(Not) Easy Japaneasy

These days I've been hitting the Japanese textbooks again. There are just over 100 days until the big, annual proficiency test and I have sworn to pass this time. When I took it in 2006, I was a bit distracted with grad school, and last year I thought since I use Japanese at work all the time that it would be enough that I didn't really need to study. However, racing against the clock to take a language test in a stuffy room with dozens, (or, depending on the venue, even hundreds) of other people, I realize that I need to study specifically for this exam.



Two weeks ago I searched out the language schools that offered classes specifically for this test, and then narrowed down the choices to convenient locations and realistic class times. It came down to a school that offered 90 min private lessons on Monday and Wednesday nights, or a 3-hour class on Saturday mornings.

Saturday morning with no cartoons
First I tried the Saturday class. Waking up before 7am on a Saturday felt horrible, and getting on the same train I take to work on weekdays made the experience that much worse. However, when I got to the class, I found the other students to be at about the same level as I am and the teacher to be excellent. The teacher knew the test inside-and-out, and let us know what vocabulary or grammar points to expect, what year certain expressions had first appeared on the test, different strategies for studying and when taking the actual test. I walked out of there feeling energized more than anything.

"I hate Mondays" -Garfield the cat
Then came the Monday class. After work I jumped on the subway and met a friend for dinner before class. I thought it would be a bonus taking classes at this place just because I'd be able to meet my friend more often. The class started at 8pm so I headed over and met the teacher. Since it was just a free trial lesson, the class was only 45 minutes. She had me read a few paragraphs from a book I had brought, then confirmed when I answered the questions correctly. Then I read the next paragraph and answered the questions. The teacher made a few comments, but I really felt like I could do this on my own. After the class I politely declined to sign up and decided to go with the Saturday classes.

Discovery
However, I still felt like one day a week wouldn't be enough to pass the test, so I also found some volunteer groups that teach Japanese on weekday evenings. These groups proclaim that they are not "professional language teachers" but they are happy to help foreigners with daily issues (like contacting the phone company or getting cable, whatever) or to study Japanese. One group is on Tuesday nights at city hall near where I live so I went there last night. The group turned out to be excellent and they ask a mere $3 per month for room fees and making photocopies of handouts, etc. One woman said she would be my personal volunteer and she would even be happy to answer questions if I had some during the week, such as if I wanted to write a letter or send an e-mail in Japanese and needed her to check it. I was completely amazed and very glad I had not signed up for the private lessons.

So in the end, I'll take the Saturday morning class and attend the volunteer group on Tuesday and maybe one other volunteer group on a different night (I was quite surprised to find many of these nearby). With this, I should be ready for that test on December 7th. Wish me luck!