JLPT Study Materials Request
Hi,
I've just come across this site in the last few days and I've found it useful in reinforcing and fine-tuning my approach to my Japanese study. As you'll see below, my learning approach is similar to that used by the author of this website. Hopefully great minds think alike, rather than fools rarely differ!
I'll be taking the JLPT2 later this year, and I'm busy preparing flashcards to help me with my study. As I have a long commute to work everyday, I'm using Supermemo on my Pocket PC to learn the vocab I need for the test. To help me with the study, I also bought:
実力アップ!日本語能力試験2級漢字単語ドリル UNICOM 2kyuu Vocabulary Definitions and Sample Sentences
Originally, I just entered the vocab I needed with a definition. However, I found that the short definition wasn't enough to feel comfortable with my understanding of the vocab item (as I think was also mentioned on this site!). So I started copying and pasting example sentences from Jim Breen's webpage http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/cgi-bin/wwwjdic.cgi?10
However, as suggested by this site, I think it's much smarter to use the example sentences from the vocab book mentioned about. Having said that, entering all the example sentences and their meanings is a big job, which leads me to my request.
In the website, the author mentions using all the example Japanese sentences and producing English translations for the book above. Would it be possible to send me a copy of this material? It would save me a vast amount of data entry time. And as I'm not confident in many of my translations, the materials would help there as well.
Any help gratefully received!
.
I don't think you need to
I don't think you need to translate the sentences; you just need to have a feel for what the sentence means. I don't think you'll see more reward for spending a lot of time translating the sentences, unless you really have no clue what the sentence means, in which case it's a good idea.
Unfortunately, I can't share the entire contents of the book, as it's copyrighted material. Also, since I used SuperMemo 2006, which is not totally compatible with the Pocket PC version, it probably wouldn't help you to have my files anyway.
But, I do think entering the kanji, though time consuming, is good practice. It's a good way to really make sure you know the reading of the kanji, since if you type the wrong kanji it won't look right.
Even if you make a few mistakes, I don't think it's a big deal. I made several data entry mistakes, but as my Japanese improved I gradually caught them and improved the cards.
When I made my cards, I put the sentence as the question, but in the answer I only used the definitions and (partial) translations that I needed to understand the sentence. It may seem like a lot of work at first-- and it is-- but if you take the time to make all of the cards yourself, with appropriate notes for you, you'll remember them much better than if you just copy somebody else's.
thanks anyway
thanks for the quick reply. And good luck with the JLPT1.
by the way, a very interesting way to practice speaking/listening is through "secondlife". Must admit I've not had much success with this means, but there are lots of classes and language exchanges going on in the virtual world. an interesting experience if nothing else.
That's an interesting idea,
That's an interesting idea, using Second Life. Although those lines, I thought about playing a Japanese MMO but I just don't have the time.
Perhaps the easiest way for speaking practice though is to use Skype.
my email address
pauljoyce @ hotmail.com