This season… the stakes are higher… well not exactly.
I’m aiming for the JLPT3 this coming December. After my [little victory->jlpt-verdict] last year with JLPT4, I seem to have a measure of where I am now in the hopes of living the Japanese Dream (?). Why not level 2? That one is downright impossible right now. There is indeed a huge gap of skill between level 3 and 2, something which would be addressed by 2010 when the test format will be revised.
This won’t be as smooth a ride as last time. With me [losing->losing-japanese] some of my knowledge and not being able to immerse myself in Japan during this past year, things will be tough without proper training. Any kind of entertainment (anime, manga, game, drama) won’t be enough. I should start reading textbooks, and hope to find someone to converse with in Japanese.
And this is one test I really want to pass, as this is related to my career path right now. I may have been airing some of my work complaints on Twitter, and to tell the truth, I want to resign and find a better job. I don’t know if attaining a bit more Japanese proficiency can help in my CV credentials, especially if the companies I’m applying to don’t care about that. But hopefully, this would say to employers that “this guy can achieve something”…
…or would it backfire? “This guy is an otaku.” lolz. Hope not.
If you want to keep those skills intact, maybe you should join those translation groups, especially those of visual novels. You can get both skill and entertainment, it’s like killing two birds with one stone. lol
I don’t think having “Proficient in Japanese” would give a bad impression… since learning different languages is already difficult to start with for some people.
Though, for me, I made the mistake of revealing my “powerlevels” in the workplace… and let’s just say that it’s one of the things I’m regretting right now. ^_^;;;;;
Best of luck on JLPT 3! I passed that one last year (though not with flying colors) but I’m pretty sure I’m not ready for Level 2 this year. Luckily I’m going to be starting Advanced Japanese at my university this year, so hopefully by the end of 2009 I should be ready (though I’m hoping I’ll be in Japan on the JET Program by then XD)
i think JLPT 3 is too easy. you may be able to JLPT 2
I’ll see you this December in the JLPT exam site then lol
And yeah, translation helps keep skills fresh.
wow I’m taking JLPT 2 this december x__x don’t worry If you could watch Lucky Star and understand 60% of the conversation without the subs – you could definitely sweep JLPT 3 ^^
I don’t think I’m up to a translation gig, I literally can’t do that on my own even with some sort of dictionary/translator software. Maybe a QC thing could suffice, where I double-check translations already done by other people.
And I’m starting this early also in preparation for level 2 hopefully in 2009… but that’s a longshot unless I go back to Japan. I miss Japan.
damn, the stakes are most def higher 😀
Do hard work for JLPT 2 level..there is nohtg impossible in this world..gambatte ne
Oh wow that must be so cool