So the good news is that I'm still resolved to try to pass JLPT 2. The bad news is that Japanese Certificate Level 3 was not advertised in the paper. Does this mean that it's not being offered? Must ring to find out.
Okay: results of phone call. Operation Motto Motto Renshuu (Much More Practice) is go. Sasaki-sensei is still teaching (yay!). Japanese Certificate 2 and 3 are now two semesters each (they used to be one semester each), so they're half way through. I think that I'm past Certificate 2, so I'll turn up to Certificate 3 and see how it goes. Hopefully a bajillion hours of anime watching and manga reading will make up for two semesters of actual study. Exciting!
I've been tearing through the low level kanji, using the new software I've bought for the purpose: ReadWrite Kanji from Declan Software. It's not perfect (particularly the way it uses the printed way of writing the characters instead of the handwritten style), but it suits me. It takes no prisoners: you must correctly identify the onyomi, kunyomi, stroke order and English meaning of each character before "graduating" from that character. If you get any of these wrong, the character stays on your list to review. And it's got a cute little countdown of how many characters you've "graduated" -- so far I'm at 44 of the 1945 official kanji.
The printed vs. handwriting thing is fairly serious though. It doesn't affect stroke order, but it definitely changes how the character looks. Good examples are iu for speak and hairu for enter. Aaaand at some point I'll put some pictures up. (God knows I won't be scanning in my practice book, because my handwriting sux0rs.)
Also, my house is full of cool packages: a bunch of tshirts for Emma-sensei that she ordered from Think Geek; a bunch of dvds (I think) for Xopher from the UK (his family in London is fine, thank goodness); and finally and best of all for me -- a bunch of uber-cool random anime stuff that dadbot sent me. Whoot! My favourite is probably the microfibre towel with Roy Mustang (and his staff) of Fullmetal Alchemist on it. It's so geeky and excellent.
JLPT Level 2. Days remaining: 145. Kanji nailed: 44. Kanji remaining: 966.
July 12, 2005
July 09, 2005
The JLPT
I've been thinking about doing the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) this year. The JLPT is run by the Japanese government, and there are four levels: 1 is the highest, and 4 is the lowest. According to http://www.kanji-a-day.com there are 149 days to go until this year's test.
Back in 2003, when I'd been studying Japanese for about six months, Sasaki-sensei thought that I could probably pass Level 3 if I pushed. (Level 4 is pretty easy, really.)
Because the quizzes are right there, I just did 100 Level 3 kanji questions, and got 60 of them right (which is a pass). I know it's not the same, and kanji comprehension is only one part of the test, but hey, I didn't study at all.
Given that I have 149 days to actually study the material, Level 3 is probably too easy. So Level 2 is the logical test to try.
But: eep. Level 2 is about three times harder than Level 3, with 1000 kanji and 6000 words, and "the ability to converse, read, and write about matters of a general nature". (Does yaoi count?) Also: "This level is normally reached after studying Japanese for around 600 hours and after completion of an intermediate course."
I haven't done an intermediate course. Perhaps I could... Spooky. I just checked, and the uni where I did my previous course is advertising enrolments for Semester 2 tomorrow. Woo, I'll get the paper in the morning.
Well, thanks for following along the bouncing ball of me talking myself into trying for Level 2. How hard could it be? (Hahaha. Very hard indeed.) And, if nothing else comes of it, there will be the novelty of failing an exam, which hasn't happened for a very long time indeed.
Yay. Challenge. I'm off to dust off my kanji books, exercise notebooks and quiz software. もっともっと練習が必要ですよ！ (I need much more practice.)
Back in 2003, when I'd been studying Japanese for about six months, Sasaki-sensei thought that I could probably pass Level 3 if I pushed. (Level 4 is pretty easy, really.)
Because the quizzes are right there, I just did 100 Level 3 kanji questions, and got 60 of them right (which is a pass). I know it's not the same, and kanji comprehension is only one part of the test, but hey, I didn't study at all.
Given that I have 149 days to actually study the material, Level 3 is probably too easy. So Level 2 is the logical test to try.
But: eep. Level 2 is about three times harder than Level 3, with 1000 kanji and 6000 words, and "the ability to converse, read, and write about matters of a general nature". (Does yaoi count?) Also: "This level is normally reached after studying Japanese for around 600 hours and after completion of an intermediate course."
I haven't done an intermediate course. Perhaps I could... Spooky. I just checked, and the uni where I did my previous course is advertising enrolments for Semester 2 tomorrow. Woo, I'll get the paper in the morning.
Well, thanks for following along the bouncing ball of me talking myself into trying for Level 2. How hard could it be? (Hahaha. Very hard indeed.) And, if nothing else comes of it, there will be the novelty of failing an exam, which hasn't happened for a very long time indeed.
Yay. Challenge. I'm off to dust off my kanji books, exercise notebooks and quiz software. もっともっと練習が必要ですよ！ (I need much more practice.)
July 07, 2005
Contracts, motives, pronouns
I've just received word that I've been offered another contract here for one year with two further one year options. And a pay rise. Yay! It looks like the head-hunter gamble thing is working for me. For instance: I got in to work this morning after 10am, and that's OKAY. OMFG. Love this job.
In other news: I've been watching lots of anime with Meagan, and she is very cool to watch anime with because she gets involved in the stories, and we usually pause the show to chit-chat about all manner of things.
One of the problems with watching subtitled anime is that it's harder to actually follow what's going on, so subtleties of plot and characterisation can be missed. Watching with someone who's watching carefully, and willing and able to make guesses at motives and mysteries makes it a lot of fun.
Like me, she's fan of sub(titles) in the eternal sub vs dub(bed audio) war. Reading subtitles takes more work, but dubs are usually wincingly awful. This is because American voice actors are, as a rule, worse actors than Japanese voice actors. Meagan's emerging interest in the language means that she listens to emotional tone carefully which is very important in getting the most out of subtitles. Without vocal cues, "Oh?" can be everything from a polite request for further explanation to an outburst of bitter regret. (Do these examples reflect that we've been watching romantic anime? I think they might...)
I've been talking about speaking Japanese quite a lot lately, and this led to a strange dream last night. In the dream I attended a (very formal) exam during which I was expected to speak Japanese. In the strange way that dreams have, I didn't speak any English at all and that wasn't a problem. The problem was that my years of watching shounen anime (giant robots and pirates) led me to use... inappropriate pronouns! That's right, I spoke like a boy, or possibly a pirate, and though I was very embarrassed I couldn't stop blurting out something very impolite ("Suwatte, yo!" Siddown!) then having to revise it ("Sumimasen. Suwatte kudasaimasenka, sensei?" My apologies. Won't you sit down, sir?). Inappropriately harsh language has been a worry ever since I started speaking Japanese to people who know it better than me, but I spoke a little Japanese with Jo at the Eurovision party and had no trouble at all staying polite. Chotto hen da na, yume wa. (It was a kinda weird dream.)
In other news: I've been watching lots of anime with Meagan, and she is very cool to watch anime with because she gets involved in the stories, and we usually pause the show to chit-chat about all manner of things.
One of the problems with watching subtitled anime is that it's harder to actually follow what's going on, so subtleties of plot and characterisation can be missed. Watching with someone who's watching carefully, and willing and able to make guesses at motives and mysteries makes it a lot of fun.
Like me, she's fan of sub(titles) in the eternal sub vs dub(bed audio) war. Reading subtitles takes more work, but dubs are usually wincingly awful. This is because American voice actors are, as a rule, worse actors than Japanese voice actors. Meagan's emerging interest in the language means that she listens to emotional tone carefully which is very important in getting the most out of subtitles. Without vocal cues, "Oh?" can be everything from a polite request for further explanation to an outburst of bitter regret. (Do these examples reflect that we've been watching romantic anime? I think they might...)
I've been talking about speaking Japanese quite a lot lately, and this led to a strange dream last night. In the dream I attended a (very formal) exam during which I was expected to speak Japanese. In the strange way that dreams have, I didn't speak any English at all and that wasn't a problem. The problem was that my years of watching shounen anime (giant robots and pirates) led me to use... inappropriate pronouns! That's right, I spoke like a boy, or possibly a pirate, and though I was very embarrassed I couldn't stop blurting out something very impolite ("Suwatte, yo!" Siddown!) then having to revise it ("Sumimasen. Suwatte kudasaimasenka, sensei?" My apologies. Won't you sit down, sir?). Inappropriately harsh language has been a worry ever since I started speaking Japanese to people who know it better than me, but I spoke a little Japanese with Jo at the Eurovision party and had no trouble at all staying polite. Chotto hen da na, yume wa. (It was a kinda weird dream.)
July 01, 2005
All new cutest hair ever
As part of my Eurovision party preparation, I paid a nice young man a bunch of money to remove my foot long braid and replace it with a much shorter, perkier and altogether cuter haircut.
I'd post photos, if I were someone else entirely.
It's basically a darkish red, with brighter-red oddly-shaped highlighted chunks. I don't think the Young People call them streaks any more, but I could be wrong. It's kind of a messy/shaggy cut, so I can do lots of things with it.
The main, most important thing is the Flippy! This configuration has got kind of a sticky out flippy thing at eye level, all the way round. It's very cute!
There's also the Minor Flippy, which is the best I can do with my n00b hairdryer skillz. (The true flippy has only been seen once, and was implemented by the original cute hair cutting guy with his l33t skillz and ultrasomething electronic hairstyling majigger.)
The next most likely style is the Work Configuration, which involves lesser amounts of "product" and is more sleek to my head. The sleek thing is important because the default setting for this hair is a kind of all-over sticky up thing. Still cute, but nowhere near as funky.
However, the importantest thing of all is: my new hair is cute! I've been getting a bunch of compliments. From women, because most are better at "OMFG! Yr hair is so kewt!" But also, so far three of the the painfully people shy computer nerds I work with have managed to find some time when noone else is around to tell me that my new hair looks "quite good". Tee hee.
I've got some amazing double takes too. My boss had to clutch at his desk with both hands to keep from literally falling off his chair.
But anyway, enough about my hair... Not! It's also much lighter, and as you might expect, I'm kind of still going through some long hair habits. Such as: reaching around to pull my braid out of my collar whenever I put on a jacket; hair flicking (now has no effect!); removing my hair band when going to bed; and so on.
So, there, now you know. My hair is both new and cute. How's your hair?
I'd post photos, if I were someone else entirely.
It's basically a darkish red, with brighter-red oddly-shaped highlighted chunks. I don't think the Young People call them streaks any more, but I could be wrong. It's kind of a messy/shaggy cut, so I can do lots of things with it.
The main, most important thing is the Flippy! This configuration has got kind of a sticky out flippy thing at eye level, all the way round. It's very cute!
There's also the Minor Flippy, which is the best I can do with my n00b hairdryer skillz. (The true flippy has only been seen once, and was implemented by the original cute hair cutting guy with his l33t skillz and ultrasomething electronic hairstyling majigger.)
The next most likely style is the Work Configuration, which involves lesser amounts of "product" and is more sleek to my head. The sleek thing is important because the default setting for this hair is a kind of all-over sticky up thing. Still cute, but nowhere near as funky.
However, the importantest thing of all is: my new hair is cute! I've been getting a bunch of compliments. From women, because most are better at "OMFG! Yr hair is so kewt!" But also, so far three of the the painfully people shy computer nerds I work with have managed to find some time when noone else is around to tell me that my new hair looks "quite good". Tee hee.
I've got some amazing double takes too. My boss had to clutch at his desk with both hands to keep from literally falling off his chair.
But anyway, enough about my hair... Not! It's also much lighter, and as you might expect, I'm kind of still going through some long hair habits. Such as: reaching around to pull my braid out of my collar whenever I put on a jacket; hair flicking (now has no effect!); removing my hair band when going to bed; and so on.
So, there, now you know. My hair is both new and cute. How's your hair?
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