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Learning Japanese |OT| ..honor and shame are huge parts of it. Let's!

K

kubus

Member
Good news: Got my JLPT registration confirmation

Bad news: In the confirmation they say they will be debiting the 60 euro fee from my bank account, and in the invoice it says I haven't paid anything yet.

Even though I already put the 60 euro in the envelope with my registration, because they explicitly told me to do that on the website.

If this money is somehow "lost", I'm gonna be so freaking pissed.

dofry said:
Thanks for the tip on the JLPT schedule. I will register later this month to just test my current proficiency.
Click to expand...
Good luck! Which level are you aiming for?
 
K

kubus

Member
Yeah already sent them back an email. I really hope this is just a misunderstanding. I guess it would be pretty easy for them to say there was no money in the envelope :/. What a hassle. Well, at least this gives me motivation to really study for it and pass so I won't ever deal with it again, lol.

The 60 euro fee is the same for all levels. I think in London the fee is around 70 pound? So even more expensive. In my country the fee is 100 euro, but they only do the test in July. JLPT ain't cheap in Europe :(
 
D

dofry

That's "Dr." dofry to you.
kubus said:
Good news: Got my JLPT registration confirmation

Bad news: In the confirmation they say they will be debiting the 60 euro fee from my bank account, and in the invoice it says I haven't paid anything yet.

Even though I already put the 60 euro in the envelope with my registration, because they explicitly told me to do that on the website.

If this money is somehow "lost", I'm gonna be so freaking pissed.


Good luck! Which level are you aiming for?
Click to expand...

I'll just go for N3 as that seems passable with less effort as I haven't looked at Kanji's for a while and need to focus more on work. If N3 passes easily, I'll start to study for N1 for sometime next year. If not, then N2 as a focus.

Also, good luck to you and I think you get that 60€ mistake sorted out. They can't double charge you if you have proof you were supposed to put it in an envelope as stated by them.
 
D

Dantero

Member
dofry said:
I'll just go for N3 as that seems passable with less effort as I haven't looked at Kanji's for a while and need to focus more on work. If N3 passes easily, I'll start to study for N1 for sometime next year. If not, then N2 as a focus.
Click to expand...

Is there even a point in doing anything below(above?) N2? Feels like wasted money if only N2 and N1 are worth anything.
 
OrochiJR

OrochiJR

Member
Dantero said:
Is there even a point in doing anything below(above?) N2? Feels like wasted money if only N2 and N1 are worth anything.
Click to expand...

I hope so, I'll also aim for N3 this December. Still have a few days to think about it, but I fear I'm too rusty for N2 currently.
 
Porcile

Porcile

Member
I'm pretty sure the N5,N4 and N3 are just an easy way for language schools to cheap out and not provide any tests or useful qualifications for their students.
 
R

Resilient

Member
Dantero said:
Is there even a point in doing anything below(above?) N2? Feels like wasted money if only N2 and N1 are worth anything.
Click to expand...

real answer: no, there's no point

people who take it and have to justify it: yes, because something about feeling of progression and learning and confidence building. YMMV on this one though. i personally don't care for it.
 
H

Hypron

Member
It motivates me to finish textbooks on time so for me it's worth it. Doing vocab and stuff on Anki every day is easy to do, but I also find it easy to get lazy with textbook work.

It's like spending money to participate in a Marathon, when you think about it it's also a waste of money if you're not going to win it... But it can motivate you to train harder, plus finishing it feels good regardless of how long it takes you.
 
Porcile

Porcile

Member
No ones gonna criticise you for studying, but professionally the lower levels don't have much use outside of applying for low skill factory jobs and things like that where you'll be working mostly with other foreigners.
 
U

urfe

Member
Porcile said:
I'm pretty sure the N5,N4 and N3 are just an easy way for language schools to cheap out and not provide any tests or useful qualifications for their students.
Click to expand...

I don't think any job I've gotten or applied for has ever actually asked to see my N1 certificate.

I like tests for progression. I'll take 漢字検定 in October at a kids level, with kids. It's motivation to learn those kanji inside and out.
 
U

urfe

Member
Hypron said:
Oh wow, which level are you sitting?
Click to expand...

Level 5. Hopefully not too hard. Think it's a grade 6 level.

Porcile said:
But if they did, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't be like "Can you we see your N5 certificate please?"
Click to expand...

Yeah, good point I guess. I just don't get being down on lower levels I guess. I didn't know what 〜模様 meant last week (N3 grammar), and if I took that test I probably would have learned it!
 
Porcile

Porcile

Member
I'm not down on people doing them for study. Study is good. I wish more people sat down and studied here (Japan) and did some hard graft instead of thinking that only exposure is going to help them get good. That goes for Japanese AND English learners here. Though I'm mostly talking about adult learners since students at school do nothing but study grammar rules from books.
 
K

Kilrogg

paid requisite penance
Resilient said:
real answer: no, there's no point

people who take it and have to justify it: yes, because something about feeling of progression and learning and confidence building. YMMV on this one though. i personally don't care for it.
Click to expand...

Some people need some form of objective to push their motivation further. That's basically what JLPT is good for in the early stages. I know aiming for N2 and N1 helped me somewhat. Heck, even the old N3 when I took it.

Other than that it's useless, yeah.
 
D

dofry

That's "Dr." dofry to you.
Dantero said:
Is there even a point in doing anything below(above?) N2? Feels like wasted money if only N2 and N1 are worth anything.
Click to expand...

Well I am just probing for my own skill level because ai have no idea how many I know. It's somewhere between 600-1000-ish. Like others said it's just a personal goal. I am good at talking but bad at reading. I know some weird kanji's but have forgotten a ton of basic kanji's.

I think I cannot pass N2 yet because lack of studying so N3 is my goal for now. And the test is not that expensive.

This is a bit off topic but I started studying in 2003 and have lived here for six years but I stopped studying after I became fluent enough in speaking a few years ago. But now at my current work I have trouble reading the emails and important messages. I have to constantly check different kanji meanings so I started again. And it has worked so far. I recognise the kanjis that I've forgotten and learn new everyday. Wanikani and Anki have been really useful.

I know a few people that passed N1 but can't talk well because they only studied for the tests. Talking in the beginning is really important in my opinion and the kanjis extend your vocabulary range. And when you can talk, it gives you motivation and confidence to improve your skills in japanese or any other language.
 
J

Jintor

Member
It depends what you mean by point. I find the motivational element extremely important as someone who flounders without an easily quantifiable goal
 
A

Aiii

So not worth it
Dantero said:
Waifus?
Click to expand...

waifi?

favicon.icon
 
Z

Zeouterlimits

Member
Anyone tried うんこ漢字ドリル - Unko Kanji Drills?

poop-kanji-drill-fb.jpg


I really need a better learning routine... (I do not expect the book to solve it, don't worry).
 
A

Aiii

So not worth it
I don't like to draw kanji. I was born with oxygen deprivation and have some issues with my fine motor skills as a result. I'm also left handed. Drawing a straight line is a task for me, let alone drawing kanji and drawing in proper stroke order (which is clearly designed for right handed writing) makes it even worse.

All in all, I'm happy just typing them :D WaniKani is sufficient for that.
 
K

KtSlime

Member
Dantero said:
Waifus?
Click to expand...

While it is written strangely, it doesn't sounds any different to me than the possessive form: wife's. If I try to use it in as sentence as you intend "They are all my waifus" gives me the same uncomfortable feeling as "I ate 3 sushis today". That said, "They are all my waifu" doesn't sounds much better either. Wiktionary says that both are correct though. *shrug*

Zeouterlimits: Why would you take and gather shit?!?
 
M

Makai

Member
Again, this is a language issue, though again, I am going to presume that it accounts for a decent amount of passive aggression. I can't possibly be the only person who is creeped out by this stuff: There is a whole verb in Japanese which, when appended to the stem form of any other verb, allows you to express the opposite of that verb without having to use its negative form.

Maybe that description didn't make much sense. It's like, append the positive form of this verb to the end of the stem of the verb in the sentence "It's possible to do that", and you can make the sentence mean "It's not possible to do that." Though since verbs end the sentences in Japan, it's more like "Yes, we can do that for you — NOTTTTTT."
Click to expand...
oh no
 
Porcile

Porcile

Member
I had to Google that to find the original article. Just some random foreign guy in Tokyo moaning about Tokyo life and equating it to all of Japan. JapanLife Reddit is that way.
 
A

Alanae

Member
I was originally going to respond with that I don't really recall seeing it anywhere, but then I just came across its 終止形, -まじ in a webnovel I was reading so I think I probably must have seen it in the wild here and there without it registering in my memory.
I guess its the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon in action.
Doing a quick twitter search reveals that random people use it from time to time, usually as (position)にあるまじき(action/act).

edit: came across another one
oF4PMb6.png
 
H

Hypron

Member
2 more chapters to read through and I'm finally done with とびら... I don't do the exercises but I read everything and I already went through all the vocab/grammar on Anki. I've been slacking for the past few months on the textbook front, so I decided to get it over and done with this week — I went through 5 chapters already since last Sunday. The story at the beginning of Chapter 13 was a bit of a slog to go through (a lot of the words used weren't in the official Anki deck), but everything else feels decently straightforward.

After that I will do all the exercises in the N3 grammar/reading comprehension books from the 新完全マスター series and listening comprehension from 総まとめ. The exercises in these books are a bit more suited to self-study I guess.

Hopefully by the time I'm done with those, I'll be ready for the N3 exam in December.
 
D

Deleted member 17706

Unconfirmed Member
Resilient said:
Jumanji?

Anybody ever encountered まじき used in real life/drama/a book? I don't think I've seen it outside of text books. Am I looking in the wrong places?
Click to expand...

Yes/yes/yes.

Can't really tell you where to look, but it's definitely not a textbook-only word. In my experience, textbook-only words don't really exist.
 
M

Makai

Member
What do I do when the autocorrect can't find the kanji I want, or if I want to type in hiragana but it autocorrects into kanji?

ぎょくしょう
玉將

It can't figure out that
 
T

TheSporkWithin

Member
Makai said:
What do I do when the autocorrect can't find the kanji I want, or if I want to type in hiragana but it autocorrects into kanji?

ぎょくしょう
玉將

It can't figure out that
Click to expand...

The second character isn't used in Japanese. In cases like this you'd have to find it somewhere and paste it, or go into a character viewer for 将 (the regularly used version) and look under variant characters.
 
M

Makai

Member
TheSporkWithin said:
The second character isn't used in Japanese. In cases like this you'd have to find it somewhere and paste it, or go into a character viewer for 将 (the regularly used version) and look under variant characters.
Click to expand...
It doesn't suggest that either, just 玉淑. This kind of thing comes up a lot - is typing really this slow?
 
K

KtSlime

Member
Makai said:
It doesn't suggest that either, just 玉淑. This kind of thing comes up a lot - is typing really this slow?
Click to expand...

Not sure what kind of IME you are using, but I am on a Mac, and it is the 2nd on the list. Have you looked at the manual for your IME?
 
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