How have you gone on your JLPT goals so far?
- The amount of work hours I was given took a nosedive but shifts have become more intense, due to how Christmas is a peak period for people eating out. This means I’m more motivated to grind JLPT stuff, do translations or other final JLPT prep in the lead-up to the test, but it means I have more propensity to get bored and try to distract myself with other stuff.
- I’m writing this post earlier than anticipated as a result – currently, I’ve finished the reading book but am 13 pages from finishing the grammar book (although I’ve started one page as of the time of writing). I had a period in August or thereabouts where I was alternating between reading and grammar as a starting point each day, but I stalled at grammar in early September, which says something about how I’ve come to favour practising one over the other…
How are you studying?
- I double-checked my old results. I got 26/60 for vocab/grammar. Knowing my strengths and weaknesses, the points were most likely lost on the grammar side of things, but grammar is one of the things most likely to deteriorate now I’ve graduated uni for good. I’ve found, while practising for the JLPT, I really suck at the “star questions”. However, I read a tip on Reddit to focus on the grammar patterns the test is asking for, rather than focussing on making a coherent sentence. That seems to be helping somewhat.
- However, I got 16/60 for reading, which is why that last dot point in the previous section and all the work I’ve been doing towards that is a positive omen. Speed-runs I’ve done specifically for reading suggest I’ll get about 30/60 this time, which is all I really need to pass that section…but it’s better to get more than 50% in case something funny happens with the weighting.
- I’ve been using anime as listening practice these days – for HypMic, it’s kinda unavoidable anyway *sweatdrops while smiling*. At the start of Rhyme Anima+‘s airing, I tried to figure out what all of Sasara’s jokes were as an exercise in translation, but that was making me take me far too long to finish the episode as a result and most of the jokes I’ve encountered in RA+ have been translated fairly literally anyway, so I scrapped that.
- I’ve been listening to Amazing Race podcasts/recaps while flicking through Anki. Normally, I would watch anime or listen to music/podcasts while flicking through Anki, so it’s not that different to usual, but the podcasts/recaps are on YouTube instead of Spotify or a legal anime streaming site, so the experience of having to wait through ads is a bit of a throwback to 2015 or thereabouts.
- Speaking of vocab acquisition, HypMic manga used to be a way I’d acquire vocab. Turns out I remembered DH & BAT+‘s future incorrectly
and made a fool of myself to Slug as a result– it will finish in the final volume on December 15th. - I finished part 1 of a 2 part translation which went live recently (see it here). You’ll probably see part 2 go live some time this month.
- I burnt through most of my timed practice on a day where a huge internet outage occurred. I always finish these with a bunch of time to spare but am not very accurate in doing so, so all I really need to do is take my time in the test as well as double and triple check everything.
What do you still need to cover?
- Finishing the Shin Kanzen Master grammar book, as mentioned.
- Wrapping up any loose ends and just treating myself kindly until the day of the test. If you remember the Productivity Pile (an old WordPress blog of mine), you might remember a song called Ocean Floors – I’ll probably play that on the day before I go.
Keep seeking the magic,
Aria.