Studying Japanese and the Japanese Language Proficiency Test

On Sunday I took level 2 of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT). I've been studying for it on and off for the past year. I thought I would do fine on what little practice tests I tried and because my current Japanese class has been acting as a JLPT prep course for me, but the test was completely something different from what I was expecting. The moment I opened the test and started answering the first section of questions, I felt like I had an epiphany of how I've been going about this the wrong way. I really should have switched to the All Japanese All The Time method sooner. Not for this test though, but for my Japanese studies as a whole.

I thought that if I studied and memorized a bunch of words on their own I would get really good with vocabulary. However, that hasn't been working out at all for me. I've found myself not being to recall words during conversations even though it would be considered a mature card in my vocabulary deck. As this has been happening more and more often as I attempt to talk about more complex topics with the people I've been getting to know more, I've been growing more and more frustrated with it. One day it just hit me: studying words on their own and out of context really is useless; words on their own really are useless.

Nevertheless, I managed to somehow get through the reading, kanji, and grammar sections. They weren't quite what I was expecting though. I studied the new directions on the test, but it was still strangely different. It wasn't as rigidly structured as I was expecting. While I noticed lots of things that I had studied (but maybe not enough), I did find some questions where I ended up having to guess the answer based on my knowledge of kanji. But then I realized that I even though I did know words that were given as possible answers, I didn't really know what context a lot of those words actually should be used in. While that did not stop me from answering the questions (hopefully correctly) at the time, I still felt like there was a gap missing.

While I was mulling this over in the back of my mind, I finally reached the reading section with maybe an hour left. I always considered my reading to be just fine, maybe even a strong point of mine, considering I have no fear of reading novels. But at this point in the test, I just could not concentrate at all. I think I got through the first and second reading all right, but by then most of the people around me were finished with their test. Since they were done, they were flipping through their exams to check the answers and some were even using the test to fan themselves. The flapping noises of the papers just got louder and louder to me as I felt the end of the test nearing. On top of that, the two women proctors in our classroom were wearing heels. As the end of the test grew nearer and people were starting to make more and more noise and movements, the the proctors were walking a great deal more than they had before around the room. The noises from their heels just drove me mad. I wanted to get up, shake them, and scream at them to stop walking around. I read and read again, but what I was reading just was not sticking in my head. I wasn't even able to get the answers to stick in my head and found myself constantly asking myself what I had just read. I ran out of time and because I didn't specifically have my own personal watch so I could keep track of the time, I had 4 or 5 answers left blank at the end.

Then the break came. I was especially pissed off by everyone and everything because I felt I had done so poorly on the reading section, which I felt I should have done fine on. I began wondering why I decided I wanted to take this test now of all times in the first place. To prove something to others? Maybe to prove to myself that I'm better than this, and that I really shouldn't have been placed in the level I have been placed in? Even some of the graduate students in the Japanese department at my home university cannot manage to pass level 2. Since I'll only have a few credits left to fulfill before I'm eligible to graduate from university after I return from my year abroad here, I guess a part of me feels like I'm running out of time. Time to learn enough Japanese so I can immediately attempt to jump into an office job so I have a net to catch me instead of having to work as a waitress or retail or anything like that.

Though aside from my difficulties at recalling words, I've always thought that my grammar really, really sucks when I try to have a conversation. I can write an essay just fine, but I feel like I sound like a baby during conversations. I just can't come up with complicated sentences and ideas that I want to express on the spot during a conversation. Is that just the stress and pressure of being in a conversation? Or am I just too damn hard on myself and my speech is actually okay? This could be the case since I can usually get what I'm trying to say across, even if I feel like I had to flounder about in order to do it.

A part of me just wanted to quit and go home then and there, but I forced myself back inside the test site to complete the last part: the listening section. The listening section seemed painfully slow and easy to understand to me, though I kept on catching myself zoning out or thinking about the previous question at times and then missing out on maybe the answer or part of the conversation we were listening to. The listening exercises we do in class are much faster and much more like a real human would speak, if you ask me. Even the "choose the best response in this situation" section was a bit lame. As long as you knew the situation, it was pretty easy to judge the correct response based on the nuance of the speaker. It's almost like a joke when you consider the fact that this test is supposed to evaluate your knowledge when it comes to "everyday life." Japanese do not speak that slow and textbook-like in real life. I learned that very well back when I traveled with all of those Japanese girls to Akita during the Nogyaru rice harvesting tour (on a side note, I really feel terrible for being too broke/busy to find a chance to reconnect with them). After that experience, even the speech of my own teachers sounds slow to me.

I was more than ready to go home when the test finally came to a conclusion. As I got onto the train to Ikebukuro, I was feeling a bit defeated thanks to the reading portion. Naturally, the train ride was a time for some reflection.

I recently met someone who has already passed level 2 and took level 1 on Sunday. Despite this, I find him incredibly hard to understand when he speaks and I have to really concentrate. It kind of sounds like he's stuttering and tumbling over his words. He said he was not used to conversing in Japanese, so here he was in the same club as me, which is essentially a conversation club. So, maybe he's just nervous to talk in Japanese? And yet, when a Japanese person overheard the two of us talking with one another, I was praised for my Japanese abilities because I can speak "naturally." When I think back on a situation like this, I wonder what is the point of the test. I originally signed up for the test thinking I would use it to evaluate my Japanese. I know that it'll probably be required of me when I go to apply for a job in the adult world, but does it actually prove or properly evaluate anything at all? I've read and heard about so many other people who have already passed the test, but they can't speak at all. Yet, they can fill in the blanks just fine, and that's good enough to get a certificate showing how "proficient" you are. Now that I've gone and faced the big bad scary JLPT level 2, I feel a bit cheated in that respect.

At this point there's a part of me just feels stuck in my language learning. I know from now on I'm going to work on creating a deck on Anki filled with sentences, not just words. I've been reading and rereading portions of All Japanese All The Time looking for more inspiration. I'm just not sure where to start. Should I first start by taking sentences from the light novel I'm reading, Hakushaku to yousei (The Earl and the Fairy), or should I go through and add all of the sentences in my textbook? I really hate my textbook though; it's filled with newspaper articles from 15 years ago, and so out of date.

I'd kind of like to use the JLPT vocab list as a standard for which words I should seek out to know. However, I have a feeling that if I go through my light novel and seek out newspaper articles to mine sentences from, then I'll naturally encounter those words along the way. In any case, I really need to sit down and consider how I'm going to proceed in my studies from now on. Most of that though will be getting over my own mental roadblock.

As for how I actually did on the test, I won't find out how I actually did though until mid-February, unfortunately. For now I suppose I'll just forget about it, and move forward.

Shinjuku

I decided today I wanted to time myself so I could figure out how much time I should give myself in the morning to get ready and get to school.

So, it takes me about a half hour to do my makeup. And I even did my eyelashes perfectly on the first try today! Thanks to the tips I saw in the latest issue of Jelly magazine. Hooray!

But I guess this means I should get up two hours before school starts? x.X

In any case, after that we headed off to Shinjuku to go back to Kinokuniya. Daniel searched for a book he needed to get for school, but unfortunately they didn't have it in stock and would take 2-3 weeks to get in.

Since we were in the area, we headed back to Old New York Pasta.

I ordered the pizza I got before and Daniel got himself some pasta. His pasta was actually pretty good besides the onions which I was not expecting nor wanted.

I felt like dressing up today so I wore the dress I bought from Cecil McBee with my high heeled boots. I think I lost some weight since I got here though! Before I had trouble zipping the dress up by myself (the zipper is under my left arm) but now I can do it pretty easily.

Too bad the lighting in my pictures suck because the window was behind me.

The picture I took of Daniel came out better, as you can see. Though the woman looking directly at us behind his shoulder looks kinda creepy.

After eating we came straight home, where I've been doing some studying and now was supposed to do some interpreting work...or so I thought, but no one's coming online...so guess I'll just study grammar now while I wait.

To Kinokuniya

Yesterday was Dan's day off from school, so we decided we'd go back to Shinjuku. Really good thing too, since I was itching to go out somewhere, even if it's just to walk around and see what there is to see or just go look at the shiny electronics and accessories in Bic Camera.

There was a surprising chill in the air yesterday. I wanted to wear my new dress and furry vest from Cecil McBee, but it wasn't quite THAT cold enough. I ended up wearing my other one-piece from Cecil McBee, the one with the Engrish, and some leggings. Also wore these boots for the first time I bought a while ago. Unfortunately I was dumb enough not to wear socks and got some blisters on the back of my right heel.

So yeah, Shinjuku. We sought out Kinokuniya, a very large Japanese bookstore branch (it even has a few stores in America). While we knew vaguely where we could find it, we weren't sure for sure so we started wandering around.

We saw a Taito arcade and decided to stop in there first, but didn't really see anything we'd want to try getting from the UFO catchers, Daniel did end up playing one arcade game and I managed to rest my aching feet for a little bit. After that we left and looked for the bookstore some more. After checking out a map, we finally found our way and made it.

I looked at a map for the bookstore and figured what we wanted would be on the seventh floor, so we headed to the elevators. I was surprised that they actually have people running the elevators and telling you what's on each floor as you go. We made it to the seventh floor and started looking around.

I saw a surprising amount of studying materials for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. It took me forever to figure out that there was a sign saying that we have to ask for the application form at the register though, silly me. Daniel was surprised to find that they stocked the textbook he needs for his Japanese class. He said he thought they wouldn't have so many foreign books, and they indeed did have quite a bunch of them. So, he ended up getting that and I got the application form together with the JLPT official guide book since it had a practice exam inside. I think I might go back and get the other practice books later. There was also a book about how to get a job in Japan for international exchange students, so I'll probably pick that up as well sometime in the future.

After that, we were hungry so we headed to a place called Old New York Pasta.

We got a four cheese pizza, which surprisingly had no tomato sauce. Oh, and it had chicken. What?? I ordered cheese, not cheese and chicken...but it didn't matter since the pizza was really good. It didn't last very long before we devoured the entire thing.

Afterwards we headed to the train station and headed home. However, despite my aching feet we had one last stop: The new store that's like a CVS called Drug Papas was having a super special opening sale and everything in the store was 20% off!＼(゜□゜)／ The store wasn't supposed to have its grand opening until Saturday, so we hurried in and started buying like crazy. I managed to get a good cheap nail polish remover, and a bunch of cheap cotton puffs, amongst other things...

...like Natchan! apple juice! I'm trying to stay off apple juice, but the logo is just so cute...I can't resist it!! You can see the nail polish remover and the cotton puffs in the picture too lol And yes, that is my ironing board...we have no proper table to do homework on or write on, so we've been using the ironing board.


Anyway, everything was cheap, we were intending to buy a lot thinking we'd just charge it to the credit card. We even found Bounty paper towels and Listerine. I even found a box of 34 tampons. It took me forever to find though, since they were hidden on a small portion of the top shelf and surrounded by a whole aisle of a bajillion brands of pads.

The line was super huge and snaked around the whole store. And then we got to the front of the line, and there was a sign that said that credit cards can't be used until Tuesday. (￣□￣;)!! So we paid for the whole thing in cash, which wasn't too much luckily since everything was discounted... I managed to get one of their point cards though, but even the point card can't be used until Monday! I guess this means that their opening sale is going to last all weekend.

By the way, the building for Drug Papas was nothing the first day we got here. Absolutely nothing, just ground. But they built it and made it into a working store so quickly! Just one month!! Watching their progress day by day was really interesting.

So we headed home and I took the non-listening portion of the practice exam in the official guide book. I got 24 out of 31 questions right, which is a 77% which means I passed that portion. Yay! I looked over the ones I got wrong again and nearly all of them were stupid mistakes since I started getting tired/lazy and I should have known better. But there's still a lot of vocabulary I need to study (over 2000 words still) and still a lot of grammar I need to go through. Also I haven't even tackled any listening yet.

Someone said that they try to read a half hour a day of Japanese printed things, so I think I might go to BookOff and buy a used novel. I should probably also try to watch those stupid talk shows for at least an hour a day to tune my hearing too.

Today I'll probably do laundry and make more flashcards. Gonna try to do at least 20 grammar points today.

Tonkatsu

I ended up striking out quite a bit everywhere today. I need to buy an application form for JLPT, so we went to the bookstore near the train station, but they didn't have it. Then we went to a tonkatsu place, and I wanted to get tonkatsu curry and rice but I didn't notice where it was on the menu until after we gave our orders (and the meals come within 5 minutes so it was too late by the time I noticed it).

The tonkatsu itself was good, but I wasn't really a fan of the sauce, which was like a mixture of soy sauce and BBQ sauce. It feels heavy in my stomach and makes me feel a bit sick.

Aaaand in one last ditch effort for something good to happen, we went to Sunkus and I asked about reserving the new Pokemon games (which come out the 18th) but they weren't taking any more reservations for them. *cries*

So we bought bread and headed home. And about 10-20 minutes later, the door buzzer rung, so I went to answer the door. Turns out that it was the care package my mom sent me, yay! So now I has American cereal, peanut butter, jelly, bagels, and Doritos. Yessss. Next month I'll have to ask my mom to send mac and cheese.

Cafe Disastero

Yesterday I woke up around 9:30 to get up and meet Dan at the ward office so we could get our alien registration cards. It only took a few minutes, but man...we really look like aliens on them!! Our skin looks so white and our eyes look dark and like they're popping out. But now we don't have to run around with our passport anymore, yay! Dan had some time before he had to hop on the train and head back to class, so we headed over to Cafe Gusto for lunch. More like Cafe Disastero though...

We looked over the menu and saw what was called "cheese in burger." Cheese in burger? What's that? We thought it was some weird Engrish for cheese burger, so we both ordered it without a second thought. It took a bit longer to arrive than food usually does in Japan (in Japan we usually get our food within 5-10 minutes, and they even apologize for how long it took when they bring our meal over), but when we did it get it, nothing could prepare us for what was "cheese in burger." It was not actually a cheese burger. No, it was really cheese IN a burger. And the burger itself was so juicy and greasy, and after you took a few bites everything just came streaming out when you tried to squeeze some of the juice out of the burger, including all of the nasty cheese. I wish we had taken a picture of it, but it was already such a mess it was too late when we thought to. I just couldn't handle it. It was just so much, I'm surprised Dan managed to eat it all. I felt sick the whole day after eating it.

After we went our separate ways, I headed home to do laundry and make flashcards. The Japanese Language Proficiency Test is in December, so I figure I better start cracking on the grammar. I have to know 173 different grammar points for this test orz My deck is about 371 cards now, so I'm about halfway done making them all now maybe?