Question:
I posted a message here a while ago stating my desire to pick-up the
language. Looking back, it's funny how naive I was at the time i.e. thinking
about JLPT 1 so soon.
Anyway, I just wanted to share my experience so far:
Hiragana and Katagana took me a week to pick-up. My mum also helped me to
pick up 'Learning basic japanese grammar' textbook and a grade 3 assessment
book from a trip to Japan. I decided to concentrate on picking up Kanji and
planned to memorise 10 Kanji compound words a day; it turned out decently -
I have managed to get about a thousand words so far. No matter what people
say, knowledge of Chinese is a big plus in learning kanji.
Other than from that, I've been reading grade 3 and 4 story-books and
completing one a week. I realized that it was pointless reading earlier
grade books as they contained so much 'baby-talk'. (Btw, what does
'konoyaroo' mean? it was spoken like a vulgarity in one of the books). The
assessment book was also quite useful in testing my knowledge, however I'm
facing the problem of getting more of them. Would Kinokuniya have them?
Anyway, is there anything else I can do to increase my reading ability more
quickly? I have heard that it's a good idea to learn the kanji component
words (what's the term) but I was thinking of doing that maybe after I have
a larger vocabulary.
Also, I'll be going to Okinawa during my summer holidays for a japanese
language course at the 'Japan Institute of Culture and Economics' (anyone
heard of it?). Is there anything I should prepare or look out for to enhance
my learning?
Lastly, is it possible for me to attain Japanese fluency (to a point where I
can work there,and to be able to read newspapers and adult fiction) within 4
years?
My plan is to enroll myself in weekly language classes as well as going for
the immersion course at the JICE yearly for the 4 summers I'm in U.
Answer:
I'm not sure what you mean by "assessment books" but I presume you mean the JPLT
practice exams. There are usually a few years of back exams available through
places like Kinokuniya LA. These are actual exams from past years and they keep
the last few years in stock for a long time. If you have trouble getting JPLT
back issues, contact The Japan Foundation through your nearest Japanese Embassy
or Consulate. The JF deals with the JPLT and textbook distribution
You say you know kanji so I presume your native language is Chinese. I studied
with plenty of Chinese students and they were baffled at us English speakers'
problems in some areas, it seemed so obvious to them. And they had a few blind
spots of their own. But I don't recall too much of this as I was too busy
struggling with learning the language myself.
I can only suggest reading a lot, I find it's easier to memorize kanji in
context. Maybe keep a pad of paper and copy unknown jukugo as you read, look
them up later and reread. You will be able to acquire larger groups of kanji and
kanji-based vocabulary at higher levels of study, so don't worry too much about
the slow pace at first. Maybe looking at the Bonjinsha "Kanji Book" series would
accelerate the process.
Haven't heard of them. I highly recommend doing overseas study but you should
get some classroom work in first. I remember how hard it was for the relatively
new students who were taking their first year or 2nd year Japanese class in
Japan, they were pretty lost. It seemed like a pretty inefficient and expensive
course of study, they should have got the basics out of the way first.
With overseas study, and 4 years of hard work, you have a good shot. It's
sufficient baseline prep that you could live and work in Japan. My teacher
always said that Japanese classes were just preparation for when the REAL work
begins, when you get to Japan and have to operate in a 100% Japanese
environmentYou can't do much better than a formal class with extra semesters in Japan. The
students who go overseas always perform better than the classroom-only students.
But you should probably consult with your teachers who will have own suggestions
on how you can prepare
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