u started already? like one week max right? they sent you the entire package eh? oh it scared me... it was like japanese everywhere!! except the folder... *shows the world her folder*
anyhow... there's barely any new structures you learn in Jap Ext... well perhaps its bc my Jap Cont teacher at school gave us every single strucutre in the Wakatta textbook so i felt like it wasn't very difficult. The most impoirtant structure you learn in Jap Ext would be passive.. and boy does it impress the marker when you use it in CONT!! nobody knows what your talking about.. except the teacher! =p
Yeah i felt like i'm degrading the topic when i wrote about it in such simple sentences. But what i did was think think think, like i said, and so then whatever i wrote was in depth. but don't get in the trap i did.. using overly long sentences with tonnes of structures. sometimes it works. othertimes its best to create the same deepness and thoughtfulness through short concise sentences. Don't confuse the marker! balance is the key, really. Look, the people at BOS don't expect you to write like a native, they really dont. Look at the standard packages. Their top band cut offs ARE achievable.
Just simply have an original idea with each and every unpredictable question. and you gotta remember that all the questions are related to the issue, therefore they're all inter-related so its somewhat easier in that sense to think of something just on the spot. The most important thing, is to create A PIECE of writing where your eloquence should really reflect a highly sophisticated and original way of thinking. i think too much, so it was sometimes hard for me to write down everything i wanted to say.. the more i wrote, the more complex and deeper it got... but yea... it definitely wasn't shallow stuff for sure!
yes, there's also no prescibed vocabulary list or whatever, unlike Cont, which also worried me. But you know what, they don't really care. OHS gives you pink, blue and green booklet... and just prior to the trials, you would've known every single word... as well as your own useful vocabulary... its not that hard if u use it a lot in ur essays, speeches, conversations and answers generally.
i didn't memorise the new vocab from the prescribed text.. i simply rewrote it and got the most important meaning through it, recognised the kanji and new words by contextualising it and relating it to the issue.
Jap Cont ha Ext to kurabete, hontou ni motto muzukashii ne!