10 tips for success in Japanese SL

[IntoTheNewWorld]

its hard, very very hard
unless your native japanese or something lol

this. Unless you're very, very good, and the topic is good, and the gods are with you, it's pretty suicidal. For Japanese at least, even the examiner's report basically discourage students from doing it. Something along the lines of "very few students chose this topic, and very few of those students could write a compelling story".

I like to think of LOTE essays as starting with full marks, and every stuff up you lose a mark. The story just increases the chances of doing this due to its difficulty, compared to a persuasive piece which can be pretty safe.

[Gloamglozer]

its hard, very very hard
unless your native japanese or something lol

this. Unless you're very, very good, and the topic is good, and the gods are with you, it's pretty suicidal. For Japanese at least, even the examiner's report basically discourage students from doing it. Something along the lines of "very few students chose this topic, and very few of those students could write a compelling story".

I like to think of LOTE essays as starting with full marks, and every stuff up you lose a mark. The story just increases the chances of doing this due to its difficulty, compared to a persuasive piece which can be pretty safe.

That's exactly the same with Chinese Second Language.  Stories tend to be the hardest topic to write because not only do you have to have creativity, but you also need to possess a very strong vocabulary and dictionaries aren't the best tool since you need to use words and idioms in the right context.

[*ryan777*]

just remember that for most text types the structure and layout of the text as well as correct use of genkou-yoshi will earn as much marks as the vocab/grammar you use
this is how many "average" students can still do well in the exam

[IntoTheNewWorld]

imo, Persuasive/evaluative is the best because you really don't have to think that much, the vocabulary isn't that challenging,  and it's fairly fast to plan and then write (I ended up doing that Gap Year evaluative topic on the exam).

The viability of the diary entry depends on the topic.

[ammuzusak]

What sort of stuff do they ask you in your detailed study thing? Like, say *common* if you did anime or manga, can you sort of plan what you can say if you have a rough idea of what they'll ask? I'm most scared for the oral examination more than the other parts gahhh

[IntoTheNewWorld]

What sort of stuff do they ask you in your detailed study thing? Like, say *common* if you did anime or manga, can you sort of plan what you can say if you have a rough idea of what they'll ask? I'm most scared for the oral examination more than the other parts gahhh

For the detailed study they'll ask you on what you mention in your one minute introduction, and they're *supposed* to stay within those limits. Therefore, it's very important that in your one minute introduction you state your areas of study very clearly. They'll write it down, and try not to ask anything outside that (unless your examiner is an ass). Because of this, it's very, very easy to script the Detailed Study. I basically memorized my whole thing before hand, and there were no unexpected questions.

coincidentally I have a Detailed Study guide scheduled to appear on my site tomorrow I think. (And another post Oral Examination post for next Monday) =]

Don't worry toooo much about the Oral Examination =] It seems scary, but the examiners are generally very nice, and if you prepare well, it's actually not that hard to score well. The Written Examination is where marks are lost en masse (particularly listening).

[menashiiii]

konnichwa!!

[Fyrefly]

ようこそ！
日本語を勉強していますか。

[Furbob]

would getting a tutor for Japanese be necessary to get 40+ raw? :\
Can your own willpower drive you to get there (lets say you find the subject as a hobby more than a subject itself)
or is it the lack of having conversation practice/someone to go over grammar with you = drawback?

[IntoTheNewWorld]

would getting a tutor for Japanese be necessary to get 40+ raw? :\
Can your own willpower drive you to get there (lets say you find the subject as a hobby more than a subject itself)
or is it the lack of having conversation practice/someone to go over grammar with you = drawback?

It's defs not necessary to get 40+ raw, but I personally found having a tutor beneficial, mainly as a Japanese person to talk to because I didn't really know any Japanese people, and in my class the teacher spoke mainly English, which wasn't good. Most of my sessions with my tutor ended up just being talking about random stuff in Japanese, without any real structure. I tried other tutors, including VCAA examiners but I found that teachers that have been in the VCE Japanese system for too long tend to speak too much English to you (a habit formed in class I guess), and teach Japanese in a "VCE" way, which isn't really that beneficial. If you do get a tutor, I would recommend getting someone who's come from Japan recently, as it's more likely they will speak to you in all Japanese rather than English + some Japanese. Also, they will most likely be cheaper than a current VCE Japanese teacher at a school ^^;

You also have to remember that getting above 40 raw isn't really that tied to Japanese ability. You could be incredibly good at Japanese but still get below 40. Likewise you could be not that incredible and get much higher. I've met a Japanese person born in Australia, with very, very fluent Japanese yet she only got 38 raw, when she was clearly much better than me at Japanese. I've also heard of someone who's passed JLPT1 getting 43. I found that a lot of getting a high score in Japanese is sadly (or happily, for me =p), exam technique and preparation. A tutor couldn't help you too much with exam technique; it's mainly something you have to discover yourself from spamming VCAA/JLTAV/Leading Edge exams.

[sonnypls]

would getting a tutor for Japanese be necessary to get 40+ raw? :\
Can your own willpower drive you to get there (lets say you find the subject as a hobby more than a subject itself)
or is it the lack of having conversation practice/someone to go over grammar with you = drawback?

It's defs not necessary to get 40+ raw, but I personally found having a tutor beneficial, mainly as a Japanese person to talk to because I didn't really know any Japanese people, and in my class the teacher spoke mainly English, which wasn't good. Most of my sessions with my tutor ended up just being talking about random stuff in Japanese, without any real structure. I tried other tutors, including VCAA examiners but I found that teachers that have been in the VCE Japanese system for too long tend to speak too much English to you (a habit formed in class I guess), and teach Japanese in a "VCE" way, which isn't really that beneficial. If you do get a tutor, I would recommend getting someone who's come from Japan recently, as it's more likely they will speak to you in all Japanese rather than English + some Japanese. Also, they will most likely be cheaper than a current VCE Japanese teacher at a school ^^;

You also have to remember that getting above 40 raw isn't really that tied to Japanese ability. You could be incredibly good at Japanese but still get below 40. Likewise you could be not that incredible and get much higher. I've met a Japanese person born in Australia, with very, very fluent Japanese yet she only got 38 raw, when she was clearly much better than me at Japanese. I've also heard of someone who's passed JLPT1 getting 43. I found that a lot of getting a high score in Japanese is sadly (or happily, for me =p), exam technique and preparation. A tutor couldn't help you too much with exam technique; it's mainly something you have to discover yourself from spamming VCAA/JLTAV/Leading Edge exams.

Just because you got 50raw.