam when trying to get into a Japanese Uni.

Sorry if I'm stepping on your dreams...

Joe

 

[Skuu]

I thought I wouldn't have a chance either, but my teacher thought that there would be languange schools and universities that offered basic language courses with easy enough entry requirements. It sounds like a tricky endeavour to me but I'll try it anyway.

Also there's the working holiday program on offer, have you heard of that?

http://www.uk.emb-japan.go.jp/en/visa/work_hol.html

 

[Jaseur]

I thought I wouldn't have a chance either, but my teacher thought that there would be languange schools and universities that offered basic language courses with easy enough entry requirements.

For "entry requirements", read "bucketful of cash".

You could certainly find somewhere that would take you on as a student, but it won't be cheap.

 

[bakaKanadajin]

Don't forget, reading/writing do not easily translate into speaking ability. The JLPT does not test for speaking at all, just listening. If you neglect language exchange and conversation opportunities then you'll end up like half of Japan, able to read English but unable to speak and in dire need of conversational coaching.

If you have to take time off and Japanese becomes a hobby for 1 year rather than your major area of guided study, I would continue the process by self-studying at home and keeping up on the grammar, but, perhaps embark on a journey (if you haven't already) to find real Japanese people visiting/living in your immediate vicinity who wish to language exchange.