もう我慢できない。。。

[Misericordias]

I am not sure about whether this thread goes here or somewhere else, so please forgive me. I need to pass 2-kyuu. If I don't, I will receive no credit for my college in America and I will have to spend another year to make up for the one I spent in Japan. Also, I really want to take the 1-kyuu after I take the 2-kyuu. The problem is, there's just too much kanji I don't know; vocabulary that makes no sense; my reading comprehension is a mess; I keep on forgetting grammar; but at least my kaiwa is improving! (　´_ゝ｀)ﾌｰﾝ

I don't know what to do anymore. It's imperative that I pass 2-kyuu this December in order to start preparing for 1-kyuu next July, but I feel like the knowledge I know is too small for me to even pass 2-kyuu at this stage so I am at a slump. I set up a schedule of studying that literally takes all day to do, but even with all this, retention is still low and it's always a struggle for me to remember kanji.

I am wondering, is there anyone else in my posistion where they had to pass 2-kyuu and then 1-kyuu right after? If so, how did ya'll bear it- the intense amount of prep work, studying, and balancing social life? I feel like I am going to have to sacrifice a lot of things in order make this happen, but I also feel I am doing things in a very inefficient way. Is there any way I can streamline the studying process for me? For instance, the first thing I do after I come back from school is study Kanji. I review the previous day's kanji that I learned and I start on new kanji for the day. But the only way to learn kanji for me at this point is to literally pound it into my head by repetitive writing. Is there an easier way to do this? Also for remembering grammar, what is the best way to go about this for general retention and quick recollection? I never really figured out how to properly manage to memorize grammar other than for chapter tests that require select knowledge of certain types of grammar.

The more I see my inadequacy, the more I become worried about whether I can pass 2-kyuu this December or not...

[Nyororin]

First - remember that you do not have to write for the JLPT - not even for 1. (Unless things have seriously changed since I took it.)
Second - rote memorization simply isn`t fun, and will take a LOT of time as it isn`t really integrated into anything that will stick with you.

You need to find something that will give you both practice and some enjoyment.
My personal recommendation would be to find a book you find interesting and read it with a dictionary on hand to look up words you don`t know. Encountering the same words and the same grammatical patterns over and over in context will put them in your head much more quickly than simply studying them alone.

[tsurezure]

我慢してください（笑）

漢字について
日本人も漢字は何度も書いて覚えます。漢字ドリルとい う練習帳を使ったりして、学校で漢字テストを受けて覚 えます。あなたと同じです。
ちなみに英単語のスペルも何度も書いて覚える人が多い ですよ。
急がば回れ。

ただし、一つの漢字を繰り返すだけでなく熟語を覚える ようにしましょう。
例えば「流」という漢字を何百回書いても、流星、上流 、流行、流儀という単語は覚えられません。流のイメー ジが出来たら覚え安いですよね。漢字は表意文字なので 、その漢字の意味を漢和辞典で調べるとイメージ作りに 役立つと思います。

N2は中学１年生、n1は中学３年生くらいのレベルだと感� �ました。中学校の教科書や参考書が役立つかもしれな� �ですね。大人向けの小説はちょっと難しい気がします� �

ご健闘お祈り申し上げます。

[Misericordias]

Thank you for your responses, but are you serious? All this work so I can have the proficiency level of a middle schooler? I thought by the time I can take and pass n1, I would at least be able to communicate intricate ideas and topics at the level of a college student, but a middle schooler? That just spoils my appetite.


Regarding reading novels, would it be better to read manga at this stage? I am afraid that the lack of kanji knowledge on my part will disrupt the flow of the novel so I won't be able to get into it, but at least with manga I can maintain flow so that I will be able to read and understand if I cannot read the kanji.

[tsurezure]

中学生レベルというのは、語彙や文の構造といった点で 中学校で教わる文章とjlptの文章が同じようなレベルと� �うことです。
全ての中学生がn１やn2の問題に正解できるという意味で はありませんので、安心してください。大学生も必ずし も全員が正解しないでしょう。
日本語自体の読解という意味では、大学入試の問題、す なわち高校で学ぶレベルの文章が最も難しいと思います 。大学の専門分野の教科書の日本語は専門用語が多いだ けで日本語自体が複雑なわけではありません。

本屋にいけば受験参考書コーナーに中学生向け、高校生 向けの参考書が置いてるので立ち読みしてみてください 。

漫画は日常会話を学ぶには役立つこともあります。しか し、読解力にはあまり役立たないでしょう。特に海外で 人気があるといわれる少年ジャンプなどの子どもむけ漫 画はN1、N2レベルには役立たないように思います。
大人向けの漫画であれば役立つこともあるとは思います 。それでもやはり漫画は漫画です。漫画は「文章＋絵」 で内容を理解するものです。これに対し読解力は「文章 」のみで内容を理解しなければなりません。

中学生向けのおすすめの小説１００冊
★で難易度が示してあります。★ひとつのものから試し てみてはいかがですか？
いくつかは青空文庫で無料で読めます。
http://www.mitsumura-tosho.co.jp/kyo.../choice01.html

読んでみて、調べてもわからなければ、お助けしますよ 。日本語で（笑）

[xGentax]

なんと偶然だわ（笑）僕もN1試験が来るまで準備してま� ��。文法はたまにちょっと覚えられないんですが、文章� ��日記とか知らない間に間違えがあります。tsurezureさん� ��リンクからいい考え思いついたわ！それはどうも。勉� ��しながら小説を読むとはいい考えと思います！僕も役� ��立つリンクを皆さんに差し上げます。ご安心になって� ��ださい、僕も同じ状態ですが漢字の方は大丈夫と思う� ��すが文法を覚えるのはいつもややこしいですわね～取� ��合いえず皆さん勉強を楽しんでね！

これを学ぶば必ず読解を受かると思います！あきらめな いで試験を受けて立つ！
Drill and learn the Japanese kanji

Speedanki: Kanji Flash Cards with JLPT Vocabulary

[Misericordias]

Thanks for all your support and additional information- especially that list of novels to read. But wow was I surprised to find kokoro in that list. That book is pretty deep and it's ranked as a middle school novel? What's next, the silent cry for high school?

[tsurezure]

「こころ」は確かに内容的には中学生には、まだ早いか もしれません。難易度も★★★ですね。ただ、高校1年� �で学習することが多いと思います。

「こころ」は日本人の好きな小説では、不動の1位と言� �ていいかもしれません。夏目漱石の文章は難解ではありませんし、日本語学習にも向いていると思います。簡潔で筋は 追いやすい。もともとは新聞の連載小説なので、あまり 難解なものにすると読者は困りますよね。
例えば書き出しは

上
「私はその人を常に先生と呼んでいた。だからここでも ただ先生と書くだけで本名は打ち明けない。これは世間 を憚る遠慮というよりも、その方が私にとって自然だか らである。私はその人の記憶を呼び起すごとに、すぐ「 先生」といいたくなる。筆を執っても心持は同じ事であ る。よそよそしい頭文字などはとても使う気にならない 。」

日記のような文章ですね。漢字だらけだと感じますか？ 青空文庫は振り仮名もあります。振り仮名があるものは 日本人でもみんながよめるわけではないということです 。
下も先生の「手紙」ですので、難解な表現はそれほどな い。
http://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/000148...773_14560.html

ちなみに、日本の高校の国語の授業で取り上げられる小 説は、「
こころ」、芥川の「羅生門」、そして中島敦の「山月記 」がベスト３じゃないでしょうか。
大江健三郎は、教科書ではあまり取り上げられませんが 、推薦図書にはなります。かなりくせのある文章という 印象です。
私が高校時代に読んだ推薦図書の中では遠藤周作の「沈 黙」や「海と毒薬」、大岡昇平の「野火」が記憶に残っ てます。余裕が出来れば、読んでみてください。

[Realism]

Let me ask you a serious question.

Let me just ask you.

How many hours are "exposed" to Japanese a day?

And by exposed I don't mean reading a grammar textbook.

I mean:

How many hours do you LISTEN to Japanese a day? And by listen, I mean listen to ANYTHING, whether it'd be anime, Japanese drama, news, random variety shows, documentaries, music. ANYTHING in Japanese.

Do you write in Japanese?? And I don't mean stupid textbook questions. I mean writing whether online or by hand, Japanese forums, a diary, write in Japanese. ANYTHING, just write. Hell, copy sentences from novels, manga, write down the dialogue from anime, just write all day everyday as much as you can.

Do you look at English websites, or Japanese websites?? This is one of the hardest things to do, you HAVE to force yourself to look at Japanese websites AS MUCH AS YOU CAN. 90% of the time. Anything that you have interest in, you have to find the Japanese version instead of the English version.

Do you THINK in Japanese?? Let me ask you, do you have to memorize English vocab? You don't...you know why? It's not because you know a lot of vocab...that has nothing to do with it. It's because your BRAIN is so used to the English language that it doesn't even need to remember vocab. It just picks it up. You have to start letting your brain become USED to the Japanese language.


And Japanese novels are easy. Most Japanese novels I can finish in a week or 2 if I go fast. They're not any harder than your average manga, at least I don't think so.

Look, once your brain gets used to Japanese, once it automatically starts thinking in Japanese.....

Everything becomes a piece of cake. Remembering vocab or kanji would be like drinking water. It becomes ridiculously easy.

And hell, you don't even have to read Kokoro...

I read it and it was boring in my opinion. I'd just find something you're interested in. You know, a murder mystery, a horror, a detective novel, a samurai novel, baseball, soccer...WHATEVER interests you. You know Japan have novels on EVERYTHING, even 17th century British Knights going to war with each other. It doesn't even have to do with Japan, it just has to be in Japanese.

[Misericordias]

I guarantee exposure to Japanese is not a problem. All my classes are taught in Japanese, I text in Japanese, and it's to the point where my teachers won't respond to me unless I communicate in Japanese with them. Exposure to Japanese is not a problem. I've also reached to a point where I can now switch to Japanese mode in order to communicate. However, the lack of vocabulary is (for me, at least) severely limiting the amount of communication I would like to have.

Shaberu skills and kanji memorization and reading however, are two completely different things (at least for me). I am sure if I just took it, I can read a Japanese novel. However, the level of insight and understanding I wish to have with Japanese is not just surface level reading, but be able to analyze and properly communicate texts in Japanese. At least, that's my goal before 2-kyuu or at least for 1-kyuu.