I have been studying with a Japanese language teacher for 3 months, and during these three months, I have learned 10 times more than in a whole year of self-study. This is because she always assigns homework and checks its completion. Plus, she praised me once, so to maintain my status, I am doing my best to prepare for each lesson. I wake up at 6 in the morning and study kanji.
When I didn’t have someone to set deadlines for me and check my progress, learning was much slower. Therefore, finding a study partner for learning English is a great idea. You can set deadlines for each other and learn much faster.
Truly it is a good thing when you’re enthusiastic about the learning.
Ah…but I still not good at the word “homework”…I never liked it at all. Hahaha.
Actually, I didn’t do any homework assigned to me when I was a teenage brat. Teachers and my parents yelled at me very badly sometimes. How nostalgic…
How diligent. You ARE a good student, I must say.
In no time, you’ll have greater knowledge of Kanji than I have.
In fact, I’m totally not good at kanji.
Probably.
But I’m not sure if I properly do the homeworks even when we set deadlines.
Thank you, but I think it will take me a long time to outdo you.
Yes, you’re right, those were tough but fun times. I’d like to enroll in some college or university to study again. At least, a language school awaits me in the future. I’d like to study history, philosophy, neurobiology, at a conservatory, and theology. Where would you like to study if you had the chance?
When you can write more than a thousand, maybe you can beat me. Keyboards spoiled me so badly, now I can’t even write.
That’s a very good idea, yeah, it is.
Well… I’m not so interested in a college life, but if I’m allowed to go to Oxford I’ll definitely take a ticket to Britain. (Not even a chance by the way)
I want to study Linguistics. Or Acoustics. Or…well, I want to attend some Medicine lectures if I have a chance. Or some Virology lectures. Or Toxicology lectures.
Physics would be a great choice too. When I was still sane I wanted to study physics in university.
N5 - To pass this level, you need to know approximately 100 kanji and 800 words. Reading: Able to read and understand phrases and sentences written for non-native speakers using hiragana and very simple kanji.
N4 - To pass this level, you need to know approximately 300 kanji and 1,500 words. Reading: Able to read and understand written materials on familiar topics intended for non-native speakers.
N3 - To pass this level, you need to know approximately 650 kanji and 3,750 words. Reading: Able to read and understand materials written for native speakers only if they are rewritten for native speakers with simplified vocabulary and kanji. Can extract limited information from newspaper headlines intended for native speakers. Can gather necessary information from written materials encountered in daily life with the help of a dictionary if sufficient time is available.
N2 - To pass this level, you need to know approximately 1000 kanji and 6000 words. Reading: Able to read and understand general information manuals and other basic written materials intended for native speakers. Can read more specialized materials with the help of a dictionary. Reads simple written materials on general topics and can follow the development of ideas and understand nuances.
N1 - To pass this level, you need to know approximately 2000 kanji and 10,000 words. Reading: Reads logically constructed texts such as newspaper editorials intended for native speakers and can follow arguments; reads highly abstract writing and can understand configurations of abstract concepts. Reads deeply substantive materials on a wide range of topics and can understand both the development of ideas and specific nuances.
Years ago I tried N1 sample test and it was not that difficult as like those statements. Those are kinda exaggerated. Hahaha.
I think, perhaps, N1 certified person is equivalent to 8 or 9 years old Japanese kid. (To be more precise, equivalent to 8 or 9 years old me.)
If you aim for N1, reading manga a lot would be quite helpful for you. You can’t earn much points from Kanji section, so, reading comprehension and grammars are more important in N1, in my opinion.
About the listening section, I recommend watching videogame cut scenes. They have subtitles, rather comprehensive voiceovers than normal films or TV shows, and you can legally watch them on YouTube anytime you want.
Great, now I just need to find Japanese mom and dad and live with them for 9 years.
Thanks for the recommendations, my friend. I usually listen to Japanese podcasts in the morning and evening; they are slow-paced and come with transcripts.
Then a new plan: I register on a Japanese dating site and write in my profile - “Looking for a wife ready to talk to me for a whole year. In return, ready to spend a whole year not understanding what she wants from me.”
Honestly, I’ve thought about this. And I also thought about going to a Japanese village and living there for some time.
So, we begin Operation “Girlfriend Search” - it sounds like the movie Mission: Impossible. Though, the harder the task, the more interesting it is, how to find a girlfriend in London while being in Japan? Probably not easier than finding a girlfriend in Japan while being in Russia. But we will think creatively. I heard that European women adore Japanese men, so it will be easier for you. I even think they will snatch you up eagerly, once you declare it. I hope you like drinking tea and sitting in English pubs.
There’s a lot of ways to find a lady, I suppose. We just need a little confidence to act assertively. (Spoiler alert: I don’t have any confidence of that kind)
I doubt it…
In centimetres? I’m very short actually. 160.
I think I’m 162 according to the precise measurement, but I always tell I’m 160 to any girls. It works.
I know, my friend, that’s exactly why I decided to take matters into my own hands and fill out the profile for you. The most important thing on this journey is not to meet a Chinese woman because there will be no turning back. They are the most confident and persistent women I know on this planet. Your height is our advantage; let’s use it as a trump card.
My height is 1.92, so we will cover each other in dangerous situations where special dexterity is required to complete the mission.
Today, I saw a video where a European woman married a Japanese man, and she praised him so much that I almost cried myself.
From a cultural point of view, yes, they are very…how do I say, possessive?
When it comes to personality, though, it totally depends on person to person. So I won’t exclude any Chinese women from my eyes.
(The thing is, I may be excluded from their eyes.)
It’s very curious that my best friends are very likely over 180cm…
Since my childhood there has always been a tall great friends.
OK, then. I’ll go and talk with girls first, and let their guards down with my anti-macho appearance. And then, you finish her off.
…wait a sec, where’s my lady then?
Well, that’s why she married him, so don’t cry. His Japanese-ness isn’t logically relevant to her affection.
One day on a mission in a café, I spotted a target on the sixth chair from the window — a British girl whose smile could light up the whole room. Agent Komori quickly turned on her charm and sneaked through the crowd to defuse the situation with her humor. My part? Standing in the background and pretending that I’m carrying important documents in my latte.
