danki
後輩
- 19 Dec 2013
- 9
- 0
- 16
Hi everyone, I'm new to this forum and I apologize in advance because my English is getting worse and worse ._.
I'd like to ask you some suggestions about Japanese learning method, because I've started feeling a bit lost lately but time is running fast.. (sorry for the lenght)
A bit of background:
this is my 5th year at university and I should be on the advanced side of the language, but it isn't so, unfortunately. One of the reason is that I am also studying Chinese (really time consuming) and I have had tons of other exams to prepare so I couldn't focus properly on the language, even if that should be the first goal. Also, our studying isn't very much jlpt-oriented, and that complicates things even more because I still need to take the certification but have little time to study for that. [btw, we are using 文化中級日本語II at the moment]. Fortunately, this is my last year, I'm going to have more time to focus on my language skills. Unfortunately, this is my last year, so I need to "concretize" my studies.
Next goals:
-N2
-N1
-win the monkasho scholarship for research students
My current level:
I'd say upper intermediate.
I pick up grammar quite easily and do well in tests. I haven't tried jlpt yet because I felt lower levels were a waste of money (considering I'm taking a degree in Japanese), but I've gone through n3 books and mock tests about a year ago and I made really few to no mistakes so I guess I would have passed them.
I tried a mock test for the monkasho scholarship (out of the blue, without even studying for n2 before) and I got 10 out of 20 questions correct (well, I didn't focus properly on it, but the ones I could have answered were just 2-3 more so it doesn't make a big difference). General meaning was ok, my main problem was vocabulary, I knew many words from Chinese but I had no idea on how to read them in Japanese. (it was the reading part). I've started to have a look of n2 grammar, I already know some points but many others are entirely new to me.
Also, I have some problems with listening, in particular where numbers are involved (well, that happens in every language unfortunately, despite my scientific studies before getting into university -.-''). BIGGEST ONE, I get desperately embarassed anytime I speak with Japanese people. I can understand quite well conversation in Japanese on various subjects, and manage to talk with other people, but any single time is a 1vs1 conversation my mind goes blank (unless I drink a considerable amount of alcohol, but I guess I can't count on that XD. Well, I'm quite shy in general, is not just a matter of Japanese..)
Any suggestion? I'm looking for books, activities etc. At the moment I mainly use the "dictionary of (...) japanese grammar" for reference, and I'm planning to go through n2-n1 books, probably sou matome or kanzen master series). What do you think I should do for vocabulary? I'm not focusing too much on that for now because I already have more than a thousand kanji to learn to read and hand-write by June, plus hanzi from Chinese, but I need to improve a lot. I use anki for university (kanji/hiragana and hiragana/kanji cards, just words because I have reading and writing exercises on test), but I'm not sure about it in general..
I'd like to ask you some suggestions about Japanese learning method, because I've started feeling a bit lost lately but time is running fast.. (sorry for the lenght)
A bit of background:
this is my 5th year at university and I should be on the advanced side of the language, but it isn't so, unfortunately. One of the reason is that I am also studying Chinese (really time consuming) and I have had tons of other exams to prepare so I couldn't focus properly on the language, even if that should be the first goal. Also, our studying isn't very much jlpt-oriented, and that complicates things even more because I still need to take the certification but have little time to study for that. [btw, we are using 文化中級日本語II at the moment]. Fortunately, this is my last year, I'm going to have more time to focus on my language skills. Unfortunately, this is my last year, so I need to "concretize" my studies.
Next goals:
-N2
-N1
-win the monkasho scholarship for research students
My current level:
I'd say upper intermediate.
I pick up grammar quite easily and do well in tests. I haven't tried jlpt yet because I felt lower levels were a waste of money (considering I'm taking a degree in Japanese), but I've gone through n3 books and mock tests about a year ago and I made really few to no mistakes so I guess I would have passed them.
I tried a mock test for the monkasho scholarship (out of the blue, without even studying for n2 before) and I got 10 out of 20 questions correct (well, I didn't focus properly on it, but the ones I could have answered were just 2-3 more so it doesn't make a big difference). General meaning was ok, my main problem was vocabulary, I knew many words from Chinese but I had no idea on how to read them in Japanese. (it was the reading part). I've started to have a look of n2 grammar, I already know some points but many others are entirely new to me.
Also, I have some problems with listening, in particular where numbers are involved (well, that happens in every language unfortunately, despite my scientific studies before getting into university -.-''). BIGGEST ONE, I get desperately embarassed anytime I speak with Japanese people. I can understand quite well conversation in Japanese on various subjects, and manage to talk with other people, but any single time is a 1vs1 conversation my mind goes blank (unless I drink a considerable amount of alcohol, but I guess I can't count on that XD. Well, I'm quite shy in general, is not just a matter of Japanese..)
Any suggestion? I'm looking for books, activities etc. At the moment I mainly use the "dictionary of (...) japanese grammar" for reference, and I'm planning to go through n2-n1 books, probably sou matome or kanzen master series). What do you think I should do for vocabulary? I'm not focusing too much on that for now because I already have more than a thousand kanji to learn to read and hand-write by June, plus hanzi from Chinese, but I need to improve a lot. I use anki for university (kanji/hiragana and hiragana/kanji cards, just words because I have reading and writing exercises on test), but I'm not sure about it in general..