I've mentioned the Japanese test I was preparing for and took in December, and it looked like I did as badly as I thought: I didn't pass. But it wasn't like it was a surprise--the test was HARD! Surprisingly, a weak area was the listening section, which is usually people's strongest area, and should have been mine. But I guess I wasn't in test-mode when I was listening to the tape during the test; I was just listening to understand the dialogue instead of focusing in on the task. Also, I haven't lived or been to Japan since the early 90's, which explains why people online say that the listening is easy for them--they're usually living there, or have just returned from there. And I'm amazed I survived that three-hour-plus test, and wouldn't doubt it if most of the people in the room didn't pass either.
So I'm wondering if I should study hard for it again, and risk failing again. At least it gives me a goal in my studies; if I didn't have a test to take at the end of the year, I would be a Japanese-studying blob. Even if I fail this year, which I shouldn't, I can remain focused for next year. As I've also said before, I hadn't taken a test in over six years when I took the Japanese test, so I wasn't used to zipping through everything to beat the clock. There were several questions and reading passages that only a highly-trained robot could ace in such a short amount of time.
I still am receiving my Yookoso mailing lists that contain kanji (Japanese characters) and grammar, and I've been ignoring them for a couple of months, so they've been piling up in my email inbox. Now I have to start the memorization game to be able to survive this year's test, which I most likely will attempt again.
2 comments:
02 27 06
Hey MJ:
I think you should go for it! Most attorneys have to take the Bar exam twice and CPA's oft must repeat the test. Best Wishes and keep the resolve! I have been putting off the GRE for a couple of years now and I have to take it in November or December. But I only have this chance to take it if I want to immediately go to a grad programme, otherwise I must take it as a Master's student and they really grade you on a harder scale then!
Do you think you have test anxiety? I know that is an issue for me; setting up my mind to be in "test mode." But you know what to do. This Danish thing is a curiosity for me, but I have gone to some sites just to listen to it spoken like Internet news sites and things like that.
Do they have a Japan town where you are from? OK take care and best wishes:)
I didn't have test anxiety, I just wasn't used to trying to read tons of Japanese and answer hundreds of questions at a rapid pace! I didn't realize how much there was going to be on the test.
We don't have a Japan Town, just a Chinatown and Polish town and Mexico town(s) and others. But I do sometimes work in an area where there are Japanese stores and restaurants and I eavesdrop on people's Japanese conversations. Now that I know what the test is like, I just have to train myself to work as quickly as humanly possible! :(
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