passed: japanese language proficiency test level 3

Man did i get lazy. This thing arrived in like one month ago but i was too busy rocking the f*ck out to actually put up a post about it ;>

And my scores really were as close as i expected them to be. But nevertheless, passed is passed and i don’t really care about the points anymore. What this certificate means to me is that i was able, to pass the 3ykuu exam in only two years time with constant determination and also a just so-so attitude towards the test. Where others who bloated before the exam about how i was only at mid-way through the first textbook and would have no chance to do it. HA HA to you fuckers! Sorry for my rude language all of a sudden but that had to be said straight.

I guess i already told you this but before i really started to actually “learn” Japanese i was just like any other…i wouldn’t say japanophile but very interested guy who religiously watched his Anime and wondered about how someone would ever be able to understand a word without the subtitle. Many websites will tell you, especially those who think they can educate you on the field of the Japanese language, that if you’re just watching Anime….that’s not really going to cut it and that it’s very very hard to learn. I always thought that they’re just bitter because it was hard for THEM. It really depends on the individual. For instance, I’m more the language skilled kind of guy, math is my arch-enemy.

So it was easy for me to learn English in school because i had to use it or wasn’t able to avoid it in my spare time. And because of what? You guessed it, video games. Back then you simply were not able to get an all-German version of a say, AMIGA500 or MegaDrive game (which were my consoles at the time i used to play on, obviously the GameBoy too of course) and most if not 98% of it was in English. So i was forced to learn English through this activity and it was fun! Also if you link something fun like this with your studies (be it school or self study) there’s no other way but to advance in this field. Which applies to more stuff of course, but that’s just for the record.

Back to those mean Japanese is impossible websites again. Through watching Anime (and also some Jmovies from time to time) you unconsciously pick up some of the vocabulary used on and on and on in every type of anime. Especially one phrase comes to mind: よくわからないけど。。。 this is one phrase that’s present in almost EVERY anime series you’ll ever see, at least from my experience. Read “yoku wakaranai kedo….” roughly translated: “I don’t know this all to well, but alas…”. Those things you just memorize when you hear it and read the subtitle. And this helped me immensly in my japanese classes because in every lesson i would already know at least 20-40% sometimes in the very beginning even 100% of the vocabulary used. So for you Anime watchers out there eager to learn some real Japanese, don’t let someone tell you that this doesn’t help you at all in learning the language. They’re just haters.

Back to the meaning of this certificate. When i took the test last year for level 4 (4kyuu) i was only at chapter 7 of the textbook “minna no nihongo” roughly translated into “Japanese for Everyone” / “Everyone’s Japanese” and got looked down upon from people who were studying for years and were through with that textbook. But my skills at that time actually exceeded what i thought of myself that i could possibly achieve. And i got my certificate. The others…not

Come December 2008 i were still on the first textbook, on chapter 23 and had hammered 280 Kanji over the course of 3 months into my head, sometimes 8 to 10 a day. And i lacked extremely in the grammar field because the stuff in there was only taught at the end of the textbook and i had to quick learn it in the last 2 weeks through special grammar books and test from the internet (see Meguro Language Center). It was a close call but nevertheless i passed. So this proves to me that with enough determination, progress like this IS possible. Normally you’d have to wait for the second textbook course I’m taking now to end to be able to take on the 3kyuu exam.

But what now? Well of course my next goal is to maybe achieve the 2kyuu in December 2010 . I already ordered the JEES prep test’s/CD’s, the White Rabbit Press Kanji poster and will buy the WRP 2kyuu Kanji flashcards and the 2kyuu PlaySay MP3 Set in the near future. Right now i’m focussing more on grammar because that will be the key to pass the 2kyuu. I don’t really care about Kanji and vocabulary anymore. Although i’m thinking about switching to the Heising method of Remembering Kanji because simply writing them down again and again gets tedious over time. And that’s a lot of Kanji for 2kyuu let me tell ya…

Well, we’ll see what happens. For everybody else who also passed the test ばんざい　わたしたち！ Everybody else who failed will surely pass it this year.

kanji poster – what his sword is for the samurai…

…is the kanji poster for the japanese learner. Been eagerly searching for a kanji poster that has at least the kanjis from all JLPT tests on it ( this one features the general use 2000+ kanji) and failed to acquire one. The only shop in my town that had this kind of thing in stock (although with a different layout) was sold out the day i went to buy it  orz.

So, the other day i was searching the web and found a site called kanjiposter.com (how puzzling!) that’s selling a pre-laminated version to draw on, featuring 2042 kanji in the dimension 23″ wide and 37″ tall for a very reasonable $24,95. Since my birthday is coming up and i was going to buy one anyways, i ordered two of them. Will do a more detailed review (including live pictures) once it has arrived.

Because my standards have been growing since i first started with hiragana/katakana, it’s finally time to take this one off the wall:

(hiragana / katakana poster)

The reason i bought two kanji posters is because they will be hanging in both my living room and my bedroom so i can use them when studying / doing my homework and recite them  when i go to sleep instead of juggling with my kanji cards.

If you’re going to study japanese, don’t do it half-assed.

How do you study your daily dose of kanji? Is it even daily? Tell me in the comments!

JLPT 3 a.k.a. “the waiting game”

さあ・。。。ひさしぶりですね。。。

Long time no see. Was studying like a madman for the JLPT Level 3 Test on 7th of December. And now once again i’m playing the waiting game, as everyone else who took the test. Got mixed feelings about this years JLPT. Though i found the kanji and listening part very fair, almost a bit easy, it was part three grammar and text understanding that got me contemplating. The funny thing is that this year i was through with the third part rather fast, so fast actually that i kept pondering for about 30 minutes on the last question of the last text. Although i understood the most part of it i couldn’t really figure out the progress of booking the conference rooms, for each room. And as i learned later from friends who took the test with me, the answer i choose was only half true. damn ^^

Learning Japanese Through Magazines

konban wa!

Yeah..so, my continuative japanese class started two weeks ago. Fun times, especially with the new group of people i’m studiying with. I really have to devote myself more to studying so that maybe this year i can excel in the one thing that i enjoy the most at the moment, which is learning and the practical use of japanese to read magazines for example.

For that matter i decided in january to make use of the revolving magazine subscriptions that j-list offers. I personally choose the “Hir@gana Times” which is a great introduction to everyday written japanese magazine articles. It basically features articles about random stuff that happen in japan, like matsuri, explanations about why the japanese rooms are reffered to in tatami measurements or gaijin business start-ups for example. All the articles written in proper english and japanese(hiragana/katakana/kanji with furigana) with the 1:1 english translation underneath, so you can get an understanding of how sentences are supposed to be understood when read in japanese. ’cause as you may or may not know the grammar is a little different from english/german in regard to how sentences are built. The articles are really easy to understand even if you are a beginner to japanese.

The second magazine subscription calls for a tidbit more knowledge of the japanese language, especially so in the kanji region – Newtype Magazine. Newtype really is something else. You get tons and tons of information about new upcomign anime releases, interviews with the creators and lots of gimmicky stuff delivered with it like calenders, exclusive posters, keychains, dvds and so on. Since i don’t have the time to look up the internet for all the new information that is there on that subject, i decided to at least be a little more up to date through setting up that magazine subscription. As i said, this is something else. Newtype is completely written in japanese (there’s also an american version Newtype USA, but it’s just not the real deal…) with no furigana or english translations whatsoever. Ok, some series names are written in english but that’s about it.

Even if you don’t really know enough japanese to read it fluently, i would recommend it anayway for the huge load of information, great picture quality and goods that come delivered with it like the aforementioned DVDs (anime releases 2008 preview on dvd for example).

That’s one personal milestone i wan’t to achieve this year. To be able to at least halfway translate those articles from Newtype magazine. And last but not least i recommend for any japanese learner out there, read, read, read. And read loud what you read in japanese. The more you practice it, the easier it will get over time. That’s what i discovered in this saturday’s class. In my first japanese class i was barely able to read one word without stopping and thinking which hiragana/katakana symbol it was, and now i can read sentences almost without hesitation (if furigana is provided of course ;P).

How often and/or long do you practice japanese a week?

Passed: Japanese Language Proficiency Test Level 4

Woooooohoooooo! ^^ Finally, after about 2 months of waiting/pondering, i received my certificate on this wednesday. For passing this test you needed a score of 240 / 400 and i got 289 / 400. Some may say, that was close but i think i have a good stand with 49 points above the passing score.

Youkoso!

So, this is a brand new start at blogging. Was doing this on a rented server with my self-run wordpress but ran into too much issues with server updates and sql errors and the like. So now i’ll try it anew through wordpress directly.

So…what’s this all about? I guess like all bloggers about pretty much their hobbys, obscurities of the net and the like. Thinking about throwing in a comic maybe, but that will take a while longer.

So…what is happening exactly? Will talk about anime i saw, figures( a little), transformers, video games, my japanese learning experience, random stuff.

Hope i’ll be getting any readers through dannychoo.com where the idea came to mind to create a complete new blog with stuff i actually like and want to say.

Enjoy your visit and see you around (hopefully ^^)