Ian Lewis' Blog

So it's official, I'm taking the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (Level 2) on the second of December. This is the third time I've taken the test (I took Level 3 and 4 previously). However, this time I'm taking it in Japan. I just got my test voucher in the mail.

For those of you that don't know, the JLPT is the most popular test to measure Japanese language profiency. It is basically broken into three parts. Writing/Vocabulary, Listening, and Reading/Grammar. It has 4 levels. Four being the easiest, one being the hardest. Level 4 is very easy and proves basically that you can read hiragana and maybe read a few chinese characters. Level 3 is also easy and proves that you can understand Japanese on what would be considered a basic level to foreigners. Level 2 requires that you can read about 1000 chinese characters and proves that you can at least read and listen at what would be considered a basic level by natives. 1000 chinese characters is the minimum number to be considered literate in Japan. Level 1 requires about 2000 chinese characters and proves you can at least listen and read at a level that will enable you to live and work in Japan.

I say "proves" but in reality you can pass with a good deal less knowledge than is "required" and even without very much ability to speak Japanese at all (this is also true of other language standardized tests. TOEIC, I'm looking at you ). The requirements are probably the minimum to get a 100% score, while a 60% passes. So, though it's a bit risky, essentially you could technically pass level 2, knowing about 600-700 chinese characters. Also, it has a "writing" section but really the test is entirely multiple choice. So the closest you come to having to write chinese characters is sometimes having to choose which of 4 characters is written incorrectly.

There is also nothing anwhere close to a speaking portion. This is probably a big failing of almost every language standardized test. The inability to test speaking ability in a meaningful way. Testers cannot spend the time talking to each and every test taker because it would require 1 on 1 interviews. And even if they did do that, they have no objective way of measuring how well the person can converse. I don't blame the test makers, but it means that a lot of people can pass the test without even the slightest ability to speak or hold a conversation. This is even more pronounced in Japan where many people can pass TOEIC with a rather high score but would die of embarrasment if they had to actually hold a conversation in English.

So basically I have no real love or respect for sandardized tests especially language standardized tests. I don't like the idea of being considered on equal ground with a person who could pass JLPT2 without knowing how to speak at all, or with someone who obviously can converse better than me but simply doesn't know enough of the finer grammar rules to pass JLPT1. The test only gives a very rough basis with which to judge a person and their skill. Perhaps as part of a whole presentation on yourself it could hold some weight but without some other supporting info to lean on using it by itself is worthless.

However, As someone studying it as a second language I realize that people would like to see it, and that it may help focus my studies. I just wish that after studying hard and passing it the result could actually mean something to me.

日本語能力試験を合格した！！　やった！ I passed the level 3 of the JLPT that I took in December. I thought at first that I did well but I began to doubt myself

But I did a whole 10% better this time than when I took the level 4 (the JLPT has 4 levels. 4 being the easiest, 1 the hardest). I also managed to score better in every section than when I took the level 4 so I'm happy about that. Listening was still the hardest but at least I passed it this time with a 65/100 as opposed to my level 4 score of 56. Anyway here's the breakdown:

Also, I recently took the JLPT level 3 (日本語能力試験 3級 ). I think I did pretty well on it. There were some questions I didn't quite know though. Japanese does get pretty difficult. Especially with test questions where more than one answer is correct however, one might be better than the other. Those questions are definitely the harder questions.

Well, my friends Matt, and Emily and I have started studying on Mondays and Wednesdays. That should help focus study for the near future at least. It's good to talk about it with other people learning the language. Though probably the best way to learn good Japanese is to talk to Japanese people. Anyway, maybe I can swing taking 2級 next year but It'll be a stretch since the difference between them is large.

Well, I haven't written here in a while. A lot has happened recently.

My domain python-powered.net passed back to the company that I registered it from since I couldn't remember the login/pass for the page where I could renew it. Now they want $160 to renew it. Ridiculous. Well, I'm not gonna do that so maybe I'll get python-powered.org from a different registrar.

I've been applying to graduate school and It's proven a challenge for me. I had real problems writing the statement of purpose essays for several reasons.

While writing the applications I realized another disadvantage to attending a small college. While I learned a lot in college (much of which had to do with my own efforts), one of the things I didn't learn is how graduate school "works". My college didn't have a graduate program so there was no program and no graduate students around. Because of this I learned zero, zilch, nada about applying to graduate school. Things about funding, research projects, professors, and the application process were all foreign to me. Researching these caused my applications to be finished later than I wanted them to be and not as solid/polished as I wanted them to be.

I also had a hard time finding professors that had research interests that were similar to mine. I'm interested in programming languages, specifically object oriented languages and component based design, reuse, databases (especially querying and/or reporting), and XML technologies. However, I found it hard to find professors that had the same interests as me. And when I did they had either moved on to other interests or the research projects in these areas weren't very active. This makes it hard for me to pursuade them to take me on as a student if I'm interested in inactive projects. I guess the exciting research in these areas has already been done.

The third (and maybe most important reason) is that I'm not sure my heart is in it. On top of being discouraged by the problems I encountered above, I'm realizing my potential for producing creative work. My small college experience has left me woefully lacking in writing skills, I have very little experience in the areas undergoing active research (graphics and distributed computing mostly), and I'm not much interested in those areas.

Another reason that my heart is not really in it is because currently I'm probably most interested in learning Japanese. I've invested quite a bit of time into learning it, especially recently, and because of my interest I've applied to JET and taken the JLPT. Just Lvl 4 though . It's been quite a struggle to decide what to do. All the while, my communication with my parents hasn't been great and, dispite that, my parents really seem to like having me around. This leaves me with a dilemma. If I go to Japan I'm not sure my parents would be somewhat dissappointed. First because I'm not going to grad. school and second because I'll be a 18 hr. direct flight away.

So I'm in somewhat of a quandry about what to do. I want to do what would make me most happy (going to Japan I think), but I don't want to ruin or mess up my relationship with my parents, and/or never go to grad school.