Study for Japanese Continuers (1 Viewer)

[tOnnyAyye]

Hey. I'm just wondering how to study effectively for Japanese.

Should I refresh my vocabularly, kanji and structure from the preliminary now ? I tend to forget some over time.

Advise on listening, speaking and writing ? I get 60-70% for my speaking test and the teacher commented that I lacked confidence, I tend to stutter just to answer appropriately to a question. For listening, I could not tell when a part of the conversation is important to take down, and this made me lose marks because I am not answering the question properly. Finally, for my writing, I tend to get stuck on what to write.

How do you guys study for Japanese ? I used to do well from Year 8-10 [my marks are around the 80-90%], but somehow my marks were down [55-70%]. ==
Do you use the "look,say, cover, write, check" technique for both vocabs and kanji ? O_O

Please help ! Provide any suggestions ! =]

Thanks

 

[jl91]

Hi there

Studying for Japanese can be hard, but if you use the right methods and invest enough time and effort you'll definitely see results. I had a hard time with writing too in year eleven, but with enough practise I managed to get a state ranking.

The crux of senior Japanese is to master the appropriate use of vocabulary, kanji, and senior structures and to demonstrate that you can apply them to answer a given question in written and verbal format. I'll give you some advice based on my experience.

Listening: When listening to the recording try to filter out the key information (use your reading time to figure out what information you need) such as when, who, what, where, why, how and jot down the key points. Listening to jpop sometimes helps to recognise spoken Japanese.

Speaking: Confidence is a big issue. Even if you're not sure, just pretend you are and go for it. Make sure that your answers are simple 'hai' 'iie' '~desu' one sentence answers. take a deep breath and start with a general sentence that you can elaborate on. For example, if they ask you about your best friend then say 'my best friend's name is blah' then continue with 'he is my best friend because blah' 'we often blah together' etc. and ramble on. Try to use new vocabulary and grammar structures to earn some points. If you really want to do well, prepare beforehand. you can usually tell what sort of topics will be tested. prepare some answers beforehand and practise.

Writing: Just make sure to answer all parts of the question, match the text type, use enough kanji, use a variety of nouns, adjectives and verbs. Try and use 1-2 senior structures in every sentence. Variety is the key. To answer your problem, invest five minutes of your exam time planning out your composition beforehand. This will stop you getting stuck. Another problem with writing in exams is that students often run out of time, and this is normal. The only way out of this is lots and lots of practise at home.

If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.

 

[tOnnyAyye]

Thanks for the advise.

During this holiday, I try to do some study for Japanese by reviewing the Preliminary course, including structure, kanji and vocabulary [the textbook used was Wakkata]. The problem I have when mastering these is that I feel like I'm not learning it correctly. My teacher gave me Mirai 5 and 6 CDs for me to listen and Mirai 6 textbook and workbook. But i also receive holiday homeworks which is using the textbook Obento Senior.

How do you review vocabs, kanji and structure, with the textbook ?? How to apply these in speaking and writing task ??

 

[jl91]

I used Wakatta during my HSC too. I don't really get what you mean by you're not sure that you're mastering it properly. Do you mean structures or kanji or vocab? With vocabulary use whichever method suits you best. If the "look, say, cover, write, check" method works well for you that's fine, but you also have to master how you can change these words into their polite, plain, present tense, past tense and negative forms. For kanji there really is no way other than to keep practising writing and recognising them. As for structure. What might help is if you read passages from textbooks, look at how the structures and vocabulary are utilised in them. Those passages often also are topic based, so they give you insight into what sort of kanji, vocabulary and structures are useful for each topic.

speaking and writing: just use key words. for example if you're writing about school life, it'd be strange not to use words like 'school', 'subject', 'homework' etc.and many of these can be written using prescribed kanji.

Good luck.

 

[tOnnyAyye]

I think I got your idea. As of right now, I have the Obento workbook to do as holiday homework, Wakkata unit books from the prelims, and Mirai 6 textbook for the HSC. What should I be doing now so that I can learn Japanese efficiently and effectively ? Should I review the preliminary course, working on the Obento workbook with dictionary, or learn new vocabs, structures and kanji with Mirai 6 ?

 

[tOnnyAyye]

how about comprehension ??? How would you read the text and answer the questions given ??

 

[asianese]

Thanks for the advice. Curious as to your mark for state rank? Thanks.