Exams

While a significant number of us graduate from school and afterward see ourselves as freed of state sanctioned testing, there really remains...

While a significant number of us graduate from school and afterward see ourselves as freed of state sanctioned testing, there really remains a plenty of exams that anybody working in Japan or with Japanese may yet confront. In Japan there are a huge number of tests intended to demonstrate that Japanese representatives have skilled English capacity, and in case you're a local English speaker you may well be having a striking resemblance sort of test to show you can make the Japanese dialect work for you. 

A standout amongst the most remarkable of these being the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (or JLPT), which despite the fact that not flawless (what test is) can be a decent approach to set study objectives for yourself and get a sort of dialect affirmation as you go. Here we're going to take a gander at two individuals having a brief discussion about tests they've taken and training, which on the off chance that you concentrate abroad is a discourse you're liable to have yourself. 

I. Discourse 

Sam: TOEICはどうだった？ 

Tomomi: (目標)もくひょうよりはできなかったけど、(前)まえよりよく(出来)できたよ。君きみの(日本語能力試験)にほんごのうりょくしけんは？ 

Sam: (点)てんが(足)たりなかったから(不合格)ふごうかくだったけど、この(次)つぎは(絶対合格)ぜったいごうかくするんだ。 

Tomomi: 学校の時に、何の(教科)きょうかが(苦手)にがてだった？ 

Sam: 科学が苦手が苦手にがてだったけど、好きだった。ともみさんは？ 

Tomomi: 英語はあまり上手ではなったかな。あの時もっと勉強したらよかったな。 

Sam: 今どれぐらい勉強してるの？ 

Tomomi: 毎日できるだけ仕事の合間に勉強するようにしてるけど、仕事が終ってからだとあまりやる気がでないよね。残業が少すこし(減)へったらいいなぁ。 

Sam: TOEIC wa dou datta? 

Tomomi: Mokuhyou yori wa dekinakatta kedo, mae yori yoku dekita yo. Kimi no nihongonouryokushiken wa? 

Sam: Ten ga tarinakatta kara fugoukaku datta kedo, kono tsugi wa zettai goukaku surun da. 

Tomomi: Gakkou no toki ni, nan no kyouka ga refute datta? 

Sam: Kagaku ga nigate datta kedo, suki datta. Tomomi-san wa? 

Tomomi: Eigo wa amari jouzu dewanakatta kana. Ano toki aphorism benkyou shitara yokatta na. 

Sam: Ima, dore gurai benkyou shiteru no? 

Tomomi: Mainichi dekirudake shigoto no aima ni benkyou suru you ni shiteru kedo, shigoto ga owatte kara dato amari yarukii ga de nai yone. Zangyou ga sukoshi hettara ii naa. 

Sam: How'd you do your TOEIC? 

Tomomi: Not and in addition I'd trusted, yet at the same time superior to anything last time. Did you pass your JLPT? 

Sam: I fizzled by two or three focuses, however next time I ought to pass effortlessly. 

Tomomi: What was the hardest subject for you in school? 

Sam: I was never extraordinary at science, however I loved it. You? 

Tomomi: I was constantly terrible at English. I wish I'd examined harder when I was more youthful. 

Sam: How regularly do you concentrate now? 

Tomomi: I attempt to press in a couple of hours a day, however it's difficult to stay spurred after I get off work. Somewhat less extra time would be decent. 

II. Vocabulary 

Two essential words with regards to taking a test: 

合格ごうかく – pass 

不合格ふごうかく – fizzle. 

They're a great deal more comparative in Japanese than English, making it so that in the event that you can recollect that one, then you can recall both. 

We have another restricting pair in the above discourse with 上手じょうず and 苦手にがて, or "gifted at" and "untalented at." obviously how we decide how great we are or how great we are getting at something is through our objectives — 目標もくひょう and what number of focuses we get on a test — 点てん. 

目標 is awesome in light of the fact that it can be utilized to portray any target, whether that is figuring out how to scuba jump or increasing your measure of study to 2 hours a day. Yes ゴール (gorru) can be utilized to mean objective also, however at times we should reach past katakana English that we may get a handle on at moonbeams—or sound marginally more wonderful, or whatever. 点 is quite simple to use in this setting since you should simply stick a number before it to get the fancied significance. It has various different uses where it satisfies parts like the way "point" does in English, so look out for the intriguing ways this kanji can remain all alone. 

Another word that I worked in light of the fact that it was helpful when I used to educate in Japan (yes, I too was an ALT) is 教科きょうか, which signifies "school subject." It's great to know and have in your collection, particularly as I envision a vast part of the intended interest group for these articles and GaijinPot incorporates individuals who are or need to instruct in Japan and catch up on those Japanese dialect aptitudes. 

III. Language structure 

How about we discuss より. より is the means by which we make correlations, and is a standout amongst the most valuable apparatuses you can have in your Japanese tool stash. Don't exactly know the descriptor you're searching for? Use より to contrast your topic with something you do know how to discuss. That tree isn't gi-normous; it's taller than a school. At the point when discussing apparitions before I said みたいな. より can be utilized as a part of a considerable measure of comparative ways, yet where みたいな makes an immediate correlation より is about being more something than something else. 

Tomomi utilizes it twice as a part of the second line with 目標もくひょうより and 前まえより, which signify "more than I went for" and "more than before," so 前まえよりよく出来できた signifies "I could do significantly more than before"— or to place it into customary speech, "superior to anything last time." 

Investigate a couple of more cases and make certain you get it. When you get used to utilizing this example as a part of Japanese conveying everything that needs to be conveyed will be all roses that are peachier than other peachy roses: 

彼かれは私わたしより強つよいだ。(He's more grounded than me.) 

行為こういは言葉ことばよりも雄弁ゆうべん。(Actions talk louder than words.) 

バスを待まつよりむしろ歩あるきたい。(I would preferably stroll than sit tight for the transport.) 

IV. Kanji 

There are two things that are to some degree interweaved with regards to kanji that I'd like to consider in the above. Basically it's the way to manage long strings of kanji; both separating them and picking up a sense for how to handle them. 

The JLPT in Japanese bears an overwhelming name for any newcomer: 日本語能力試験にほんごのうりょくしけん. In the event that you simply take a gander at it, no aides, no help, it would seem that a horrendous parcel of strokes heaped together into one major… well, heap. 

Clever story, there was a manga I was perusing that had an auto-resistant illness where people swung to stone, yet I got to the initial segment of that and figured it was AIDS; not until I did a reversal later and dismantled the word did I understand it was a unique word for the comic and it included individuals changing into statues and kicking the bucket. With all due respect it was a truly long word, and I read manga to unwind and be languid. 

Anyway, for these sorts of long strings I suggest searching out what you know and afterward fabricating words 2 kanji at once with the guide of an online or application based lexicon. 

Numerous Japanese understudies will perceive the initial 3 characters as 日本語, or the Japanese dialect. From that point you add on the following kanji which is 能. This will return as not a word in many lexicons—really on the off chance that it's a mostly better than average lexicon it'll pop-up with the Japanese for JLPT and you're good to go. Be that as it may, in the event that it doesn't you have 2 choices. Possibly you continue putting in kanji and adding to the string until you get something, or what I'd prescribe is dividing what you have so far and take a stab at beginning another string in your computerized lexicon. 

日本語 is a thing, so how about we attempt the following 2 kanji together: 能力 (nou+ryoku). You'll get something like "capacity." Add 試, discover that 能力試 isn't a word; section once more; attempt 試験 and discover it signifies "test." Basically my recommendation is get a decent advanced lexicon—ideally one that gives you a chance to enter kanji utilizing radicals in case you're beginning—and work through that word start to finish to ensure you know exactly what it's attempting to let you know. 

Entirely clear right? Better believe it, too bad I squandered your time, yet it took a few of us longer to assemble it all so I thought I'd say something. The reason this can be critical is the occurrence of 絶対合格 (zettai+goukaku) above, where there are 2 expressions of 2 kanji every rubbing straight up against each other. Unless you definitely know the words there's no real way to realize that those are 2 separate words without separating them as you creep through 2 kanji at once in your lexicon. 

Well now that I've reminded you exactly the amount of time will go through with a word reference as you figure out how to peruse and prepare for tests, estranging the greater part of my group of onlookers… don't get debilitated. Everything gets simpler with practice. Find what you like and do that, even the hard parts. Classes will help, however sooner or later it's additionally going to come down to you uncovering that one kanji. Luckily in an advanced age there are heaps of online assets notwithstanding conventional classes to give you an additional edge, and make it WAY less demanding to turn upward those disappointing little groups of strokes. 

Actually I didn't go the testing course and discovered my own inspirations to go ahead, yet it merits giving a shot and checking whether it works for you.