JLPT Update, 電子辞書s & Speech Contest Results
Well, Japanese class kicked my butt last night. I worked with a new teacher, Yuki, on practice tests while Fujita Sensei helped Tam and the new Korean guy on the other side of the room. Yuki is about my age and I really like her teaching style. She knows a lot of English, too, which can be helpful, but we try to only use Japanese. I think we really click and she might start tutoring my outside of class (which I need).
Anyways, I took a Level 4 test and got 100%, which is a good sign... except that I am taking level 3 this weekend. I did part of a Level 3 test and I am still waaay too slow (especially at reading) and there was a lot of vocabulary (including kanji) I didn't know. It shows that I am taking the right level if I can ace the Level 4 stuff (reading, listening and kanji are fine on that one), but not quite up to the standard I need to be at for Level 3. I am going to spend more time studying this week... we'll see how it goes. At least I made the decision not to bail.
On a more random note, I also realized last night that most electronic dictionaries are pretty cool. They will translate kanji readings for you (so you can skip around from character to character and they will tell you how to pronounce them). Sounds pretty simple, but mine doesn't do it. Wow would life would be easier if I could do that, and I now know a bit better what people mean when they say they just follow the kanji reading for a while to pick up new sentences. Shoot... My dictionary is definately still handy, but I wish I had been a little more informed before I dropped the cash for it.
Since I got the message a bit late... let me pass this tip on to you in the event I can catch anyone before buying a 電子辞書 without the best functions: in the least, make sure your new dictionary has the Super Jump function before you buy!
Another little update (on the subject of langauges)... last weekend was the Hyogo Prefecture Speech Contest. Kelly's student came in 5th, but I didn't know who was working at any of the other schools that placed. The kids were apparently practically native speakers, though, and my coworker said my student gave the best performance of any so far... so I was happy. I think we are going to try again next year, which is exciting. I want to get more students involved! Hmmm... I don't think my current ESS members would love the idea of having to do speech contests... but it might not be a bad idea to try it out with them at least once.
Anyways, I took a Level 4 test and got 100%, which is a good sign... except that I am taking level 3 this weekend. I did part of a Level 3 test and I am still waaay too slow (especially at reading) and there was a lot of vocabulary (including kanji) I didn't know. It shows that I am taking the right level if I can ace the Level 4 stuff (reading, listening and kanji are fine on that one), but not quite up to the standard I need to be at for Level 3. I am going to spend more time studying this week... we'll see how it goes. At least I made the decision not to bail.
On a more random note, I also realized last night that most electronic dictionaries are pretty cool. They will translate kanji readings for you (so you can skip around from character to character and they will tell you how to pronounce them). Sounds pretty simple, but mine doesn't do it. Wow would life would be easier if I could do that, and I now know a bit better what people mean when they say they just follow the kanji reading for a while to pick up new sentences. Shoot... My dictionary is definately still handy, but I wish I had been a little more informed before I dropped the cash for it.
Since I got the message a bit late... let me pass this tip on to you in the event I can catch anyone before buying a 電子辞書 without the best functions: in the least, make sure your new dictionary has the Super Jump function before you buy!
Another little update (on the subject of langauges)... last weekend was the Hyogo Prefecture Speech Contest. Kelly's student came in 5th, but I didn't know who was working at any of the other schools that placed. The kids were apparently practically native speakers, though, and my coworker said my student gave the best performance of any so far... so I was happy. I think we are going to try again next year, which is exciting. I want to get more students involved! Hmmm... I don't think my current ESS members would love the idea of having to do speech contests... but it might not be a bad idea to try it out with them at least once.
posted by Brenda Ann Elizabeth McKinney @ 2:41 PM
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