Any tips on how to maintain an engaging GC?I used to get told to say at least 2-3 sentences on each question.
Or tips in general to make sure I don't shit myself on the day?- First off, take a deep breath before heading in. Attempt to stay calm.
When they ask GC questions, would it be better to give them a simple answer with things left unsaid and hope that they ask a follow up question (to make the conversation more natural), or go right out spitting lines that pad out the answer?
Any tips on how to maintain an engaging GC?
Can I join the panic train? I always take ages to think of a proper answer, which ends up wasting precious time and cuts into the flow of the conversation. Also, I somehow managed to pick up casual expressions along the way, which I just blurt out during mock exams? :-\Yeah same. I'm afraid I'm gonna either
This is my horribly, horribly unqualified opinion, but I would say reply with (1) direct answer to the question, (2) elaboration, then (3) link to another topic if you can. For example, "I like A. This is because of B. In fact, due to this, I would like to become C in the future", or something. Maybe it's just my cynicism coming through, but relying on assessors to ask follow-up questions that just happen to work out seems a little risky.
[I can't even carry a decent conversation in English.]
Yeah same. I'm afraid I'm gonna either
a) stutter
b) take awkward pauses trying to think of the right word
c) not actually answer to question
d) all of the above
I'm also scared! I always hear from people that you have to give these long sprawling responses that fit in as many grammar patterns as possible, but I feel so awkward doing that.It's correct to say the long, sprawling, grammatically-complex spiels are awkward. If anything, grammar is meant to link ideas efficiently, so that you can express a complicated concept without going on forever! Maybe try making some sentences with that perspective. Instead of trying to fit tons of bells and whistles into one sentence, use more advanced and interesting patterns to improve the quality of your syntactic expression, not the quantity! If anything it will impress the interviewers more than using たりたりします a million times and leaving the feeling that you only memorized the first page of a textbook :P
When they ask GC questions, would it be better to give them a simple answer with things left unsaid and hope that they ask a follow up question (to make the conversation more natural), or go right out spitting lines that pad out the answer?
This is my horribly, horribly unqualified opinion, but I would say reply with (1) direct answer to the question, (2) elaboration, then (3) link to another topic if you can. For example, "I like A. This is because of B. In fact, due to this, I would like to become C in the future", or something. Maybe it's just my cynicism coming through, but relying on assessors to ask follow-up questions that just happen to work out seems a little risky.Great advice!!! I completely agree. Linking is a great strategy. Also, yes, it is risky to hope for what might not come which is also why it's important to make your answers count! :)
[I can't even carry a decent conversation in English.]
What do you guys have as your detailed study? Mine is Hikikomori.
LMao I'm not a pro conversationalist either but I would recommend: A) translating your self-deprecating humour into Japanese and using it because it's funny and will probably be well-received if you can pull it off*, or B) tossing that thought in the bin because confidence is key!!*imagine!!!!!!!You: 一番難しい科目は日本語です。どうしてかいうと、英語だっても会話をするたびに緊張しすぎて、口が重くなってしまうからです。でも、日本語の勉強をすればするほど、自分に自信をつけられ、友達にうるさい!!といわれるほどたくさん話せるようになりました！
Them: AN inTRoSPecTIVe KIng!!!
You also both mentioned worrying about using なんか and other casual phrases during your oral. Lucky for you I have a tried and true method that kills this naughty habit.
Practice (lmao)
Seriously though, the reason why these 'pop out' is because you're stalling for time. You haven't learnt the ~act~. You've got a script, you learn it, you perform it. Think of yourself like a stage performer. Memorise your lines, get confident and avoid 'slipping out of character'. You will notice that the better you commit your sentences to memory, the less uM-Ah-oH-uHhhh-y they come out. So if you are really worried about なんか、、そうね、、うん then that's the solution. The catch is that you can take relief in the fact that the assessors know you're not trained actors, and are instead human. It doesn't matter all that much, you'll be forgiven. But by any measure, finalising all (or even some, or even just a few killer sentences) of your script and becoming able to parrot them back without missing a beat easily makes you feel and look way more confident.
GOOD LUCK GUYS!!! It should be soon right???????
What do you guys have as your detailed study? Mine is Hikikomori.I chose to do renewable energy.
Scripts shouldn't take any more than 72 hours to memorise, yes?Hahah no
Thanks for the advice! Really, just having this bit of reassurance and guidance makes me feel a lot more confident for the exam that is now... quite a bit less than week away. Ah. Scripts shouldn't take any more than 72 hours to memorise, yes?Hahahahah oh god that's way closer than I expected! In that case what I said is probably a little inapplicable but eh
I chose to do renewable energy.
Same here, actually. Did you get to choose it yourself, or were you given the topic? I was sort of railroaded onto it after doing a one-off presentation, so... bit of both over here, I guess? I'm a bit nervous about doing such a popular topic, but hopefully my research comes through. If not, then I suppose I can follow in the footsteps of those I'm studying...
dang, that sounds hard. What kind of things did you study for that?I actually really like my topic. In chem earlier this year we learnt about biodiesel and petrodiesel and all these different types of renewable energies so I decided to do it for my DS. I did things like research renewable energy use in japan and Japanese peoples' perception on continuing to use non-renewables such as nuclear power, especially after the Fukushima incident. I actually originally planned to do hikkikomori but it sounds like quite a difficult topic since you have to talk a lot about societal implications etc. But yeah I'm sure it's not that popular as a topic compared to like こうれいか社会 but regardless of whether it's popular or not you can still do great!
I chose it because i watched a documentary about it a while back and I'm happy I did because it interests me a lot. Is hikikomori a popular topic? now i'm scared (uh oh). Did you choose a sub topic for it? i wasn't really paying attention to what I really needed to do for the exam so i just poked around for some facts and definitions and formed an opinion in it. (also lots of new vocab). I looked into たいじんきょうふしょう a bit, but not enough to warrant a sub-topic :(. Hopefully i wont sound too much like a poser in the exam haha
I chose it because i watched a documentary about it a while back and I'm happy I did because it interests me a lot. Is hikikomori a popular topic? now i'm scared (uh oh). Did you choose a sub topic for it? i wasn't really paying attention to what I really needed to do for the exam so i just poked around for some facts and definitions and formed an opinion in it. (also lots of new vocab). I looked into たいじんきょうふしょう a bit, but not enough to warrant a sub-topic :(. Hopefully i wont sound too much like a poser in the exam haha
Hi there guys, my topic is bukatsu (this was chosen by the teacher) its not too difficult but im wondering what kinds of questions would they ask? it seems like many people here have scripts too but my teacher said DONT do that as they can tell when you've memorised the whole thing and can mark you down, so ive been practising with my teacher and she makes up random questions and i try to answer them. help!! :-\
They can mark you down for obviously rote-learned language, yes, but I'd say that doing away with a script entirely is entirely overboard. It's not as if you're going to be punished for having a well-thought out response that answers the assessor's questions well and shows your confidence in leading the topic or anything. Of course, it's a completely different story if you spout out pre-made answers without regard for what the assessor is asking. At this point, try to remember what kind of questions your teacher has asked you in the past (or, if she has given specific feedback sheets, use those for guidance) and formulate answers based on that. Your improvisation practice should still prove itself to be useful, though! You'll have a harder time getting caught off guard than students who might just use their script as a crutch ;DExactly. I'm actually really surprised by the approach of not having any script at all. Even some native speakers would have trouble scoring well in this examination. The benefit of having a script is not necessarily to memorise it, but to actually write and plan out carefully what you want to say. I still maintain memorising it and performing it is important too, though. I mean let's be realistic:
ORAL EXAM IS GONEWhoa!!!!!!!!! Congratulations!!!!
STUDY SCORE ALSO GONE
In all seriousness, it went about as well as I could've realistically expected. There were a few questions that I hadn't prepared for ("Don't you need to go to a Japanese university to get a diploma in Japanese?", to which I internally screamed because Open Day told me nothing about that and I had to improv it to hell and back), and they cut me off a little in my DS, but overall, it was pretty good.
Good luck to everyone yet to do it, and good work to everyone who's finished! Let's reconvene when the written exam comes by ;D
Whoa!!!!!!!!! Congratulations!!!!
Finally it's all over! Burn your cards and smash down a tinny or two xx
To be asked something like that, it sounds like you would have been at a pretty high level! It sounds like you have done really well. I wouldn't worry all that much about being cut off. If anything it probably allowed you to talk about more. Sounds very very positive!
Yay to everyone!!! Good luck studying for the written
Also finished my oral today! Went pretty well but I know for sure I messed up 2 words because I couldn’t find the right word. The examiner was like what are the differences between the Japanese school you attended and your current school and I said 特別なスリッパをwrong verbなければならなかったことです and also used the wrong verb for running a self made company (my host fathers job). Oh well, other than that my examiners seemed quite nice and interested in what I was saying. Glad it’s over though.
Oh phew, is that so? That makes me feel a lot better. It sounds a lot more legitimate than my "well, at least now they know I haven't just rote-learned everything and mark me down for it, maybe" self-comforting thoughts. I gotta say though, deleting all those tabs I used for DS is so gratifying. I can finally read the titles of the pages I have open again. Too bad all my notes were digital. Paper cards could have made some great uh... study material for combustion reactions for chem. Yeah. That.Yeah same! Maybe, I was at like 12 and was in room 5. I had one non native and one native examiner too. Surprisingly the non native examiner spoke with greater clarity and it was a bit difficult to gauge what they were saying. Like for example they asked something like オーストラリアの高校と日本の高校、どこ違うの and I was like what?
If you don't mind though, do you have any quick tips for studying the written exam? I'll definitely, definitely make use of them right away instead of procrastinating until the 19th. Yes.
Right? They're so kind! Did you happen to be at The Tudor in Box Hill as well? Because if so, we might've seen each other ;D I was the shifty-looking guy wearing the Uniqlo sweater with the Great Wave of Kanagawa on it. Got worried that they might make me take it off because it had kanji on it which I could've theoretically used as stimulus material, according to my friend, hahaha.
By the way, weirdly enough, all the native speakers I know ended up with a non-native white assessor. Ironic.
Yeah same! Maybe, I was at like 12 and was in room 5. I had one non native and one native examiner too. Surprisingly the non native examiner spoke with greater clarity and it was a bit difficult to gauge what they were saying. Like for example they asked something like オーストラリアの高校と日本の高校、どこ違うの and I was like what?
Edit: was I meant to respond with the Japanese school is in Tokyo and the Australian one is in Melbourne or something lol because I went with the more logical explaining differences route
Aw, I was there way earlier. I was in room 6, and there were two Asian people? Couldn't tell if one was native or not, but they asked more or less the same sort of questions each? It sounds like almost everyone got one native and one non-native assessor, though, so maybe one of them was Korean or something.Now that I think about it we literally talked about my Japan trip for the whole GC lol. It's not my best topic but then again it's not my worst (thank god they didn't ask me about school). So basically they asked if I went to school in Japan during my homestay and I was like yeah I went to classes and all that fun stuff. Then I got asked that. Too bad I didn't get to talk about part time work or my hobbies.. Also, I got asked my favourite flavour of yatsuhashi and I was like, shit, how do you say red bean (now that I think about it I could've easily said like strawberry or chocolate but my mind blanked so hard) and ended up just saying I like sweet varieties lol
I think your response was on the mark. Sounds like a complex question if it was for GC, though. How'd you end up there? I know I kept desperately trying to lead my assessors into talking about school (My hobbies? Well I haven't much time due to entrance exam studies wink wink nudge nudge, but whenever I'm free I like to...) but they wouldn't take the bait so I was like screw it, have it your way, hell yeah let's talk about samurai dramas that I haven't watched, why the hell no--part time work? What the...
Now that I think about it we literally talked about my Japan trip for the whole GC lol. It's not my best topic but then again it's not my worst (thank god they didn't ask me about school). So basically they asked if I went to school in Japan during my homestay and I was like yeah I went to classes and all that fun stuff. Then I got asked that. Too bad I didn't get to talk about part time work or my hobbies.. Also, I got asked my favourite flavour of yatsuhashi and I was like, shit, how do you say red bean (now that I think about it I could've easily said like strawberry or chocolate but my mind blanked so hard) and ended up just saying I like sweet varieties lol
Ah damn, that's a bit of a shame. Still, it's their job to stick to your DS introduction, so surely they just thought what you said so far was already good enough!
By the time the DS came along they literally took none of my bait unless the conversation started to slow because they didn't know what to ask. There's always this thought in the back of my head that I misheard the examiner and answered inadequately but what's done is done.
Wait how did you lead them to talk about samurai dramas - let alone one's that you haven't watched? I guess those types of topics are good because they probably haven't had any students who have said something like that.
Also, note to future students. I recommend having a script for GC (don't be reliant on it though). It helped me so much as I already had stuff in mind that I wanted to talk about. Even though I only started it last Friday, I would've been screwed without it and there would be a lot of awkward thinking pauses.
If you don't mind though, do you have any quick tips for studying the written exam? I'll definitely, definitely make use of them right away instead of procrastinating until the 19th. Yes.Hahaha I think just bust out as many practice exams as possible. If you have an area you know needs improvement, don't kid yourself pussyfooting around it. Just take it straight on. If you want to improve your listening, practice dictation and writing down everything you hear. To improve your reading, do some vocabulary drills and or try speed-reading. The reading section really only identifies figuring out a keyword, finding it, and either regurgiating it or translating it. To improve your writing, perhaps try and memorise some phrases (use ones from your DS!!!!!) and just write like mad.
By the way, weirdly enough, all the native speakers I know ended up with a non-native white assessor. Ironic.
Hahaha I think just bust out as many practice exams as possible. If you have an area you know needs improvement, don't kid yourself pussyfooting around it. Just take it straight on. If you want to improve your listening, practice dictation and writing down everything you hear. To improve your reading, do some vocabulary drills and or try speed-reading. The reading section really only identifies figuring out a keyword, finding it, and either regurgiating it or translating it. To improve your writing, perhaps try and memorise some phrases (use ones from your DS!!!!!) and just write like mad.
Otherwise yeah, at this point I think the best idea is just getting in as much timed practice as possible.
Also I know it's pedantic but there are assessors who are also "non-native" yet non-"white", and I would say a fair amount of students wouldn't even be able to tell. Bit rude to make assumptions about ones ability based purely on their skin colour. Can also say from experience that "native" students are not necessarily at as much disadvantage as what they think they are. Bit too easy to put the blame on the assessor and not oneself.