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+--- Thread: 2015 JLPT N3 Thread (/thread-12636.html)
2015 JLPT N3 Thread - ariariari - 2015-07-20
gaiaslastlaugh Wrote:Not at all. It's with kara: http://www.italki.com/teacher/943419. Honestly, there are so many highly rated teachers there, at such affordable rates, that it's pretty hard to choose.ariariari Wrote:Quick update: I just signed up for my 2nd trial lesson on italki. I'm adding new vocab every day, and every week I learn some new grammar points via JOI. But I really just don't feel like I'm getting enough prep for the listening and reading parts of the exam. So I decided to sign up for a lesson and write a note that that's what I'm looking for. The teacher gave a very enthusiastic reply that she can totally help me with that. We'll see how it goes! The lesson is scheduled for Thursday night.Who is your lesson with (if you don't mind sharing)?
2015 JLPT N3 Thread - gaiaslastlaugh - 2015-07-20
I've worked with Kara - she's great! You're in good hands. Enjoy!
2015 JLPT N3 Thread - ariariari - 2015-07-23
So, a quick update. I just finished my 1-1 italki class, where we focused on reading comprehension. We used Sou-matome. It totally kicked my butt! It reminded me, perhaps unsurprisingly, of the N4 reading exam. That was the last time I felt so clueless with Japanese.
Reading for the exam is totally different than reading something like NHK Easy News. As I was going thru the lesson, flubbing question after question, it was just amazing to notice. For example, the question asks you to read a sign, then asks you about Friday. It's a big sign, with a bunch of days explicitly listed on it, so I keep on looking for Friday. Eventually my teacher is like "look for 平日". Or the sign, which is written with times as 午後８時 has questions with ２０時. Basically, they're really testing reading comprehension, and I didn't fully appreciate what a difference that is from what my teacher calls "recreational reading".
2015 JLPT N3 Thread - RawToast - 2015-07-24
ariariari Wrote:Reading for the exam is totally different than reading something like NHK Easy News. As I was going thru the lesson, flubbing question after question, it was just amazing to notice. For example, the question asks you to read a sign, then asks you about Friday. It's a big sign, with a bunch of days explicitly listed on it, so I keep on looking for Friday. Eventually my teacher is like "look for 平日". Or the sign, which is written with times as 午後８時 has questions with ２０時. Basically, they're really testing reading comprehension, and I didn't fully appreciate what a difference that is from what my teacher calls "recreational reading".That's why my tutor recommended the site in post #134, it contains questions at the end to go through with your teacher to test comprehension. I can't place the level by JLPT standards accurately, but I'd guess the materials are somewhere between N4-N3 level.
2015 JLPT N3 Thread - ariariari - 2015-07-24
RawToast Wrote:Thanks for the reply dude. You mean #142, right?ariariari Wrote:Reading for the exam is totally different than reading something like NHK Easy News. As I was going thru the lesson, flubbing question after question, it was just amazing to notice. For example, the question asks you to read a sign, then asks you about Friday. It's a big sign, with a bunch of days explicitly listed on it, so I keep on looking for Friday. Eventually my teacher is like "look for 平日". Or the sign, which is written with times as 午後８時 has questions with ２０時. Basically, they're really testing reading comprehension, and I didn't fully appreciate what a difference that is from what my teacher calls "recreational reading".That's why my tutor recommended the site in post #134, it contains questions at the end to go through with your teacher to test comprehension. I can't place the level by JLPT standards accurately, but I'd guess the materials are somewhere between N4-N3 level.
I only have 1 more JOI lesson in this set of 5. Maybe after it's done I'll spend some time with an italki tutor just working on reading comprehension.
2015 JLPT N3 Thread - gaiaslastlaugh - 2015-07-24
RawToast Wrote:This is why I love the ドリル＆ドリル books - nothing but sample problems meant to give you practice with questions that mimic the JLPT format. There's one for N3 - I'd highly recommend it.ariariari Wrote:Reading for the exam is totally different than reading something like NHK Easy News. As I was going thru the lesson, flubbing question after question, it was just amazing to notice. For example, the question asks you to read a sign, then asks you about Friday. It's a big sign, with a bunch of days explicitly listed on it, so I keep on looking for Friday. Eventually my teacher is like "look for 平日". Or the sign, which is written with times as 午後８時 has questions with ２０時. Basically, they're really testing reading comprehension, and I didn't fully appreciate what a difference that is from what my teacher calls "recreational reading".That's why my tutor recommended the site in post #134, it contains questions at the end to go through with your teacher to test comprehension. I can't place the level by JLPT standards accurately, but I'd guess the materials are somewhere between N4-N3 level.
http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E3%83%89%E3%83%AA%E3%83%AB-%E3%83%89%E3%83%AA%E3%83%AB%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E8%AA%9E%E8%83%BD%E5%8A%9B%E8%A9%A6%E9%A8%93N3-%E8%81%B4%E8%A7%A3%E3%83%BB%E8%AA%AD%E8%A7%A3-%E6%98%9F%E9%87%8E-%E6%81%B5%E5%AD%90/dp/4896894936/ref=pd_sim_14_5?ie=UTF8&refRID=15T3NTY14QMK5PREKRH4
2015 JLPT N3 Thread - ariariari - 2015-07-24
Thanks guys. At this point the problem for me is just anki time - specifically the number of vocab cards. Yesterday was the first day in a long time I didn't complete all my anki vocab cards. I think that there were probably about 150 of them, and with the class and work I just didn't have time. I also have about 45 unseen cards that I added from just class, nhk easy news, talking with friends, etc. The next "day" in soumatome has a ton of new vocab too.
c'est la vie. I have one more JOI class that I need to take by early August. I'll probably delay that class and adding any new cards until the reviews become managaeable again, then pre-add the vocab for the next reading comprehension, then try to make a serious attempt to getting thru a bunch of that book with a teacher.
2015 JLPT N3 Thread - uaifestival - 2015-07-27
Helllo guys,
I am back, I am strarting with a new teacher, but taking easy one lesson every two weeks.
The new book willbe exactly dril and drill...
I looked at nhk easy news, but guess what...if you do not have question to answer after the reading you would not improve your quick comprehension. On the other side it would be good for enrich the vocabulary as well.
..Still I haven`t foundthe time to write the letter of complaint for the Japan Foundation...
2015 JLPT N3 Thread - ariariari - 2015-07-27
uaifestival Wrote:Helllo guys,I agree with you. Once I started working thru the sou-matome 読解 book I was surprised at how hard it was. Having well thought out questions really changes everything.
I am back, I am strarting with a new teacher, but taking easy one lesson every two weeks.
The new book willbe exactly dril and drill...
I looked at nhk easy news, but guess what...if you do not have question to answer after the reading you would not improve your quick comprehension. On the other side it would be good for enrich the vocabulary as well.
..Still I haven`t foundthe time to write the letter of complaint for the Japan Foundation...
I still think that reading NHK Easy News helps with reading, and I certainly wouldn't discourage people from doing it. But I think that you still need well thought out questions to improve at taking a reading comprehension test.
I mention this a lot, but I need to get more selective about what vocab I decide to add into anki. Everytime I hang out with my Japanese friends I wind up adding in a bunch of new words to Anki. This has become detrimental to my exam prep, because I'm already at my limit for how much time I am willing to spend with Anki every day. Japanese is just a hobby, so I can't dedicate unlimited time to it. And this is resuling in me being slower than I'd like at adding in the vocab from, for example, my reading comprehension and vocab book. We're already in the 2nd half of the year. Time to get more focused on the exam prep books!
2015 JLPT N3 Thread - RawToast - 2015-07-29
Quote:This is why I love the ドリル＆ドリル books - nothing but sample problems meant to give you practice with questions that mimic the JLPT format. There's one for N3 - I'd highly recommend it.Thank's I'll definetly look at picking those up towards the time.
http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E3%83%89%E3%83 … MK5PREKRH4
Quote:I looked at nhk easy news, but guess what...if you do not have question to answer after the reading you would not improve your quick comprehension. On the other side it would be good for enrich the vocabulary as well.I now agree with this train of thought (and ariariari's similar comment). A good way to use NHK Easy is with a tutor who will ask some simple questions at the end.
With regards to progress, I have managed to acquire somewhere in the region of 200 hours of Japanese subtitled anime, a few films, and some dramas. So I have a lot of listen/reading practice coming up! I spend a few nights stuck in dull hotels every week, so I'll have something to do!
I added the last of the Genki 1 sentences (Nayr's deck) to my deck. Next step Genki 2
I still do these as I have been going through the book with a tutor on iTalki (despite being able to read/understand all the dialogues and 80% of the grammar). It's been a great exercise in improving my speaking and increasing my reading pace. We should be able to get through Genki 2 by October.One strange point to make about the Genki series. I know the common thinking is Genki 1 = N5, Genki 2 = N4, but from my experience that's not right. Yes the vocabulary counts are correct, but I find the grammar doesn't really work that way -- the first book covers more than N5 and approaches N4 in areas. My tutor keeps telling me Genki 2 is enough for N3, but I am not sure about that! Still I plan on completing (or at least being mid way through) Tobira by the time of the exam.
2015 JLPT N3 Thread - ariariari - 2015-07-29
RawToast Wrote:One strange point to make about the Genki series. I know the common thinking is Genki 1 = N5, Genki 2 = N4, but from my experience that's not right. Yes the vocabulary counts are correct, but I find the grammar doesn't really work that way -- the first book covers more than N5 and approaches N4 in areas. My tutor keeps telling me Genki 2 is enough for N3, but I am not sure about that! Still I plan on completing (or at least being mid way through) Tobira by the time of the exam.Yeah, these things are rough. Last December I finished Genki 2 and passed N4. I was fine for vocab but really struggled with grammar. I'm not sure if that's just because I hadn't figured out how to anki-fy grammar (and so forgot a bit), whether I hadn't learned a bunch of the grammar they test, or whether I just hadn't been exposed to how they test grammar. C'est la vie.
Also, at JOI the N3 grammar classes use Minna no Nihongo Intermediate 1. I realize that it's a different series than Genki. But Minna also has a 2 part beginner series, so there's some high-level similarity there.
2015 JLPT N3 Thread - yogert909 - 2015-07-29
RawToast Wrote:...the common thinking is Genki 1 = N5, Genki 2 = N4, but from my experience that's not right. Yes the vocabulary counts are correct, but I find the grammar doesn't really work that way --Does anyone have any idea how far Tae Kim goes grammar wise? Basically I haven't used a textbook and am wondering how much I'll need to supplement my grammar after I finish the last 1/3 of Tae Kim.
2015 JLPT N3 Thread - gaiaslastlaugh - 2015-07-29
yogert909 Wrote:This old thread (http://forum.koohii.com/showthread.php?tid=6255) said it covered up to the old N3. I've heard it covers up to some of N3 under the new world order.RawToast Wrote:...the common thinking is Genki 1 = N5, Genki 2 = N4, but from my experience that's not right. Yes the vocabulary counts are correct, but I find the grammar doesn't really work that way --Does anyone have any idea how far Tae Kim goes grammar wise? Basically I haven't used a textbook and am wondering how much I'll need to supplement my grammar after I finish the last 1/3 of Tae Kim.
EDIT: More recent thread here - http://www.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/comments/1dam1g/is_using_genki_12_and_tae_kims_guide_enough_for/
2015 JLPT N3 Thread - uaifestival - 2015-07-30
I think the grammar for NP3 is on youtube here (https://youtu.be/flfi38e0NKk?list=PL473DEAED168A6673) channel is called nihongonomori Japan. I found it better explained than the Minna no Nihongo I intermediate 1 which, by the way, was my first book to enter into the next level.
2015 JLPT N3 Thread - ariariari - 2015-07-30
July's almost up guys. I'm crunching all the vocab from my soumatome week 1 day 5 just so I can get it done for the month. I'm looking forward to August. I already have some stuff planned out, and will share tomorrow.
2015 JLPT N3 Thread - yogert909 - 2015-07-30
gaiaslastlaugh Wrote:Thanks! Much appreciated. Looks like TK covers most - but not all of the N3 grammar. I'll probably supplement with a Somatome N3 Grammar deck I found. It's probably good practice anyway.yogert909 Wrote:Does anyone have any idea how far Tae Kim goes grammar wise? Basically I haven't used a textbook and am wondering how much I'll need to supplement my grammar after I finish the last 1/3 of Tae Kim.This old thread (http://forum.koohii.com/showthread.php?tid=6255) said it covered up to the old N3. I've heard it covers up to some of N3 under the new world order.
EDIT: More recent thread here - http://www.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/comments/1dam1g/is_using_genki_12_and_tae_kims_guide_enough_for/
2015 JLPT N3 Thread - RawToast - 2015-07-31
ariariari Wrote:Yeah, these things are rough. Last December I finished Genki 2 and passed N4. I was fine for vocab but really struggled with grammar. I'm not sure if that's just because I hadn't figured out how to anki-fy grammar (and so forgot a bit), whether I hadn't learned a bunch of the grammar they test, or whether I just hadn't been exposed to how they test grammar. C'est la vie.I can't comment on N4, as I've only ever done the online test. When I passed N5 I struggled with the grammar, because I was focusing on the entire book alongside some JLPT specific resources. I would have been better off revising from the first 8 chapters or so of Genki, the test really really doesn't cover much more than: polite present/past, basic particles (は, が, へ, に, を, から, まで) and vocab.
I guess Genki 2 will cover most of N4 and touch upon N3 in places (and missing some details!). I'd need to compare against my copy of Kanzen Master or some past papers.
ariariari Wrote:Also, at JOI the N3 grammar classes use Minna no Nihongo Intermediate 1. I realize that it's a different series than Genki. But Minna also has a 2 part beginner series, so there's some high-level similarity there.That's what I plan on doing with Tobira, which sometimes gets called "Genki 3".
As for TK, the concensus is N3 -- just revise with a JLPT specific book, since TK doesn't have practice questions.
2015 JLPT N3 Thread - RawToast - 2015-07-31
Quickly going through the N4 paper (whilst at work!) here:
http://www.tanos.co.uk/jlpt/skills/pastpapers/
I can't spot anything in the reading sections apart from a single など that would be out of place in Genki 1. They are a little longer than the practice reading sections in Genki 1, but that's really it. Interestingly, I always see のです ('expanatory の') marked as N5 level (which is in chapter 11 or 12), but I can't remember seeing it in the test and I couldn't spot a single usage in the reading sections in that example paper.
Maybe such points are included now and then (for those aiming at high scores), but I think it would be possible to pass N4 after completing Genki 1 and the first 2 chapters of Genki 2 and then focusing on vocab, kanji, and reading.
Likewise I am always suprised at the infrequent use of kanji in the tests. I feel Genki uses kanji more frequently than the test (which can make it slightly harder if you get used to the kanji).
2015 JLPT N3 Thread - RawToast - 2015-07-31
Triple post, but todays the progress report day! Will keep this short.
Since the 1st of July:
Sentence Cards:
Mature Cards: 1996 (1696) +300!
Young&Learn: 418 (382) +36
Total: 2411 (2078) +333
Kanji Stats:
781 total unique kanji. (688) +93
Kanji Jouyou levels:
Grade 1: 74 of 80 (85%). (68) +6 (Almost!)
Grade 2: 145 of 160 (85%). (136) +9
Grade 3: 147 of 200 (64.5%). (129) +18
Grade 4: 107 of 200 (49%). (98) +12
Grade 5: 80 of 185 (33.5%). (62) +18
Grade 6: 65 of 181 (32.5%). (59) +6
If I continue at this pace I should be okay vocab wise. Just need to get more reading practice (which I am now doing on iTalki and listening)
2015 JLPT N3 Thread - ariariari - 2015-07-31
@RawToast, I like how you include Young+Learn in addition to Mature. That probably gives a much better read on "count of things I'd likely understand today". When I finish my reviews today I'll includue that.
2015 JLPT N3 Thread - ariariari - 2015-07-31
End of July progress report. Thanks for helping me stay motivated guys!
Compared to the end of June:
mature grammar cards: 393 (today) - 370 (end of June) = +23
mature kanji cards: 641 (today) - 608 (end of June) = +33
mature vocab cards: 4,097 (today) - 3,994 (end of June) = +103
Compared to January 20 (my earliest record for 2015):
mature grammar cards: 393 (today) - 208 (1/20) = +185
mature kanji cards: 641 (today) - 478 mature (1/20) = +163
mature vocab cards: 4,097 (today) - 3,246 (1/20) = +851
Completed chapters of N3 practice books:
新完全マスター漢字：第６回
日本語総まとめ：語彙：第１週5日目 (added 2 days)
What I want to work on in August:
*Take it easy for the first week or so. I added a lot of vocab in the last week as I rushed to add in days 4 and 5 from sou-matome.
*Finish the first week of my vocab book. Adding in the new vocab from day 6 and the final review, plus finishing the questions.
*Get into a groove of working thru my reading comprehension book, either with an italki tutor or a private tutor from JOI.
Stats including young+learn as well as mature cards:
grammar: 393 mature + 69 young+learn = 462
kanji: 641 mature + 229 young+learn = 870
vocab 4,097 mature + 773 young+learn = 4,870
2015 JLPT N3 Thread - yogert909 - 2015-07-31
It's looking like I'll be going to Japan at the end of the year, so I'm adjusting my goals a bit and JLPT isn't as much of a priority now. Top priority now is to be able to do as much as can in Japanese when I get there. 2nd priority is to get better at enjoying Japanese media here at home. 3rd priority is passing N3 if I'm able.
(June 24) compared to Today - July 31:
sentences: (2312) = same
unique vocab: (2329) = same
grammar: (448) = same
kanji: (787) = same
kanji vocab = 482 - (105) = 377
audio vocab (75) = same
July Goals (Recap):
√ Finish anki reviews every day ~1hr <-- Successful
√ Continue adding Audio only vocab cards. <-- Added 377 vocab, but zero audio cards.
0 Erin's challenge if I have any time after ankiing <-- didn't have time
0 Saikou no Rikon w/ Japanese subtitles if I have any time after ankiing <-- didn't have time
August Goals:
- Finish anki reviews every day ~1hr
- Finish adding the last 250 kanji vocab cards.
- Start Tonari no Totoro subs2srs Deck + Vocab (Goal is to understand with no subs)
September and beyond:
- Continue with Tonari no Totoro, Erin's challenge, ect.
- Finish Tae Kim
- Add the last 87 N3 vocab words
- Somatome N3 Grammar deck
- NHK easy
- Reading parallel texts
- Practice conversation
- Continue RTK (only did RTK lite so far)
2015 JLPT N3 Thread - ariariari - 2015-08-17
Just a brief update because we're about halfway thru the month.
At the end of last month I did a big push on finishing I guess week 1 day 5 of my vocab book. The downside is that it left me with a bunch of anki reps to do every day
I took a week to just work thru that, and now I'm almost done with week 1 day 6. The truth is that I really don't like learning vocab like this - I find adding in vocab I get from reading and conversation to be much more enjoyable. But the big advantage of the book is that it comes with vocab questions, which are super good prep for the exam.I think that next week I'll turn my attention to the reading comprehension book, and working thru that both with both anki and a teacher.
In other news, I found that I didn't win the Satogaeri Project, so no free trip to Japan for me this year. I suppose that I could try to give another talk in December at the same conference I did last year. But I think that I'd rather give a talk around cherry blossom season next year, even if it is to a smaller group. I just spoke with the conference organizer and he said that he'd love to have me do that. So I guess that I can relax a bit more with my studies as well.
2015 JLPT N3 Thread - Hinsudesu - 2015-08-18
A head's up for the July test takers outside East Asian countries:
Quote:The result of 2015 July test will be available from the afternoon of August 27 to 5pm on November 30(JST).
2015 JLPT N3 Thread - RawToast - 2015-08-18
Plodding along through Genki 2 at the moment. There are plenty of parts where I fully understand the text, but at first completely fail to produce similar sentences!
Last week my tutor told me I was the only student he has taught that completed Genki 1, which I found interesting. We kind of cheated, since it was mostly review for me!
I do prefer the textbook approach in comparison to using JLPT textbooks, it's just a matter of how quickly I can get this next textbook out of the way!
Quote:The truth is that I really don't like learning vocab like this - I find adding in vocab I get from reading and conversation to be much more enjoyable.Without a doubt, it is! I tend to create cards for words I had to ask about during conversation practice and mix them in with the less interesting Genki, Core, and Tae Kim sentences.