Failed ２級

...But I was pretty close. Regardless, I learned a lot in the months coming up to the test, and even more in the months after it. But some things are still bothering me.

Below are a few questions that get on my nerves frequently, but I have never bothered to ask about.

-What's the difference between ので and から other than ので is used in more polite situations and is more objective than から, and hence distances the speaker from any attachment to their statement?

-What is the proper way to use ことになる versus ことになっている？

-Can I use に聞こえる the same way I use に見える (i.e. それは犬に聞こえる＝That sounds like a dog.）?

-Why do some folks use ～だし in the same way as ～だもん?

-Although I learned that you are only supposed to use the なら conditional before nouns, I sometimes see/hear it used after infinitive verbs. What the ****?

-Is 場合 used only in formal situations, or is it simply used when speaking about hypothetical situations? I sometimes find myself using ～たら in those situations, and conversely find myself using 場合 to mean "if."

-What is the proper way to use なんか/なんて in a sentence? And what exactly do they mean? "Things like～"?

-And the favorite of frustrated males studying Japanese: "Do I sound gay/like my girlfriend when I use ね/でしょう at the end of sentences sometimes?"
I sometimes use な/だろう but they are usually more of an emphatic final particle/marker of my uncertainty.

That is all for now. Just want to clean up some things I'm still not clear on.

I have always seen 場合Used for "In this case" when giving an example of an "instance" where X should be Y or what have you.
EDIT I found a conversation where my girlfriend uses 場合：

2006/01/18 Damian: 私は練習文章を作りました。文は「車は大きい過ぎますから、車庫に入ることができない」でした。でも、誰かは私に「からを使ってない」と言った。なんで？
2006/01/18 Damian: その人は「『が』ほうがよく使う」と言った。
2006/01/18 里絵子: 「車は大きい過ぎますから、車庫に入ることができない」
2006/01/18 里絵子: より
2006/01/18 里絵子: 「車は大きい過ぎるので車庫に入ることができない」
2006/01/18 里絵子: がいいと思います
2006/01/18 Damian: でも、『ので』と『から』は同じ？
2006/01/18 里絵子: 少し違う
2006/01/18 Damian: そうっか
2006/01/18 里絵子: 「車が大きい過ぎるから車庫に入ることができない」
2006/01/18 里絵子: でも良いと思います
2006/01/18 Damian: でも、車の大きさは対象です。
2006/01/18 里絵子: うん
2006/01/18 里絵子: この文の場合車に対して車庫は小さい
2006/01/18 Damian: そうそう
2006/01/18 里絵子: だから、車が大き過ぎて車庫に入れることが出来ません
2006/01/18 Damian: そうっか
2006/01/18 Damian: ありがとうBabe
2006/01/18 里絵子: わかった？
2006/01/18 Damian: いいえ
2006/01/18 Damian: 笑
2006/01/18 里絵子 あらら

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HTH
From Tae Kim's Guide: about ので と から

In fact, 「ので」 is almost interchangeable with 「から」 with a few subtle differences. 「から」 explicitly states that the sentence preceding is the reason for something while 「ので」 is merely putting two sentences together, the first with an explanatory tone. This is something I call causation where [X] happened, therefore [Y] happened. This is slightly different from 「から」 where [Y] happened explicitly because [X] happened. This difference tends to make 「ので」 sound softer and slighter more polite and it is favored over 「から」 when explaining a reason for doing something that is considered discourteous.

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When using 聞こえる to means "sounds like...", you usually use …のように聞こえる or みたいに聞こえる。 For example:
1. You sound like your father in his early days.
あなたの声、お父さんの若い頃みたいに聞こえるわ。
2. That cat's crying sounds like baby's crying. It's creepy.
ネコが鳴くと赤ちゃんが泣いてるように聞こえるわ。気味悪い。
verb-infinitive + よう or noun + のよう can sometimes be translated as "sounds like"
3. Do you hear something? It sounds like someone's cry for help.
何か聞こえない？誰かが助けを呼んでるようだわ。
So your example would be:
それは犬(の声)のように聞こえる

These examples are from - just in case you thought I was girl
家族で英語のお勉強 : BLOG

4月20日 入門 ダイアローグの書き換え
A: Dad? Can you pick me up?
B:Mariko? I just dropped you off. What happened?
A:It's the wrong box. I was supposed to get together at north exit, not south exit.
B:Oh, no! Can you ask someone which way to go?
A:There's nobody here.
B:Well, I'm driving a car and I can't talk any longer. I wish police officer wouldn't come up to me.
A:Oh, a staition stuff is on his way. He maybe show the way to the north exit.
B:Okay, try to ask him and good luck!

4月20日 Let's speak
almost もう少しで〜しそうになる
1. It was so dark that I almost bumped against the wall.
とっても暗かったので、もう少しで壁にぶつかりそうになった。
2. You had better be more careful or you'll be almost take out of school.
もう少し注意しないと、もう少しで退学になるわよ。
3. The cherry blossom are almost in full bloom.
桜はもう少しで満開になる。
4. My house is almost finished off.
もう少しでマイホームが完成だ。
5. I almost passed the first grade of Eiken, I should have studied more.
もう少しで英検1級に合格しそうだったのに、もっと勉強すべきだった。

4月20日 中級
sound like ... 〜ような感じだね、〜そうに聞こえる
(人) sound like ... 〜のようなしゃべり方をしている、〜のようなことを言っている

1. You sound like your father in his early days.
あなたの声、お父さんの若い頃みたいに聞こえるわ。
2. That cat's crying sounds like baby's crying. It's creepy.
ネコが鳴くと赤ちゃんが泣いてるように聞こえるわ。気味悪い。
3. Do you hear something? It sounds like someone's cry for help.
何か聞こえない？誰かが助けを呼んでるようだわ。
4. Is she really a student? She sounds like a principal of my school.
彼女って本当に学生？うちの学校の校長先生がしゃべってるみたいにきこえるわ。
5. He sounds like a critic. That's disgusting!
彼って評論家みたいなしゃべり方するのね。なんかむかつくわ。

4月20日 上級
... seems to be on the increase(decrease) 〜が増して（減って）いるようだね
1. Neighborly interaction seems to be on the decrease.
ご近所付き合いが減ってるようね。
2. Japan-bashing in China seems to be on the increase.
中国での日本バッシングが増しているみたいね。
3. Children who go to cram school seem to be on increase.
塾に行く子供が増えてるみたいね。
4. People who works as a volunteer seem to be on increase.
ボランティアとして働く人たちが増えてるみたいね。
5. Parents who live with their dauter's family seem to be on increase.
娘家族と同居する親が増えてるみたいね。
6. Fire flies seem to be on decrease year by year.
ホタルが年々減ってるみたいね。

They finally had to ... ついには〜しなければならなくなった
1. He failed to form proper human relationships and finally had to quite the company.
彼は人間関係をうまく結べなくて、ついには会社をやめなければならなくなったの。
2. I decided to pass the exam but had enogh time to study. So finally I had to cut down on sleep.
試験に合格すると決めたけど、勉強する時間がなくて、とうとう寝る時間を削らなければならなくなったの。
3. The earthquake broke out again, they finally had to put off the school trip.
地震がまた起きて、ついには修学旅行を延期しなければならなくなったの。
4. She didn't do her homework at all, the teacher finally had to give her a lower grade.
彼女は宿題を全然やらなかったから、先生はついに点を低い点をつけなくてはならなくなったの。
5. They make students sit in order of merit at school, so I finally had to sit in the front row.
学校では生徒を成績順に座らせているから、ついに私は前列にすわらなければならなくなったのよ。

From Tae Kim's Guide: about ので と から

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That follows practically verbatim other more anecdotal explanations I have read of the difference so it is nice to get a more official account. Thanks for posting ! There is also an element I believe where "kara" may be used for an opinion or conjecture whereas "node" (explanatory & 'causitive' because it derives from the "te" form) needs a more firmly grounded or objective reason.

なんか is used after a noun or a noun-ised verb （e.g. 行くこと） to emphasize that something (usually the noun/verb it after) is causing some sort of trouble for the speaker. It adds an exasperated or derogatory tone to the sentence. Very difficult to translate as any specific word in English. Usually you can switch the なんか for a particle (は、が usually) and it'll still be grammatically correct.
Used before an adjective it can be translated as "... or something" but again it adds the derogatory tone.
Do an example search at WWWJDIC on "なんか" for some examples.
I think this is more a spoken construct than anything you'd see in formal writing - someone correct me if I'm wrong here.
なんて adds emphasis to the sentence, but is different to なんか. It comes before the thing you want to emphasize. Before an adjective it could be translated as "very" or "how ..."
I'm not 100% clear on this, so if someone can correct me, please do.

J C said:

なんか is used after a noun or a noun-ised verb （e.g. 行くこと） to emphasize that something (usually the noun/verb it after) is causing some sort of trouble for the speaker. It adds an exasperated or derogatory tone to the sentence. Very difficult to translate as any specific word in English. Usually you can switch the なんか for a particle (は、が usually) and it'll still be grammatically correct.
Used before an adjective it can be translated as "... or something" but again it adds the derogatory tone.
Do an example search at WWWJDIC on "なんか" for some examples.
I think this is more a spoken construct than anything you'd see in formal writing - someone correct me if I'm wrong here.
なんて adds emphasis to the sentence, but is different to なんか. It comes before the thing you want to emphasize. Before an adjective it could be translated as "very" or "how ..."
I'm not 100% clear on this, so if someone can correct me, please do.

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Below is what I wrote in another thread a year ago:

""nande" is not the contraction for "na no de" (because), rather, it is a contraction for "na no desu" (de is the -te form of desu)

"nande" can also mean "naze", which is exactly the same meaning as "why". "nande" becomes "why" only when placed at the beginning of the sentence.

ex. "nande gakkou ni ikanakatta?"
Why didn't you go to school?

There is also "nante", which sounds similar to "nande". Although they sound similar, the meanings are quite different. Nante is a little bit more advanced, but is often used in colloquial speech.

1) Nante utsukushii!
How beautiful! (used as an exclamation)

2) Nante can also mean "nado", or "things like"
yuuki nante moteba, nan demo dekiru (If you hold things like courage, anything is possible)

3) Nante can also mean "nado to ", and is used when quoting the phrases of someone else.
"arukinagara taberu nante mitto-monai wa. yamenasai" nante (itte) haha ni shikararechatta
I was scolded by my mother, with her saying that "it's indecent to eat while walking. Quit it!".
(Note that the first nante means "nado", and the second nante means "nado to".

There are also many other uses of nante, and some are quite advanced, so I don't want to get into all the grammatical details for now."

Also, for nara, you can use that after infinitive verbs. the formation is absolutely fine. sometimes they add a "no" in between (ex. taberu no nara) and it does not change the meaning.

The general idea behind the difference is that:
ことになる - something's been decided (watashi ha taishoku suru kotoni naru)- it's been decided by some third person that the person speaking will leave the job.
ことになっている - something's been a rule... (kinai de ha, kin'en suru koto ni natteiru) - no smoking in airplane cabin

Although there are other meanings and other deviations, but you can think of it like the way above.

J C said:

なんか is used after a noun or a noun-ised verb （e.g. 行くこと） to emphasize that something (usually the noun/verb it after) is causing some sort of trouble for the speaker. It adds an exasperated or derogatory tone to the sentence. Very difficult to translate as any specific word in English. Usually you can switch the なんか for a particle (は、が usually) and it'll still be grammatically correct.
Used before an adjective it can be translated as "... or something" but again it adds the derogatory tone.
Do an example search at WWWJDIC on "なんか" for some examples.
I think this is more a spoken construct than anything you'd see in formal writing - someone correct me if I'm wrong here.

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This thread includes a recent discussion on various uses of nanka and nantonaku among others.

Grammar nuances | Japan Forum