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Problems with JLPT N2 聴解

PetCal23

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29 Mar 2017
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Hi all,
I have been studying for the N2 test for the past few months. I am actually doing quite well with the reading comprehension but with the listening comprehension, I always seem to do very poorly. My spoken Japanese is fairly good and I can watch most Japanese television shows and movies without subtitles, but I am really getting killed with this N2. I am wondering if anyone might have any recommendations as to how I can go about improving my listening skills so that I can somehow tackle the listening sections? It is weird because most people are surprised when I say I struggle with this and since my reading skill seems to be somehow better than my listening, this appears even more peculiar.

Any thoughts or advice would be extremely helpful!
 
I recommend doing lots of actual problems from previous tests. It can be a little costly to obtain this material, but it appears that you are located in Japan, so I would think you would be able to find such materials at a nearby library or other similar place which provides study resources.

One issue with the JLPT listening test is that it's not just about listening comprehension, but also puzzling your way through trick questions. Even Japanese people can have trouble with some of the test questions if they are not paying careful attention, because of the tricky way questions are framed. For that reason, working your way through actual past problems is quite helpful.

There are also various books that offer simulated (i.e., not actually used) JLPT test questions, including listening test questions, but in my opinion these sometimes have flaws in them, and are not as good as the real thing.

Good luck!
 
There's an easy explanation for this but it would probably offend you....
 
Thank you for refraining from providing it.

I was addressing the OP. I have my reasons for posting the way I do. When I feel I have to justify them to you I will do so of my own accord.
 
And here I thought you were turning over a new leaf, and starting to bite your tongue more...

When there is no quoted text in a post, I assume it to apply to the most recent one preceding it, unless it is otherwise obvious that it does not.
 
And here I thought you were turning over a new leaf, and starting to bite your tongue more...

When there is no quoted text in a post, I assume it to apply to the most recent one preceding it, unless it is otherwise obvious that it does not.

I would find it much easier to accept that line of BS at face value if it weren't for your history of making smart-assed snide comments where nobody was addressing you.

Learning Japanese , probably a dumb question.

Don't insult my intelligence by pretending you were doing any differently here. Work on your own lack of tongue biting skills before you go worrying about mine.
 
I genuinely thought your first post in this thread was directed at me.

I think you are cherry-picking from my comment history. I have been doing a lot of tongue-biting since the post you referenced from last September.

I am quite surprised at your reaction in this thread. My first comment to you was rather innocuous, I felt, and only in what I thought was in defense of myself.

Anyway, I don't think this back-and-forth will help improve the poor OP's Japanese listening skills, so I am done here.
 
I feel like what I'm about to say may be along the lines of what Mike was refraining from saying, but I feel compelled to offer some sort of advice, so...

>I can watch most Japanese television shows and movies without subtitles,
>but I am really getting killed with this N2.

I'm not trying to be mean, but if you're getting "killed" by the N2 listening section, I'm very skeptical of how well you are actually understanding these TV shows and movies you're watching sans subtitles. It's very easy to fall into the trap of hearing a few words and grammatical structures you know and feel like you're getting the gist of things, while in reality many of the finer points are going in one ear and out the other.

When I was around N2 level and actively trying to improve my listening comprehension, I would often take dramas and TV shows and whatnot and transcribe them, as a way to test myself to make sure I was actually processing and understanding everything I heard. If nothing else, it's good practice, and it might help you identify weaknesses you didn't know you had.
 
I feel like what I'm about to say may be along the lines of what Mike was refraining from saying, but I feel compelled to offer some sort of advice, so...

>I can watch most Japanese television shows and movies without subtitles,
>but I am really getting killed with this N2.

I'm not trying to be mean, but if you're getting "killed" by the N2 listening section, I'm very skeptical of how well you are actually understanding these TV shows and movies you're watching sans subtitles. It's very easy to fall into the trap of hearing a few words and grammatical structures you know and feel like you're getting the gist of things, while in reality many of the finer points are going in one ear and out the other.

When I was around N2 level and actively trying to improve my listening comprehension, I would often take dramas and TV shows and whatnot and transcribe them, as a way to test myself to make sure I was actually processing and understanding everything I heard. If nothing else, it's good practice, and it might help you identify weaknesses you didn't know you had.
These were my thoughts, too.
I'm also studying for N2 (to take this December) and conversely, I feel the N2 listening problems are much easier to understand than Japanese television (the Japanese language, anyway...understanding the content of some variety shows is another matter! 😄).
I've taken to transcribing songs and occasionally dramas/anime in order to test myself; first I keep the song/show running and just catch whatever I can without pausing it. Then, I repeat it but I pause after manageable sections to fill in gaps. Then I compare to lyrics/script and make a study sheet of the things I missed/mistook. This especially helped me try to piece together the likely words/kanji for vocabulary I had never heard before, which I could check later (and thus, either confirm my guess or learn new words/kanji).
In any case, I've still got a long way to go...
 
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