Kanji for JLPT 4

[MMM]

Originally Posted by delacroix01

Since there's this thread, I think I should ask some questions as well. Now that there are 5 levels, which one should I start if I take a Japanese class? Should I start at level 3 and then go to 2 and 1, or should I take 2 at first try? I think I'm still not good enough to take a class in the next 3 years, so I'm wondering about the proper method when I'm able to take it. Can anybody give me an advice?

It depends on your needs. If you are looking for work, then L1 is it, pretty much.

Japanese classes, in my experience, do not teach to the test. I would suggest studying Japanese for a few years, then decide where you feel you are.

[delacroix01]

Originally Posted by MMM

It depends on your needs. If you are looking for work, then L1 is it, pretty much.

Japanese classes, in my experience, do not teach to the test. I would suggest studying Japanese for a few years, then decide where you feel you are.

To tell the truth, my first goal is to be able to read or watch any media in Japanese without relying much on dictionaries, so I will do only self-studying for a couple of years like you suggest. This is also the method I had used for studying English, and I think it applies well to me.

[KyleGoetz]

Of course, by "=" I mean "is similar to."

[KyleGoetz]

Originally Posted by delacroix01

To tell the truth, my first goal is to be able to read or watch any media in Japanese without relying much on dictionaries, so I will do only self-studying for a couple of years like you suggest. This is also the method I had used for studying English, and I think it applies well to me.

Just so you know, self-study for two years will almost assuredly not be enough to meet your goal. I still have problems watching the news, and I lived in Japan for a year, majored in Japanese at university, and studied pretty diligently for four years (although I could have done more).

If you can learn 20 kanji per week without missing a week, you will get enough kanji to read the newspaper in about two years. But 20 kanji/week for two years will really wear you down. You'll likely end up doing, on average, 10 at best. This means four years.

I'm not trying to discourage you. Instead, I'm just warning you ahead of time so you can be prepared. If you know what you're getting into, it's easier to persevere.

がんばれ！

[SquallStrife]

Originally Posted by KyleGoetz

Just so you know, self-study for two years will almost assuredly not be enough to meet your goal. I still have problems watching the news, and I lived in Japan for a year, majored in Japanese at university, and studied pretty diligently for four years (although I could have done more).

If you can learn 20 kanji per week without missing a week, you will get enough kanji to read the newspaper in about two years. But 20 kanji/week for two years will really wear you down. You'll likely end up doing, on average, 10 at best. This means four years.

I'm not trying to discourage you. Instead, I'm just warning you ahead of time so you can be prepared. If you know what you're getting into, it's easier to persevere.

がんばれ！

omg, you majored in Japanese at university and still have troubles watching the news?
This is bad news for me, sounds like learning Japanese is a bad choice.

[KyleGoetz]

Originally Posted by SquallStrife

omg, you majored in Japanese at university and still have troubles watching the news?

Yeah, you need full immersion to perfect the language. Could you understand the English news perfectly at four years old?

This is bad news for me, sounds like learning Japanese is a bad choice.

Why? Did you think learning a language is easy? You will not learn any language that well just by taking one course each semester for four years! If your goal is fluent Japanese or nothing at all, you should just quit now, because you are displaying a laziness that will prevent you from learning any other language.

For what it's worth, I was in Houston this weekend at a Taiwanese church with my fiancée and her parents. After the service, the parents introduced me to someone who speaks Japanese. We started talking in Japanese just fine, and I had no problems at all (except, after a while of not speaking with older people, I was speaking a bit too informally with him).

Also, as a reference point, I'm between JLPT 1 and 2 in ability.

[Nyororin]

Originally Posted by SquallStrife

This is bad news for me, sounds like learning Japanese is a bad choice.

No, if that is an issue for you... Sounds like learning any language is going to be a bad choice. You cannot just expect to be fluent in no time, especially if you`re not in an immersion environment.

I`ve lived in Japan for 10 years now, speak Japanese only in my home, have taken and passed the JLPT1... And I`m still not and most likely never will be on the same level as a native speaker.

[MMM]

Originally Posted by SquallStrife

omg, you majored in Japanese at university and still have troubles watching the news?
This is bad news for me, sounds like learning Japanese is a bad choice.

I majored in Japanese in school and have lived and worked in jobs that require Japanese for over a dozen years and I still have a hard time understanding the news.

[KyleGoetz]

Originally Posted by MMM

I majored in Japanese in school and have lived and worked in jobs that require Japanese for over a dozen years and I still have a hard time understanding the news.

On the other hand, as far as I can tell, your Japanese is the most excellent on this forum aside from the natives. You are definitely well above where I am at. Nyororin is probably around your level, too. There's someone from Taiwan who posts nearly in 100% Japanese who is up there, too.

The point is, you and Nyororin both claim to have problems with the news, but aside from that, both of you appear to have (relatively) excellent Japanese. In his wildest dreams, OP should be so talented as you two.

[MMM]

Originally Posted by KyleGoetz

On the other hand, as far as I can tell, your Japanese is the most excellent on this forum aside from the natives. You are definitely well above where I am at. Nyororin is probably around your level, too. There's someone from Taiwan who posts nearly in 100% Japanese who is up there, too.

The point is, you and Nyororin both claim to have problems with the news, but aside from that, both of you appear to have (relatively) excellent Japanese. In his wildest dreams, OP should be so talented as you two.

That's very nice of you to say, Kyle, but I think Nyororin is well above where I am at.

In my defense, though, words like "multi-car accident", "serial killer", "hedge fund", "stock market", political pressure" etc. do not appear in even University level text books and are not everyday conversational topics, mostly, so I don't feel so bad about not understanding the news as well as I would like.