Phew!
When I posted last time about taking the JLPT level N1, I never thought the day would actually come. I have a habit of signing up for stuff and then going “Oh crap!” as the day approaches. I didn’t start studying till pretty late in November, but I was surprised at how much I knew already and how little was “new” to me. The majority of new things I learned were rarely used kanji for common words, like 頓て for やがて. The exam itself was no big deal, I finished with time to spare. The new N1 supposedly tests more advanced skills, which is why there’s less straightforward quizzing and more reading comprehension.
The best tip I can give anyone who wants to take it is: Work on your Reading Skills. The texts aren’t hard, but there’s a lot to read and not that much time. If you keep reading, your reading speed will grow and you should be able to finish everything. Otherwise you’ll be crawling along in a helpless panic, which you really don’t want to go through. As for the listening section, the pace is actually quite slow and they speak in clear, deliberate tones. You shouldn’t have any problems with it if you’ve been watching shows in Japanese for a while.
And that was it! I’m pretty sure I’ll pass, “I had a good feeling!” I’m just glad it’s over with! One of the criticisms of the JLPT is that you study your ass off for the test, pass, and never use half the stuff you learned again. Well, I’m not going to let that happen. That’s what my SRS is for, chock full of anything I found remotely useful. I made a separate deck for the JLPT stuff, even. If I can learn new vocabulary and constructs from the exam, then whether I pass or not, it’s worth it.
Now that that’s out of the way, it’s back to Cantonese! I finally figured out how to split audio files using Audacity (ah, the magic of Google!). It’s easier than I’d thought, and lots of fun too. I sit down and take a few minutes to chop up the file before adding the lesson to my SRS, and then everything goes smooooothly. I also discovered that my university has Yip’s “Intermediate Cantonese Grammar” or whatever that book is called, available as an e-book. I’ll leave that alone for now, but that’s my next step after I finish the book I’m working on. Why let free materials pass me by?
And that’s all that’s going on with me so far! I feel like a huge weight fell off my shoulders, lol!
