Sunday, December 03, 2006

 

Busy Week

On Sunday, I took the Japanese Proficiency Test (level 2). The test was held at Konan University in Okamoto. It was an interesting experience. I was in a big room, with about 400 other people. Almost all were Asian-looking people, most in their twenties. I heard lots of people speaking Chinese and lots of people speaking Korean. I heard at least a few people speaking Thai (maybe) and a group of people speaking Arabic. Probably 70 percent of the test-takers were women. Out of the 400 or so people there, I saw only 5 "western" people (non-Asian). The westerners represented only about 1 percent of the group. I was in an even smaller minority--a middle-aged white male. Because I live in Japan, I'm accustomed to this.

The test was difficult! The kanji and listening parts were not too bad, but the reading section nearly killed me! Nonetheless, there's a chance that I passed. A very, very, very, very small chance.

It was a good experience.

Comments:
Thanks for your good wishes, Johnny! I like your name!

I watch NHK sign language news sometimes. It's good because the Kanji on the TV screen have furigana. Thanks for the suggestion and the link!

John
 
Hello, John!
Wow! You took the exam on Sunday? First of all, Let me just say "Otsukare-sama"! Well, I found it interesting to read about the proportion of many kinds of people you've seen at the room. I rarely have an opportunity to know about that kind of information on a daily basis because I don't see the people who learn Japanese very often.

I think doing well on the listening and the kanji parts is awesome! Reading is, even for Japanese, difficult sometimes...However, whatever it turns out, it really is a nice opportunity for you to discover what you're good at and where you need to improve on your learning of Japanese, isn't it?
 
Green Swallow, Mamii and Hiromi,

Thanks much for your encouragement and good wishes. It's great to see how much you three have been writing.

John
 
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