JLPT Roundup, February 2010

February has been a busy month, with lots of distractions that have limited my ability to study, but more importantly I decided to shift gears big time in my study of the JLPT after getting some sagely advice from my wife. One day, while talking to her about my Japanese she stated that I tend to use a lot of big words, but I use them incorrectly and my overall conversational skills are really hit-or-miss, usually miss. For example when talking with her friends I often make incomplete or funny sentences.

It was brutal advice, but what she said was true and made me rethink my approach. Another time she suggested that I read more to see how Japanese actually sounds in context and how people actually use it. She knew Japanese students who learned English by memorizing large volumes of vocabulary, but still couldn’t communicate, because they didn’t know how to apply that knowledge correctly.

So, I dug out some Buddhist-history manga my inlaws had sent me, and set aside the big vocabulary lists for the N2 JLPT. Right away I started learning new words and how to use them correctly, while enjoying the story. The particular manga though was too advanced for me (probably N1 JLPT level I think, if you want to title, let me know), so I went to the local Japan import store and found another good manga called 宇宙の兄弟 (uchū no kyōdai, “Space brothers?”), which was highly rated for 2009, and has proven to be a good read, though at times still a little advanced. So, I found some other manga sources more for middle-school aged kids and found my sweet-spot. Lots of good vocab to learn, which I look up quickly on my iPhone and jisho.org, but still easy enough for me to follow along and enjoy the story. As I get more comfortable, I can then move up to slightly better manga and such.

This doesn’t mean it was easy. At first it was rather discouraging to see how little I understood from our basic, adult-level manga, but I tried to detach my feelings from it, and just learn the words. As the words tended to repeat, reading became a bit easier over time, as I didn’t have to learn as much material, and now I could remember some words pretty easy once I had seen them in context so many times.

Meanwhile, I have been also trying to listen to Japanese more, and I noticed an interesting trend where if I listen to regular, adult-level Japanese podcasts daily, then go back and watch cartoons with my little girl, the cartoons seem slow to me. That’s a good sign in that I am getting acclimated to normal speed. Sadly, this past week, I had a raging ear infection for a week¹ before I finally went to the doctor to fix it, so I wasn’t listening much. I hope to get back on it again soon.

So, I’ve set aside a lot of “test study material” and vocab lists and just decided that if I really wanted to learn Japanese and not just get certified (if lucky), then I had to really challenge myself. I think the JLPT is also changing gears as well, to avoid the shortcuts people take to memorize large lists, and not be able to demonstrate actual language skills, so perhaps this change in my approach is better in the long-run, even if not directly related to the JLPT. Once test time approaches, I will go back and review the materials again, rather than use them as my primary source. By then, I should know enough anyway to not have to cram so hard. Or so I hope.

So that’s it for February. On that note, I decided for sure to go for the N3 this year, and will take the N2 the following year. I feel in light of various ongoings, this is the best course, and still within my “five year plan”.

¹ I learned the hard way that cotton swabs are bad for inside the ear, as that wax there actually protects your ears from infection, not the other way around. As the doctor put it to me “don’t put anything in your ear smaller than your elbow.” Good advice. Sorry, I know it’s gross, but well, I learned my lesson and wanted to pass along the advice. That ear infection was hell.