Monbukagakusho Scholarship for Postgraduate!!

[jim84]

Hi Nall, don't give up yet. There's still time to find out what went wrong. You deserve a reasonable explanation. Whether it's some stupid quota or whatever, at least you know whether the error is on your part or theirs and can move on with no regrets.
I wish you all the very best in lieu of all your efforts and commitments.

 

[kouki]

Nall,

Sorry for the late message. I am sorry about your case. Now to think of that, I am becoming more worried...

>Malaysians
The embassy is going to have holiday from 27 December 2008 to 5 January 2009. I am very nervous now...

 

[menrui]

Do joined us during the steamboat fest later.

It will be a steamboat fest for 1.

 

[jim84]

Nall,
Sorry for the late message. I am sorry about your case. Now to think of that, I am becoming more worried...
>Malaysians
The embassy is going to have holiday from 27 December 2008 to 5 January 2009. I am very nervous now...

I think that's usual for most countries. THen there's chinese new year in January. So lets hope it'll come out first week of February.

 

[Lancetology]

It will be a steamboat fest for 1.

hahahaha........nevermind, its OK...when I posted such reply..judging from your level of mentality...this is expected...as I mentioned, its all depends on your way of interpretation. Whatever George W.Bush did, he might be a hatred for some group, but could be heroes as for others.
I really hope you can get the scholarship, so that you will have the chance to expose, while widening, sharpness your mindset. Hope your supervisor won't tell you:" If you don't like it to be in this way, then you may leave & go back."
well...looks like its time for me to leave this forum, as my initial intention is to gain some information...mission is accomplished...thank you very much for kindly providing such a precious info. All the best for the application (all of you).

 

[kawabanga]

Oh come on! No one is paying attention to my previous post about the various (good) sources to self-study the japanese language, but focus instead on such discussion?!?!

Now I feel hurt!!

I demand attention (preferably lots of them)!!



Signing out for the night, for another tomorrow...

 

[jim84]

Congratulations, and I hate you!
Nothing personal, of course.
Have fun!
P.S. While I'm not not counting on getting the scholarship, I have a promising lead on plan F (plans B through E have come up short).

Hey Nall,
sorry if my following question has been raised before.
But is it possible that they keep putting you as an alternate because you have received the MEXT scholarship once before?
I've heard of some scholarships which prefers to give opportunities to fresh applicants and have policies of not awarding the same person twice. Though i understand what you're applying is for different level of education. But still, it could be a somewhat weird policy that we cannot beat.

 

[jim84]

and Lancetology,
I've been keeping my cool for quite a while now. I hate to say this. But dude, you seriously have an attitude problem.
What makes a decent person comes not only from brilliance, intelligence and ironman confidence, but also from a humble, noble character who knows how to balance their intelligence with emotional quotient and spiritual quotient.
Decency is what the society needs, not plain intelligence blended with sacarcism and arrogance.
The feel of superiority may provide you with confidence and sense of security. But a great leader knows the difference between confidence and arrogance. You are young, aggresive, impulsive, confident, successful, ambitious, brilliant, outspoken, courageous, fearless, it's good, but it doesn't grant you the right to be rude to others.
This thread has over 90,000 viewers from all over the world. And we are pretty positive that people from the scholarship authorities and embassy are monitoring our posts from time to time. It doesn't do you any good behaving like this.
While you're in the lab with your high profile supervisors and mentors, there are 2 more things you can learn from them: Respect and Manners.
Knowledge is precious, but respect is priceless. Earn it by first respecting others.

 

[menrui]

kawabanga,
haha, i was going to comment on your post, but something took my mind off of it...

"Japanese From Zero! 1" : this looks like a good book for those starting from nothing. it teaches pronounciation and hiragana(does it teach katakana?). it even has a work book, which is always good. the only thing bad about it is that it doesnt have an audio cd.

freejapaneselessons.com : free is good... but i think this website is a horrible way to learn. there are no example sentence, no sample dialogue, and no practice stuff. i would go crazy bored and just quit. i didnt look at the videos yet. if you are really serious, please buy a book or some thing.

Pimsleur- Japanese audio, youtube.com/watch?v=k0oFzx9ikoY&feature=channel_page : im not a big fan of the audio stuff. its a good way to jump start... but will fail you in the long run. it helps you pronounce words, but it hardly teaches grammar or verb conjugations. and there is no writing/reading practice.

in my opinion, stick with a japanese course base text book. if it has an audio cd, that would be great. my school used "yookoso!". i think you can get a used one for about 5USD these days. i downloaded the audio cds online.

in other note, i've been memorizing kanjis lately. im about half way through with the jlpt2 set of kanjis. gooo me!

 

[kimberleylhj]

Menrui, that's a very good move. My sensei told me that it's best for me to memorize about 2000 kanjis before I leave IF I get the scholarship especially since kanji is my weakest part in learning the language.

Pilarika, congratulations!!! Am now wondering when more of us can share the good news too.

Nall-ohki, good luck for your plan F.

 

[jim84]

Hi menrui,
just curious, how do you learn kanji based on levels?
I know there are a set of kanjis for each level. But you learn them just on strokes + pronunciation or together with text and usage? The list of kanji can be obtained easily but i can't find the text the teaches kanji specifically in a systematic manner. Or is it we just learn the kanji whenever they pop up in the main text while we study everything chapter by chapter?

 

[menrui]

2000 kanjis before april would be impossible for me. i think i know about 500-600 right now. even so, i only know a few vocabulary(like 1 or 2) that goes with each kanji.

basically, first im learning the meaning of each kanji, then i learn the stroke, then i learn some useful jplt vocab they are associated with, as well as how those vocabs are used. i put the vocab/kanji into my flashcard program(anki) so i can review them periodically. thats my system for now thanks to www.jlpt-kanji.com

i understand what you mean ooilingfan. during my first 2 years of japanese courses, we were learning kanjis separately from the textbook and our text book didnt teach for the purpose of jlpt. hmm my advice, dont learn kanjis as they "pop up" in your text book because you might be learning kanjis in a higher grade and out of order. if your textbook advises you to learn certain kanjis for the chapter, follow that. otherwise try to learn kanjis by grade level or jplt level.

 

[Charles Barkley]

japandream,
-those are not exactly "drinking things". they are "get togethers" that people often drink at. getting together is the most important part, so you dont have to drink.

- also, i think they do plenty of hanami, hanabi, barbeque, and small parties too.

-people often drink a light beer even at a hanami.

Seriously, are you talking about Japan here?

-"a" "light" beer at hanami? Hanami, among young people anyway, has very little to do with flowers, and very much to do with alcohol. Note: this applies to older people as well. If "table" applies to a picnic blanket or mat, you will be very unlikely to find one that has japanese people and no alcohol on it.

-plenty of hanabi? More likely to find plenty of 窶｢@ﾅ椎 than 窶ｰﾃ披?ｰﾃ?

-nomikais are very much drinking things. You will easily be able to avoid drinking and not being thought strange for it if you are a woman. If you are a guy, there will be pressure. Konpa are also massive drinking things, especially for new members.


To sum up: In Japan there is pressure to drink, especially on guys. Obviously you don't have to. And obviously if you plan your own activities, meet certain friends, etc, it won't negatively impact your life. With that said, it is a very important part of Japanese male culture and to say otherwise would be misleading...

Nall Oki: What the hell man. I am really sorry to hear that. To be put through that not once but twice...

Are you done applying now?

 

[menrui]

*bows head in shame

yeah ok, you should probably listen to charles on this one. im just throwing guesses. in any case, you dont "have" to drink.

 

[jim84]

so menrui, are you saying that there is a separate method and syllabus of learning kanji? i'm only picking up the kanji vocabularies now through textbooks. Whenever i encounter a new kanji i'll memorise the furigana and meaning. So it's kinda random. If i keep doing this i may not cover enough relevant kanjis for jlpt, should i be doing jlpt next time.

 

[kimberleylhj]

probably not enough for jlpt 2 and 1.

 

[abeeyo_q8]

in my opinion, stick with a japanese course base text book. if it has an audio cd, that would be great. my school used "yookoso!". i think you can get a used one for about 5USD these days. i downloaded the audio cds online.

for those of you looking for a good beginners textbook to start learning japanese from scratch i recommend the "nakama" and "genki" series

nakama comes with cd's but it's hard cover so it'll probably be more expensive

i know the "genki" series is available on sasugabooks.com (for those living in the US) i'm sure it's available from other websites. it's paperback so probably cheaper than "nakama"

 

[menrui]

there doesnt have to be a separate syllabus... but our textbook did not teach or even advise any kanjis. so we it was necessary for us to learn kanjis seperate.

i dont know what text book you are using, but if it uses alot of common low elementary grade kanjis, then your method isnt such a bad idea.

i just read some stuff about the "genki" series. it seems like a really good book. it has grammar/vocab, kanji practices, dialogues, exercises, and even a cd and workbook(sold separately). moreover, it has high ratings from amazon.com . i have the "intermediate" book of these series and i think its great, so the beginners book should be good too. i would highly recommend the "genki" series for anyone who is starting.

 

[jim84]

i see.
well, i'm using the 'minna no nihongo' series. It's quite popular among language centres in Malaysia. It's quite simple, so i don't think i'm learning enough. Need to get my hands on more other references if got the time
Thanks for the advice guys.

 

[abeeyo_q8]

my university used to use the nakama series then it changed recently to the genki series...i've taken a look at the actual text. it's pretty good, i like that it doesn't use any romaji after they've taught all kana, which is something that really bothers me about other texts...cause this way you don't practice reading your kana as much

as for reference books and such...there is a set "grammar dictionaries"
there are 3, basic, intermediate, and advanced
it's just like a dictionary, but instead of alphabeticizing words it's grammar points
i have all 3...i think the basic and intermediate are the most helpful...the advanced is more a collection of words and examples of how they're used rather than actual grammar like the first two

the authors of the series are seiichi makino and michio tsutsui for those interested
those are also available at sasugabooks.com
they're small kinda like manga size, but run up to like 600-700 pages
i'd definitely recommend them as a side reference to those who have a taken a class or two

 

[kawabanga]

Dear all, I received a letter from the embassy today stating that I have been tentatively selected and that MEXT is currently considering my placement into a university. In spite of the tentativity, I am ecstatically exhilarated.

 

[silverPenciled]

Woohoooo ! Kawabanga ! Congratulations great news! THis is awesome !

Seems people are starting to get replies , well for me, I have received an Email from the Embassy as well telling me that I was officially selected by MEXT (they even wrote that in big bold letters) and was "tentatively" accepted by Tamabi, ... Yes they used the same exact word "Tentatively" ... They also told me to keep a copy of my passport ready at any time ...
When I asked about the "tentative" part ;they told me they will know for sure which University I may get placed at by February... I hope things work out because Tamabi is the only University I have applied for and I did this according to my consulate's advice ... but so far so good for knowing I have been selected ... I mean this is it for now right ??
((other than the University's own Entrance exams )

 

[DaiUso]

Hello Everyone!!

Congratulations Kawabanga & SilverPenciled!!

I have been reading this forum for quite a while, it is very helpful.
Have gone through all the similar stages - got the embassy recommendation and LOA from two different univercities. But up to today i haven't been able to add anything useful.
This forum has helped me allot in coping with the long wait for the final reply (and all the stages before that) - seeing that i wasn't alone in it
And yesterday it payed off - received The Letter that I'm accepted to the scholarship, though the answer about the specific university will come later.

So to all those who are still waiting - hang in there! The answers may come any moment now!

*still waiting for the uni reply...*

 

[pilarika]

wow, this is amazing, silverPenciled!!! we might be going together to Tamabi if all works right for both of us. Its awesome!

Congratulations to you and kawabanga!!!.... It feels great knowing that we are all recieving good news so soon!! For my country anyway, calls from the embassy came around 2 weeks earlier than last year.

 

[menrui]

congrats guys.

oh and welcome to the club daiuso. i guess its more like a waiting room now haha.

i havent received any news from my embassy/consulate, university/prof., or MEXT... waiting is driving me crazy~. also, there will be a big holiday these next 2 weeks, so maybe i will have to wait till january to recieve anything.