HEY GUYS! I'm Loretta and welcome to KemushiChan!
So what is it this time...over a month?
I know a lot of you have given up on my uploading more than once a month
but I have my first Japan work vlog ready
and other's that I'm working on (*DrAnK ToO MuCH cOfFee*)
but since the editing is going to take a while
and actually, today, if you look at the timing of this video
we actually only have two weeks left
until the Japanese Language Proficiency Test ( JLPT ).
I know that you're all studying hard everyday
EVERY SINGLE DAY @_@
I know you're busy studying so I'll try to take just five minutes er so
to give us a chance to share a little advice about the test.
For some reason I ended up talking way too fast today
but I'll quit with the speedy listening practice now.
OK, that's it. I'm switching to English.
SHORT and SWEET.
3 pieces of advice that helped me prep for the JLPT
especially for the N2 and N1 levels
#1 is VOCABULARY (語彙)
At this point, right before the test, we have just a few weeks left.
It is time to stop learning new things!
... or at least to stop focusing on new material.
whatever you have left, that you haven't studied yet
I promise you, at this point, it's not that important.
The thing about the JLPT is that it doesn't really matter how much Japanese you know
you don't have to have a huge, perfect vocabulary.
What you need to have is the ability to
know what you know really well and to recall it quickly.
So all of that deep learning that you're doing,
learning each word 1 by 1, and going through lists, stroke & kanji,
that's great, but the time for that study is OVER.
What you need to do now is start reviewing.
Whatever you've already covered, divide that into your remaining 2 weeks
or however much time you have
divide that content into the time you have left
and start looking into that review every single day.
Honestly, the stuff you don't know at this point probably won't be on the test
and you could probably guess it if need be
but what you do know, you need to know really well and quickly!
say it with me now! RECALL! RECALL!!!
You need to be able to know what you know well and fast.
So what you're studies should look like now everyday
1st, you should do your review everyday.
make sure that it feels comfy, warm and good
and familiar like home!
That's the stuff you need to be doing first
and if you have time at the end of the day, look at new material.
But more than anything, REVIEW is what you need now!
Especially for those few of you who are taking the N1
You specifically do not need to know that much new material.
There are going to be 6 questions that have to do with vocabulary/kanji
and the rest of it is all going to be
how quickly can you listen & understand or how quickly can you read
so honestly, for 6 questions, forget vocab! MOVE ON!
Start reviewing and working on the other sections.
2 for the Reading (読解) Section
its now time for what I called BLITZKRIEG BENKYO!
Blitzkrieg! You've got to go LIGHTENING fast.
I noticed a lot of my friends and my hubby here at home
have been studying reallyyyy hard
and really intently everyday, doing reading passages
underlining as they go and doing a great job
but in these last 2 weeks, in last minute study,
YA GOTTA STOP, there's no time for that!
because what you've gotta do now is called Blitzkrieg Benkyo
You in fact need to learn how to NOT read
How to skip. How to stream.
The JLPT does not care if you read every word in the passage
They care how quickly you can read topline and answer the question.
So when you practice everyday, instead of doing
one or a few passages everyday and underlining
and studying really deeply,
What you need to do is as many practice pages,
4-5 different readings as quickly as possible.
Like 4 or 5 short passages in 20-30 minutes.
and HERE'S WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN
you're probably going to fail the practice test, and that's fine.
I talked to Boomer and he's currently studying for the N2
very intently, every day
and when he practices the reading portions, he does very well!
But when he does a full practice test, timed in school
for some reason, he suddenly then gets terrible scores.
It doesn't match up with how he's doing at home.
B: "Its the same material! Why doesn't it work for me?!"
At home, you have time to go through each word and savor it
you have all this time to think about it
but that's not what the JLPT is like!
For the JLPT you need to be able to look at as many passages as possible
and just glean what you need, QUICKLY.
Obviously you need vocabulary
and obviously you need to know grammar
But at this point, what you really need right before the test
is to know HOW to skip when you read quickly.
This BLITZKRIEG BENKYO as I call it
is a technique I learned the hard way through Uni here in Japan.
When I first started, they handed us work every day
200 pgs of tiny ink-splatter print kanji font
it was an IMPOSSIBLE amount of things to read
in the short amount of time that I had
just like the JLPT.
But by doing this blitzkrieg reading every single day
I learned to read in a way that allowed me
to pass the JLPT N1.
It first me to learn really quickly
how to read in a way to get the information I need
without having to focus or stop for too long.
And here's how: #1 !
1: Read the questions first!
This will give you a hint of what you need to look for
then read any underlined portions first.
There's less of this in the N1 and N2
but in the N3 there are more underlined sections they're looking for.
so read those questions and underlined portions first.
Then after that, read the first paragraph (fully).
Then for every other paragraph, read the first sentence, and the last sentence
and anything that's underlined.
then read the last paragraph before answering.
Do not try to read passages line by line, word by word.
or you're never going to finish it!
The JLPT will try to throws some tricks at you
so if there's an underline, try to read around those sentences as well.
but try to just read the minimal, skeletal level of what you're seeing.
Beginnings and ends. Then go back if you need to.
# 3 is listening!
Before you take the test in two weeks
it is now time to take a practice listening test!
If you're not going to do any other practice test
you SHOULD do the listening.
This has a very specific format which is SO WEIRD!
I'll post a link below to official examples you can use
along with the answer keys
but you do NOT want to miss listening questions
just because you're not used to the format.
It's very quick, weird and tricky if you're not used to it.
This is the time to practice the listening portion!
One of the most helpful things you can do
towards the end, is to make a tic-tac-toe.
Make a plus sign, when you do the listening section.
You'll get to the end of the answer book and find a completely blank answer page
Immediately draw a PLUS SIGN (not a tic tac toe).
They're going to talk about 4 different options
they'll go forwards and backwards
They will name each option, like the name of a mountain
the name of a trail or venue or whatever
there will be four options with names, so put the name on each section.
When it comes to the answers,
they won't refer to the 4 options by name
they're going to refer to it by some weird detail in your four quadrants
that's why you need to take specific, 4-pieced notes.
Moral of the story, to make it really clear,
in the last few weeks before the JLPT
it is time to stop learning new things
and start reviewing what you already know.
You need to be quick and able to recall.
For reading, don't just study one cute little passage everyday
cram in as many as you can in 20 minutes.
4-5 in 20 minutes, and FAIL.
Have trouble, struggle, do it NOW before the test.
Get used to the feel of doing the reading quickly.
For the JLPT, it's not about know many little bits of vocabulary
It's about how quickly can you recall it
how comfortable are you with it
and how confidently can you get those answers on the page.
Today is the day! Turn off YouTube!
Shut it down and do a listening practice!
There's a link below, you can click it there.
And the finally, don't forget a pencil
an analog watch, a snack and some water
The very very very last thing you should do
is to GO TO SLEEP.
I promise you will do better on the test if you sleep
rather than if you cram.
It's important that you be rested so you can recall information
and that you be able to do it confidently.
That only comes from your brain being at 100%.
So no more cramming/all nighters. You don't need it, you need sleep.
LEMME TELL YA!!!
More than anything, I just wanted to say you're gonna be great!
I BELIEVE IN YOU!!
So thanks so much for watching today!
I'll see you guys next time in a new vlog!
You GOT IT!