I signed up for a Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT N4) in December!
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I signed up for a Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT N4) in December! It's been a good motivation to put more time into learning vocabulary and grammar!
I found a neat resource to practice reading: Tadoku, a collection of ~100 free picture books of varying difficulty, released under Creative Commons licenses (BY-NC-ND), some with audio!
Especially the lower-level books are really motivating, because I can actually read them without a dictionary!
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I signed up for a Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT N4) in December! It's been a good motivation to put more time into learning vocabulary and grammar!
I found a neat resource to practice reading: Tadoku, a collection of ~100 free picture books of varying difficulty, released under Creative Commons licenses (BY-NC-ND), some with audio!
Especially the lower-level books are really motivating, because I can actually read them without a dictionary!
6 weeks to go until my #Japanese test (#JLPT N4)!
I try to practice every day! For motivation, I made this big chart where I can tick off five boxes per day:
1. Vocabulary (using Anki, a Core 2K deck)
2. Grammar (using the TRY! grammar book + Anki)
3. Listening comprehension (wild mix, often "Comprehensible Japanese" or the Benjiro interviews on YT)
4. Reading (Yotsuba! or Flying Witch mangas; tadoku.org books)
5. Drilling (going through old JLPT tests)This way, I often put in 1-1.5 h/day.
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6 weeks to go until my #Japanese test (#JLPT N4)!
I try to practice every day! For motivation, I made this big chart where I can tick off five boxes per day:
1. Vocabulary (using Anki, a Core 2K deck)
2. Grammar (using the TRY! grammar book + Anki)
3. Listening comprehension (wild mix, often "Comprehensible Japanese" or the Benjiro interviews on YT)
4. Reading (Yotsuba! or Flying Witch mangas; tadoku.org books)
5. Drilling (going through old JLPT tests)This way, I often put in 1-1.5 h/day.
I did the mock test from https://jlptsensei.com/downloads/jlpt-n4-practice-test/ last week, and scored
61% in the vocabulary section
54% in the grammar section and
64% in the listening section.Around "half of the score" is required to pass, but these are scaled scores… So it's hard to tell whether I would've passed.
But I'm quite happy nevertheless, because in 2021, I had the following scores in a mock test:
37% vocab
38% grammar
50% listeningSo there's definitely some progress! ^_^
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I did the mock test from https://jlptsensei.com/downloads/jlpt-n4-practice-test/ last week, and scored
61% in the vocabulary section
54% in the grammar section and
64% in the listening section.Around "half of the score" is required to pass, but these are scaled scores… So it's hard to tell whether I would've passed.
But I'm quite happy nevertheless, because in 2021, I had the following scores in a mock test:
37% vocab
38% grammar
50% listeningSo there's definitely some progress! ^_^
I have a long history of learning Japanese, on and off. Started around 2010, and had a couple of more or less intense learning phases.
But it's good to see that some things always seem to stick from the previous phases.
This time, in preparation for the N4 test, I feel like I'm always learning at the edge of my abilities, which is sometimes exhausting… but it's very satisfying when I hear a piece of conversation and *just understand it*!
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I have a long history of learning Japanese, on and off. Started around 2010, and had a couple of more or less intense learning phases.
But it's good to see that some things always seem to stick from the previous phases.
This time, in preparation for the N4 test, I feel like I'm always learning at the edge of my abilities, which is sometimes exhausting… but it's very satisfying when I hear a piece of conversation and *just understand it*!
Only two weeks left until my #Japanese test (#JLPT N4)! Found a great source for practice tests at https://bunpro.jp/jlpt_practice_tests.
They are freely accessible without a login; are really high-quality; and have detailed feedback on *why* the false answers are wrong.
I think my biggest risk of failing the test is not getting enough points in the Listening section, so I'll focus on practicing these a lot!
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Only two weeks left until my #Japanese test (#JLPT N4)! Found a great source for practice tests at https://bunpro.jp/jlpt_practice_tests.
They are freely accessible without a login; are really high-quality; and have detailed feedback on *why* the false answers are wrong.
I think my biggest risk of failing the test is not getting enough points in the Listening section, so I'll focus on practicing these a lot!
Four days until my Japanese test!!
I've settled on a learning pattern where I mostly do practice tests, focusing on the listening section.I still think the Bunpro tests (https://bunpro.jp/jlpt_practice_tests) are one of the best resources you can find at this stage, because they will also explain *why* you answered wrong, and you can learn a lot from that.
Today, I did the first test where I got over 70% of the answers right in an N4 test – that's Bunpro's criterion for "passing"! \o/
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Four days until my Japanese test!!
I've settled on a learning pattern where I mostly do practice tests, focusing on the listening section.I still think the Bunpro tests (https://bunpro.jp/jlpt_practice_tests) are one of the best resources you can find at this stage, because they will also explain *why* you answered wrong, and you can learn a lot from that.
Today, I did the first test where I got over 70% of the answers right in an N4 test – that's Bunpro's criterion for "passing"! \o/
I try to review the practice tests and put the key information/vocabulary I would've needed to know in my "drilling" file – it's like a lazy Anki!
I mark whether or not I got an answer right with + or - at the beginning of a line, and then later can search for a regex like ^-.*-, to review questions I got wrong two times, including on the latest attempt.
Probably not the most efficient approach, but it works for me for "drilling".
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I try to review the practice tests and put the key information/vocabulary I would've needed to know in my "drilling" file – it's like a lazy Anki!
I mark whether or not I got an answer right with + or - at the beginning of a line, and then later can search for a regex like ^-.*-, to review questions I got wrong two times, including on the latest attempt.
Probably not the most efficient approach, but it works for me for "drilling".
My Japanese test is tomorrow! I'm doing it for fun, and nothing really depends on it, so I'm not too anxious, but still pretty excited for the experience!
Even if I don't pass the test, this has been a huge success! I've never used Anki as consistently! And I put many hours into learning new grammar, and into reading and listening to all kinds of material.
Since signing up for tests/events is such a good motivation hack for me, I sometimes wonder what other tests I could try!
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My Japanese test is tomorrow! I'm doing it for fun, and nothing really depends on it, so I'm not too anxious, but still pretty excited for the experience!
Even if I don't pass the test, this has been a huge success! I've never used Anki as consistently! And I put many hours into learning new grammar, and into reading and listening to all kinds of material.
Since signing up for tests/events is such a good motivation hack for me, I sometimes wonder what other tests I could try!
I did the full practice exam from my grammar book yesterday, and got 58% of the questions right overall. That figure of ~60% is pretty consistent over different tests I've tried.
To pass, I'll need 50% of the "points" of the scaled score (based on item response theory, which tries to make sure that results are comparable over different years). People say of you get 70% on practice tests, you're pretty safe. So... it will be pretty close?
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I did the full practice exam from my grammar book yesterday, and got 58% of the questions right overall. That figure of ~60% is pretty consistent over different tests I've tried.
To pass, I'll need 50% of the "points" of the scaled score (based on item response theory, which tries to make sure that results are comparable over different years). People say of you get 70% on practice tests, you're pretty safe. So... it will be pretty close?
Subjectively, when I started my regular learning around 3 months ago, I was definitely working at the edge of my abilities *all the time*, which was exhausting and frustrating at times.
Now, JLPT material of my level often feels somewhat familiar, and while I never understand everything, I often get the "gist", especially in texts, which feels nice!
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Subjectively, when I started my regular learning around 3 months ago, I was definitely working at the edge of my abilities *all the time*, which was exhausting and frustrating at times.
Now, JLPT material of my level often feels somewhat familiar, and while I never understand everything, I often get the "gist", especially in texts, which feels nice!
By the way, the tests in Düsseldorf and Berlin were booked out super quickly when I applied in July...
...so I took a train up to Copenhagen!
And can now report on the latest innovations in making a city friendlier for bicyclists and pedestrians!
Here's a technique I first heard about in a @notjustbikes video: Make the sidewalks stretch out over streets coming in from the side – cars may still drive there, but it feels more like they're the "guests". Absolutely love it!
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By the way, the tests in Düsseldorf and Berlin were booked out super quickly when I applied in July...
...so I took a train up to Copenhagen!
And can now report on the latest innovations in making a city friendlier for bicyclists and pedestrians!
Here's a technique I first heard about in a @notjustbikes video: Make the sidewalks stretch out over streets coming in from the side – cars may still drive there, but it feels more like they're the "guests". Absolutely love it!
A similar thing happens in this roundabout: It's made for bikes, first and foremost!
Oh yeah sure, cars also can use it, but the cobblestones force them to slow down. Clever!
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A similar thing happens in this roundabout: It's made for bikes, first and foremost!
Oh yeah sure, cars also can use it, but the cobblestones force them to slow down. Clever!
Some roughly paved areas have these smooth strips. Probably mainly built for wheelchair users or strollers? But also kind of nice to ride a bike on.
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Some roughly paved areas have these smooth strips. Probably mainly built for wheelchair users or strollers? But also kind of nice to ride a bike on.
Not easy to see in this photo, but the left and right side of this street has *smoother* paving – a nice and noticable difference, especially on my folding bike with smaller wheels!
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