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[Deleted member 17706]

it happens with all sorts of words in conversation here. i've heard people say stuff like "seibu" or "azabu" without really pronouncing the "u", too - now, of course if you make a plosive consonant like b (or t) then something will come after, but it's not a full rendering of the vowel sound and that's the same thing i'm saying's happening when people drop the と in 京都. arguing that japanese people are incapable of ending words in consonants is kind of absurd!

Not incapable. Just generally not in the practice of doing so (especially with their own language), and thus not particularly skilled at it.

anyway, the only reason i brought it up was that no-one would ever drop the とう in 本当, even to my ears, so any romanisation system should make double-length vowels clear. next time i'll just stick to the oba-san/obaa-san thing :/

What?? People drop the "う" in ほんとう all the time! Especially in cases where it's used in a surprised question, for example. "ホントか？！"

 

[RevenantKioku]

Less to you and more to the "linguist" who also argues that the romanization of "し・つ・ち" should be standardized to better help Anglophones.

Fair 'nough. I was just getting lumped in when I was just stating something rather than trying to make an argument.

And they should, anyway. Especially in English class. Tiho ain't and will never be Chiho to the majority of English speakers. Unless I'm missing your point. I'm going to romanize my child's name (whatever we decide upon, lordy) so that the English speakers in my family can see it and say it. I don't see nothing wrong with that.

As far as a "global" standard, yeah, good luck with that. :lol

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Fair 'nough. I was just getting lumped in when I was just stating something rather than trying to make an argument.

And they should, anyway. Especially in English class. Tiho ain't and will never be Chiho to the majority of English speakers. Unless I'm missing your point. I'm going to romanize my child's name (whatever we decide upon, lordy) so that the English speakers in my family can see it and say it. I don't see nothing wrong with that.

Not everyone in the world comes from an English speaking background. It's not like there is some consensus across the world about how each character in the Latin alphabet should be pronounced.

 

[RevenantKioku]

Not everyone in the world comes from an English speaking background. It's not like there is some consensus across the world about how each character in the Latin alphabet should be pronounced.

You are absolutely correct. And that consensus doesn't even really extend to English speakers either, humorously enough. Damn vowels.

That said, for when dealing with English (and many things do) I see no issue in defaulting to that.

 

[345triangle]

Not incapable. Just generally not in the practice of doing so (especially with their own language), and thus not particularly skilled at it.



What?? People drop the "う" in ほんとう all the time! Especially in cases where it's used in a surprised question, for example. "ホントか？！"

the おう, not the う. obviously :/

 

[Jake.]

i got 49 for japanese this semester at university. a 50 is a pass, 49 is a total fail. i can't believe she failed me over just one mark.

to be fair, i lost all interest during the last month or so of the course. i just got burnt out and couldn't keep up.

 

[cntr]

Pinyin's a good example of a romanization system that isn't based on any other languages' orthography.

The Mandarin pronunciation of Beijing is [pei˨˩tɕiŋ˥˥], which would roughly approximated in English as "Peiching".

 

[leroidys]

I grow increasingly suspicious of your hearing ability.

Most Japanese people who are not extremely proficient at English (or another non-Japanese language) tend to have difficulty ending words with a non-"n" consonant.

The phenomenon of devoiced vowels is an extremely basic and well documented part of Japanese phonetics. Further, when hearing sounds in a native language, your brain automatically trashes all the stuff that isn't phonemic in said language, for example pretty much no English speaker could tell you that the t in 'stain' is not aspirated, but is aspirated in 'tar', or that a vowel following a voiced consonant is invariably longer than one following a devoiced consonant.

It makes perfect sense for the brain to "throw out" the clipped o sound in English, because there is no such allophone in that language.

 

[louis89]

Pinyin's a good example of a romanization system that isn't based on any other languages' orthography.

And for that reason, I find it unfit for the purpose of teaching Chinese to English speakers. It's the equivalent of romanising づ as du and しょ as syo, in the context of Japanese as a foreign language (i.e. confusing and unnecessary), except about a billion times worse because Chinese dialects are way further removed from English pronunciation than Japanese is. Also, the tone markings often don't match the actual tone you say, which I can't stand. It's fine if you're teaching Chinese kids how to type their language on a keyboard, which is what I imagine it's actually for, but it's terrible at showing how to pronounce anything.

E.g., despite being romanised as shi, 是 is actually pronounced more like "shuh".

 

[shanshan310]

God, that was four years ago for me. Four years.
I'm going to go eat some Calorie Mate and drink some café olé. With tears, tears of joy and sadness. And café olé.

In Kyot with Mr. Yamamot.

*cries* なつかしいね～
I miss conbini food...

 

[Shouta]

*cries* なつかしいね～
I miss conbini food...

Might be nostalgic to you but it's hell right now for me >=|

 

[Masked Man]

It's low because it's actually a bit difficult. It's hard enough that most Japanese people I've shown the test to are like "What? I don't know this!" right off the bat. Good luck on it, I failed twice so far, both times by a small margin. Missed the deadline this time so I gotta wait to take it again.

UGH. That's what I was afraid of. I've been doing well enough on the drills, reviews, and practice tests that I feel pretty confident, but now I get the sense that I've been deceived and that the actual test is much harder than these practices. ;___;

Also, quick "-to" thing, at least in as far as my experience with native speakers: I would never go so far as to say that the final "o" disappears (never had that experience), but I guess some people are more aspirate than others. :lol

EDIT: Good luck to all those applying to JET, by the way! I already have a position for two years at a university in Machida through another program, but I have a lot of friends applying for JET. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for everyone!

 

[cntr]

Am I the only person who feels irritated hearing "kanjis"? <__< I don't usually mind using English rules on foreign words, but kanjis just sounds silly for some reason.

 

[RevenantKioku]

Might be nostalgic to you but it's hell right now for me >=|

Get some Rilakkuma coffee. It's good for your colon.

And by that I mean you'll nearly shit yourself.

 

[louis89]

I have to get 50% overall and 33% in each of the sections to pass N2? What the hell? :lol

Ugh, I should've done N1. I could have bragged about passing N1 two years after starting to study Japanese and never having lived there. Can't help but feel that after this exam they're going to realise that those boundaries are ridiculously low and put them up to something sensible for the next one.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

The phenomenon of devoiced vowels is an extremely basic and well documented part of Japanese phonetics. Further, when hearing sounds in a native language, your brain automatically trashes all the stuff that isn't phonemic in said language, for example pretty much no English speaker could tell you that the t in 'stain' is not aspirated, but is aspirated in 'tar', or that a vowel following a voiced consonant is invariably longer than one following a devoiced consonant.

It makes perfect sense for the brain to "throw out" the clipped o sound in English, because there is no such allophone in that language.

I'm well aware of devoiced vowels in Japanese. It happens all the time, especially with "i" and "u" that occur in the middle of a word. Stuff like "&#30693;&#35672;" and "&#26126;&#26085;". Those are very different than not pronouncing the final vowel in a word like "Kyoto" or "Yamamoto".

I have to get 50% overall and 33% in each of the sections to pass N2? What the hell? :lol

Ugh, I should've done N1. I could have bragged about passing N1 two years after starting to study Japanese and never having lived there. Can't help but feel that after this exam they're going to realise that those boundaries are ridiculously low and put them up to something sensible for the next one.

50% or better to pass? That is an insanely low hurdle... When I passed 1-kyuu back in 2005 I think you needed to score at least 80%.

I just looked it up and Even N1 only requires 55.55555% to pass! The Wikipedia page does claim that N1 is a bit higher than the old 1-kyuu. I think I'll look into taking it next time.

 

[Shouta]

Get some Rilakkuma coffee. It's good for your colon.

And by that I mean you'll nearly shit yourself.

I don't need to be shitting myself, I need to be projectile vomiting on some people!

 

[RevenantKioku]

I have to get 50% overall and 33% in each of the sections to pass N2? What the hell? :lol

Ugh, I should've done N1. I could have bragged about passing N1 two years after starting to study Japanese and never having lived there. Can't help but feel that after this exam they're going to realise that those boundaries are ridiculously low and put them up to something sensible for the next one.

Most people I know failed, for what it's worth.

 

[louis89]

Most people I know failed, for what it's worth.

So the boundaries have always been this way? I was under the impression that they came in with the changes to the levels.

 

[cntr]

i'm not taking issue with the argument (of course i've heard the same thing, and it's really a matter of perspective), just your wording - i think "consistent" would be more accurate than "linguistic". the reason i don't subscribe to the argument is that, by the phonetics in the roman alphabet, japanese pronunciation isn't really consistent in a sa/si/su/se/so kind of way - "shi" is equally as linguistically sound, because it converts a phonetic &#597; or &#643; into the conventions of english spelling.

it depends what area of linguistics you think is most important, basically!

Herp, now I remember what the argument was for romanizing &#12375; as si — in a bunch of languages, palatalizes before , so the argument is that it's supposed to be an /s/ that gets affected by the into being pronounced as [&#597;]. So [&#597;] is an allophone of , not a truly separate sound, so both should be romanized as s.

Still think "si" is silly, though.

 

[RevenantKioku]

So the boundaries have always been this way? I was under the impression that they came in with the changes to the levels.

This low? No, but it's not that big of a drop considering prior it was 60% for up to and including 2&#32026; and 70% for 1&#32026;, I'm fairly sure.

 

[345triangle]

i can't work out if i should be confident about the JLPT or not - i had been working from the assumption that i needed a pretty high score in all sections to pass. i'm going to go to starbucks tonight after work and read a textbook until they kick me out and that will comprise my sole revision.

Herp, now I remember what the argument was for romanizing &#12375; as si — in a bunch of languages, palatalizes before , so the argument is that it's supposed to be an /s/ that gets affected by the into being pronounced as [&#597;]. So [&#597;] is an allophone of , not a truly separate sound, so both should be romanized as s.

Still think "si" is silly, though.

yeah that's all true (korean has the same palatalisation thing going on, and they romanise &#49884; as "si"), but i think it makes more linguistic sense to do it phonetically, is all. and i think you agree, so yeah!

 

[Fugu]

How do you fine folks memorize vocabulary? I'm good at remembering grammar and verbs, but I can't for the life of me commit a significant amount of nouns/adjectives to memory; I'm lucky if I can memorize five new words a day unless they have to do with a particular kanji that I'm memorizing. I'm getting ready to write the N3 and I feel like my vocabulary is in the same place that it was when I was ready to write the N5/Level 4. I find it very difficult to memorize words that I don't use with a lot of frequency, which is a long list considering I don't regularly converse in Japanese with anyone but myself. The only way I use these words is by forcing myself to integrate them into a sentence (NO. NO. BAD.) which is so synthetic that it gets me nowhere.

 

[Masked Man]

(&#21402;&#12356;&#65306;&#12467;&#12540;&#12498;&#12540;&#12364;&#21402;&#12356;, etc.)

Wait, what? Do you mean &#28611;&#12356;&#65288;&#12371;&#12356&#65311; Maybe you could say &#12467;&#12540;&#12498;&#12540;&#12398;&#21619;&#12364;&#28611;&#12356;, but you can't use &#21402;&#12356;&#65288;&#12354;&#12388;&#12356 like that. Maybe something like &#22721;&#12364;&#21402;&#12356;&#12398;&#12391;&#30772;&#12428;&#12394;&#12356; would be more appropriate.

EDIT: Unless you meant &#29105;&#12356;&#65288;&#12354;&#12388;&#12356, as in temperature of an object--then your example would be okay.

 

[Fugu]

Wait, what? Do you mean &#28611;&#12356;&#65288;&#12371;&#12356&#65311; Maybe you could say &#12467;&#12540;&#12498;&#12540;&#12398;&#21619;&#12364;&#28611;&#12356;, but you can't use &#21402;&#12356;&#65288;&#12354;&#12388;&#12356 like that. Maybe something like &#22721;&#12364;&#21402;&#12356;&#12398;&#12391;&#30772;&#12428;&#12394;&#12356; would be more appropriate.

Too tired for this. I did, in fact, mean &#12371;&#12356;.

EDIT: Actually, this fully demonstrates my point. I'm terrible at memorizing words.

 

[shanshan310]

Am I the only person who feels irritated hearing "kanjis"? <__< I don't usually mind using English rules on foreign words, but kanjis just sounds silly for some reason.

Ew. anyone who uses Kanjis cannot call themself a speaker of Japanese. Adding plurals to Japanese words just seems wrong. That being said I say things like "benkyou-ing", I hope that doesn't make me a blasphemer.

I don't need to be shitting myself, I need to be projectile vomiting on some people!

Then I recommend copious amounts of yakisoba roll maybe with some purin in a can on the side, or any of those overly sweet breads.

Question: what's the difference between &#12381;&#12428;&#12391; and &#12381;&#12428;&#12363;&#12425;? I was under the impression they both meant "Because of that", but now they are both possible answers in the practice test T^T

I'm having trouble knowing what to study. Just revising Kanji/ Grammar/ Vocab, and doing some practise tests, but I have no idea how prepared I actually am...

 

[cntr]

yeah that's all true (korean has the same palatalisation thing going on, and they romanise &#49884; as "si"), but i think it makes more linguistic sense to do it phonetically, is all. and i think you agree, so yeah!

Yeah, pretty much.

How do you fine folks memorize vocabulary? I'm good at remembering grammar and verbs, but I can't for the life of me commit a significant amount of nouns/adjectives to memory; I'm lucky if I can memorize five new words a day unless they have to do with a particular kanji that I'm memorizing. I'm getting ready to write the N3 and I feel like my vocabulary is in the same place that it was when I was ready to write the N5/Level 4. I find it very difficult to memorize words that I don't use with a lot of frequency, which is a long list considering I don't regularly converse in Japanese with anyone but myself. The only way I use these words is by forcing myself to integrate them into a sentence (NO. NO. BAD.) which is so synthetic that it gets me nowhere.

AJAAT recommends that instead of memorizing words individually, you put in sentences in a SRS and review vocabulary like that. It's useful because you're reviewing words in context, and reviewing grammar at the same time.

tl;dr, take an SRS like Anki, put in a Japanese sentence as the question, put in the English translation as the answer. You should change from Japanese-English to Japanese-Japanese later on, after you've learnt a bit.

http://www.alljapaneseallthetime.co...apanese-on-your-own-having-fun-and-to-fluency Scroll down a bit to the "sentences" section.

Ew. anyone who uses Kanjis cannot call themself a speaker of Japanese. Adding plurals to Japanese words just seems wrong. That being said I say things like "benkyou-ing", I hope that doesn't make me a blasphemer.

I don't really mind using English plurals like that, but "kanjis" specifically sounds wrong. :lol Maybe because of the euphony of it? I dunno.

And at least they aren't saying "kanj&#275;s". :d

 

[Fugu]

AJAAT recommends that instead of memorizing words individually, you put in sentences in a SRS and review vocabulary like that. It's useful because you're reviewing words in context, and reviewing grammar at the same time.

tl;dr, take an SRS like Anki, put in a Japanese sentence as the question, put in the English translation as the answer. You should change from Japanese-English to Japanese-Japanese later on, after you've learnt a bit.

http://www.alljapaneseallthetime.co...apanese-on-your-own-having-fun-and-to-fluency Scroll down a bit to the "sentences" section.



I don't really mind using English plurals like that, but "kanjis" specifically sounds wrong. :lol Maybe because of the euphony of it? I dunno.

And at least they aren't saying "kanj&#275;s". :d

That sounds good, I'll try that. No more thick coffee for me.

 

[Masked Man]

Question: what's the difference between &#12381;&#12428;&#12391; and &#12381;&#12428;&#12363;&#12425;? I was under the impression they both meant "Because of that", but now they are both possible answers in the practice test T^T

Basically, &#12381;&#12428;&#12363;&#12425; is used to express the order in which events take place, or to list several items.
&#20363;&#65297;(Order)&#65306;&#12365;&#12398;&#12358;&#12399;&#22805;&#26041;&#19968;&#24230;&#23478;&#12395;&#24112;&#12387;&#12390;&#12289;&#12381;&#12428;&#12363;&#12425;&#23478;&#26063;&#12391;&#39135;&#20107;&#12395;&#20986;&#25499;&#12369;&#12414;&#12375;&#12383;&#12290;
&#20363;&#65298;(List)&#65306;&#21021;&#32026;&#12398;&#12463;&#12521;&#12473;&#12399;&#26376;&#26332;&#26085;&#12392;&#27700;&#26332;&#26085;&#12289;&#12381;&#12428;&#12363;&#12425;&#22303;&#26332;&#26085;&#12395;&#12420;&#12387;&#12390;&#12356;&#12414;&#12377;&#12290;

On the other hand, &#12381;&#12428;&#12391; is used to express a reason--that is, it marks the preceding statement as the reason for the following occurrence.
&#20363;&#65306;&#12365;&#12398;&#12358;&#12398;&#26217;&#29105;&#12364;&#20986;&#12390;&#12289;&#12381;&#12428;&#12391;&#20170;&#26085;&#12399;&#23398;&#26657;&#12434;&#20241;&#12435;&#12384;&#12290;

&#12381;&#12428;&#12391; can also be used in conversations to advance the other person's conversation, or to prompt them to continue. (This is probably the sense in which the two patterns can be confusing.)
&#20363;&#65306;A&#65306;&#26469;&#36913;&#12363;&#12425;&#35430;&#39443;&#12384;&#12290;B&#65306;&#12381;&#12428;&#12391;&#12290;A&#65306;&#12375;&#12400;&#12425;&#12367;&#36938;&#12409;&#12394;&#12356;&#12290;

Hope that helps!

 

[Fugu]

Probably not right, but I read &#12381;&#12428;&#12363;&#12425; similarly to "after that" and &#12381;&#12428;&#12391; similarly to "and then".

How long have you all been studying Japanese? is it a first language for any of you? How regularly do you speak it? (I am full of questions because I did not know that this thread existed and I have been studying Japanese more or less by myself for the past two years).

 

[Masked Man]

Probably not right, but I read &#12381;&#12428;&#12363;&#12425; similarly to "after that" and &#12381;&#12428;&#12391; similarly to "and then".

Yeah, that's pretty accurate for a general description.

How long have you all been studying Japanese? is it a first language for any of you? How regularly do you speak it? (I am full of questions because I did not know that this thread existed and I have been studying Japanese more or less by myself for the past two years).

Been studying for about 2.5 years (since July 15th, 2008): got through the first-year textbook and a kanji book on my own during the second half of that summer, tested into the second-year class at college, did a kanji book that winter and another book the following summer, spent the last academic year studying in Japan, went back this summer for an internship in Japan, and I've been studying specifically for the JLPT-1 this semester.

 

[345triangle]

been "studying" (1 private lesson a week, blitzed the first 500 kanji or so in a few months then stopped actively doing anything) for 2 years since i moved to japan. i mostly just sort of pick it up as i go along, and i'm taking N3 today without being optimistic but maybe having a reasonable chance of passing. if it goes well i'd like to put myself on a hardcore N2 regimen but i feel like the chances of that actually happening would be pretty low.

 

[shanshan310]

for me its been.. 3-4 years? First year was with a tutor, then I went on to study it in Grade 11 and 12 through distance ed. Not a lot of contact with Japanese people in those years, except my teacher. Then this year I studying in Japan for a semester (did SO MUCH study), came back and started studying it at uni. There are a ton of Japanese students at uni, so I still get a fair amount of contact.

Just got back from the JLPT Totally blitzed N4.. might try for N2 next year. Maybe...
How'd everyone else go? I guess the timezones and stuff mean some people havent started yet >.<

EDIT: Also thanks about the question Makes sense now.

 

[Cheesemeister]

N1 is now in the books. This was my 4th attempt to pass level 1, with my previous scores being 47.5%, 50.0%, and 52.25% in that order. In the past 2 days, I got 61% on the 2006 exam and finished all the characters in KanjiFlip, so who knows.

Now begins the long two-month wait for results.

 

[Shirokun]

Meh. Gonna have to skip taking N2 this time around(Damn you finals!). I suppose the only good thing is that it will give me time to actually study for the darn test next time around. On that note, can anyone recommend any good JLPT websites/books useful for studying?

To those that are taking it tomorrow, good luck!

 

[louis89]

N1 is now in the books. This was my 4th attempt to pass level 1, with my previous scores being 47.5%, 50.0%, and 52.25% in that order. In the past 2 days, I got 61% on the 2006 exam and finished all the characters in KanjiFlip, so who knows.

Now begins the long two-month wait for results.

Reading this I had the horrible thought that it was on Saturday and I missed it...

Taking N2 in London today. I'm tired as fuck, hope I can stay awake in the test.

 

[Cheesemeister]

Meh. Gonna have to skip taking N2 this time around(Damn you finals!). I suppose the only good thing is that it will give me time to actually study for the darn test next time around. On that note, can anyone recommend any good JLPT websites/books useful for studying?

To those that are taking it tomorrow, good luck!

If you already paid for the test, you should go take it.

As for study materials, I've been using the UNICOM &#23455;&#21147;&#12450;&#12483;&#12503; series, in addition to jlpt-kanji.com and KanjiFlip on iOS. Those, and Japanese TV/games.

How would I go about saying "Compared to Canada's schools, schools in Japan are very different in how the school systems work. Examples include: ________, ________, and _______."

Thanks.

Homework? Here are some helpful words to help you build your sentence...

&#23398;&#21046; &#65288;&#12364;&#12367;&#12379;&#12356;&#65289; educational or school system
&#27604;&#12409;&#12427;&#12288;&#65288;&#12367;&#12425;&#12409;&#12427;&#65289; to compare
&#12363;&#12394;&#12426; considerably; fairly; quite

 

[Keyouta]

How would I go about saying "Compared to Canada's schools, schools in Japan are very different in how the school systems work. Examples include: ________, ________, and _______."

Thanks.

 

[345triangle]

N3 went okay for me today! the kanji/vocab section was a little more difficult than i imagined, but i had a pretty good time with the grammar/reading and listening sections. i'll be happy if i pass, but if i fail it'll just send a message that i need to know more...words, which i guess i'm already aware of.

so, who knows. i think i did okay, but we'll see.

 

[louis89]

I found N2 more difficult than I expected. Funnily enough, while I usually think of myself as being much better at reading than listening, I found the listening section much easier than the grammar stuff. I was really short on time at the end and ended up just guessing a few of the ones at the end.

The pass mark is hilariously low though (50%), so I still think there's a reasonable chance I passed. Despite previously wishing I'd done 2kyuu last year, I'm now pretty sure I wouldn't have been able to do this a year ago.

My method of studying isn't suited to this kind of exam. I constantly absorb and don't formally study what's grammatically correct and what isn't. This way is better for becoming awesome at Japanese but it's not the best for taking multiple choice tests. It's a little frustrating that despite being able to fully read and understand a reasonably long passage of text, I don't get a mark for it because I don't know the difference between two similar meaning words that I have to put in a box. =/

Also, next time I should probably start studying before the night before the test >__>

 

[345triangle]

my method of studying is non-existent, and i feel like it served me okay. if i fail, it'll be down to just flat-out not knowing enough words in the &#35486;&#24409; section (seriously, &#12394;&#12384;&#12425;&#12363;? i even learnt that word once before, but forgot it because it's so useless...except in today's test), whereas i was totally comfortable with the listening and reading sections despite zero preparation.

i don't want to guess how i did today, but if i pass i'll try N2 in the summer. lord knows i could use the structure.

but yeah man, i know what you mean. there were so many questions today where i was like "i totally understand this, i just can't grammatically explain why i do"

 

[Deleted member 17706]

my method of studying is non-existent, and i feel like it served me okay. if i fail, it'll be down to just flat-out not knowing enough words in the &#35486;&#24409; section (seriously, &#12394;&#12384;&#12425;&#12363;? i even learnt that word once before, but forgot it because it's so useless...except in today's test), whereas i was totally comfortable with the listening and reading sections despite zero preparation.

i don't want to guess how i did today, but if i pass i'll try N2 in the summer. lord knows i could use the structure.

but yeah man, i know what you mean. there were so many questions today where i was like "i totally understand this, i just can't grammatically explain why i do"

Why do people call words they think are obscure on the JLPT useless? Just because you personally may not encounter it very often does not mean it is a useless word, or isn't used very often in Japanese. &#12394;&#12384;&#12425;&#12363;, for example, is a very common word.

 

[Cheesemeister]

Don't feel bad. This is the first I've heard of &#12394;&#12384;&#12425;&#12363;, and I took N1. It seems to me like the test is designed to put you just at the passing mark if you fully meet the description in the exam outline for each given level. There's always going to be stuff that's way over your head.

 

[cntr]

What does this say?

 

[Cheesemeister]

What does this say?

Fly Away! Science-kun: Great Earth Exploration! Challenge the Mysterious, Rare Creatures!

Science-kun is the character with no skin.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Don't feel bad. This is the first I've heard of &#12394;&#12384;&#12425;&#12363;, and I took N1. It seems to me like the test is designed to put you just at the passing mark if you fully meet the description in the exam outline for each given level. There's always going to be stuff that's way over your head.

Thank you! I wish people would just admit that they've never seen the word, or that it was over their head instead of trying to belittle it by calling it "useless" or "obscure", etc...

 

[Juice]

Are there any decent Japanese SRS apps for iOS? I love japaneseclass.jp

 

[Shouta]

Thank you! I wish people would just admit that they've never seen the word, or that it was over their head instead of trying to belittle it by calling it "useless" or "obscure", etc...

Well, to be fair, I haven't ever heard or seen the word nadaraka used in the 3 years I've been here. Obscure may be too strong of a word but it probably is uncommon or even rare. There are a lot of words like that on the N1 level test, ones that are very uncommon or rarely used in everyday speaking.

 

[345triangle]

all i meant was that it's extremely specific, and seeing as i'm still at the intermediate stage where there are important things i don't know (i did only take N3, after all), it's not exactly the kind of word i'd necessarily expect anyone to have come across. maybe it's just that there aren't really any hills in osaka.

anyway it was in my revision notes but i won't forget it now! i made a page of similarly specific words, like &#21682;&#12367;.

 

[Masked Man]

Yeah, a few of those "wtf never seen you before" kinds of words showed up this time for me (first time taking JLPT, took N1), but I just made some guesses and got all but one of them correct. (Funnily enough, I chanced upon one of those words literally an hour before the test when looking up the definition for &#36942;&#30094;, so I guess last-minute studying does have its merits.) I just accept those types of words as all-too painful reminders of my overwhelming lack of experience with the language. =/

Realistically speaking, despite a few slip-ups on vocab/grammar/kanji, I think each of them went well enough, and listening was easy. My biggest problem was reading--which surprised me, because I usually feel much more confident in my reading abilities. I think the problem stemmed from the fact that there were considerably more "long" readings than I had anticipated, and there were fewer accompanying questions than I had expected: thus, it came down to a situation of maximum effort, maximum risk, and (presumably) minimal return. Blurgh. My friend and I are sacrificing stuff to the nihongods right now to ensure our success.