JLPT
So, Thanksgiving has come and gone at home. Of course, there's no Thanksgiving in Japan. However, curiously, the fourth Thursday in November is a national holiday: Labor Day. I'm wondering if that day was established as a holiday during the occupation, and when control was transferred back to the Japanese they assigned their own meaning to the day. Either way, I had a day off work which was nice.
I spent the day studying. The one-a-year official Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) is next Sunday. I took it two years ago in Chicago but at that time the test level I took (there are 4 levels; 4 different tests you can opt to take) was too high. I came within an inch of passing but considering that 60% is passing, a score like wouldn't actually feel like a passing score. This year is my revenge. My proficiency is better now and I've been studying new vocabulary, the meat of the test, for months. In addition to the vocabulary, the listening really hurt me last time...but hearing almost nothing but Japanese for almost 4 months, my listening ability has improved drastically. I scored 80% on the practice test a month ago, so at this point my studying is more for my own benefit than for passing the test, but regardless I plan to study pretty intensively for the next week.
The test I'm taking is level 3, with level 1 being the hardest and level 4 being the easiest. Unfortunately, only level 1 or 2 proficiency can get you a job. So, I've got a year to work up to level 2.
I spent the day studying. The one-a-year official Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) is next Sunday. I took it two years ago in Chicago but at that time the test level I took (there are 4 levels; 4 different tests you can opt to take) was too high. I came within an inch of passing but considering that 60% is passing, a score like wouldn't actually feel like a passing score. This year is my revenge. My proficiency is better now and I've been studying new vocabulary, the meat of the test, for months. In addition to the vocabulary, the listening really hurt me last time...but hearing almost nothing but Japanese for almost 4 months, my listening ability has improved drastically. I scored 80% on the practice test a month ago, so at this point my studying is more for my own benefit than for passing the test, but regardless I plan to study pretty intensively for the next week.
The test I'm taking is level 3, with level 1 being the hardest and level 4 being the easiest. Unfortunately, only level 1 or 2 proficiency can get you a job. So, I've got a year to work up to level 2.