Grant Grigorian's Blog » Japanese

Failure to commit to learning Japanese

Grant Grigorian — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 16:52:42 +0000

Despite my efforts last year to commit to learning Japanese by sticking to a consistent study plan in anticipation of an exam – I’ve studied ZERO hours of Japanese in the last few months. Shame on me. Having lived in Japan for 3 years as little boy, how can let myself throw away every advantage I have in learning Japanese language and culture?!

I think I need to watch some Japanese movies to get myself in the mood again. Maybe reviewing some old (and new) pictures from Japan would inspire me as well.

I need to make sure 2008 will not be another wasted year in this regard.

School play, Okazaki, Japan, 1993.

Another Japanese Test and suddenly having to improve my Russian

Grant Grigorian — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 02:59:11 +0000

While browsing all things Japanese online, I can across another Japanese language proficiency test. This one is administered by JETRO and is called Business Japanese Proficiency Test (“BJT”). Apparently, it too has credibility in the market place.

I guess it doesn’t matter which test I take (though I am inclined to take both), as long as I continue to study. And I’ve been able to keep up my studying thanks to a great website with interactive memorization flashcards.

In related news, I’ve volunteered to give a public presentation in Philadelphia for work… in Russian! Now, it’s true that I grew up speaking Russian and speak Russian to my mom and grandmother – but I’ve never used it at work before. Wish me luck, because I only have a week and a half to prepare.

Learning Japanese: Starting From Scratch

Grant Grigorian — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 13:04:29 +0000

I took a sample JLPT yesterday and realized that I need to start studying Japanese all over again, from the beginning. My goal this year will be to pass the “Level 4″ exam.

The next step is to create a plan of study I can execute before the day of the test.

Japanese Language Proficiency

Grant Grigorian — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 02:55:55 +0000

It’s hard to believe that it has been 11 years since I seriously studied Japanese, and 12 years since I left Japan. During this time, I felt the language slowly wither away – every time I would watch a Japanese movie or TV I would notice that I understood less and less.

It would be a tremendous loss if I don’t take advantage of my luck, of having lived there as a child for 3 years. So, I have decided to seriously begin studying it again.

The Plan

Every year the Japan Educational Exchanges and Services and the Japan Foundation administer the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (日本語能力試験, nihongo nōryoku shiken) or JLPT. The JLPT is a standardized test to evaluate and certify the language proficiency of non-native Japanese speakers. It is held once every year, on the first Sunday of December. The next test will be on December 2nd, 2007. I intend to take it. The JLPT has four levels beginning at level 4 and progressing to level 1 – the most difficult:

Level	Kanji	Vocabulary	Listening	Pass Mark
4	~100 (103)	~800 (728)	Basic	60%
3	~300 (284)	~1,500 (1409)	Intermediate	60%
2	~1000 (1023)	~6,000 (5035)	High Level	60%
1	~2000 (1926)	~10,000 (8009)	Sufficient for life in Japan	70%

I honestly have no idea where I would fall in the ranking above were I to take the test today. I don’t have enough confidence to even say that I would pass Level 4. So, my first order of business: take a practice test and find out how much Japanese I really remember.