JAPN10002: Japanese 2

Okay it's the end of my first year of Japanese study and I'm quite annoyed at the Japanese department. There's a lot of inconsistency and disorganised-ness going around and it could have been organised way better. Having said that, the excitement of learning japanese and learning about japan somewhat made up for it. The content was certainly fulfilling to study and the improvement I've made from knowing zero japanese at the beginning of the year is very very satisfying. I'll try to give an overview of everything here, though please note I'm not describing the fun and exciting bits, this is just an overview of what you're getting into. You have to decide if it's worth it! (it was definitely worth it for me, and this is a pretty harsh review, so you can imagine how fun and exciting the japanese part must have been )

Lectures: I started out attending all but by the end of the semester didn't bother. They're okay if you have read the week's chapter beforehand because you can follow along and they're only one a week. You don't really learn anything in the lectures though, all the learning takes place in the classes and from the textbook and lectures are pretty much just notifications.

Seminars: These are hard and great, if you have a good sensei. I was stuck with a useless guy in Japanese 1 but my japanese 2 seminars were both very helpful. Learned and practiced a lot. I recommend trying to work ahead and be familiar with the week's vocab and grammar before coming in to each seminar, so you're not lost. My seminar 2 sensei was especially great, she spent a few minutes each week going through the kanji with the non-kanji-background students (there were ~3 in my class including me) and that effort really helped me keep up with the dozens of symbols you have to learn.

Written tests: These are weird, you get a sheet of paper and the teacher starts a stop watch and you have to translate, read, write kanji and all sorts of stuff really fast. Then there's a dictation section which is equally fast paced. Be prepared to drop marks for missing strokes and ambiguous true/false questions, but these are otherwise fine if you learn the kanji before the day.

Oral tests: Most dreaded assessment for me. I'm not as strong a speaker as writer in japanese so these were stressful. The first one is in a pair so if you get a partner who isn't lazy, it's not a problem. Just get up a google docs and practice a few times together etc.
The solo one was much harder. We had to write and memorise an essay, in japanese. The topic this year was sport and its influence on culture and for me that was the most boring topic ever. You need to memorise the whole essay in japanese as you're not allowed any prompts during the recitation. Make sure you include some grammar-rich sentences and that your speech is fluent, and you'll get an 8+/10 easy.

Final essay: The essay theme is actually the same theme as the second oral, and the idea is that your response for both is more or less the same. There's a week and a half to write up a good copy after the oral. No problems here.

The Exam: the 2h exam was made up of 20 MC questions (with only 3 possible responses, haha), two short japanese texts followed by japanese true/false questions, a sentence/response matching exercise (hardest and most time consuming in my opinion), some kanji reading and writing questions, a short translation exercise and then finally two short, guided compositions (one 'fill in the blanks' and one guided 'write a letter to your friend. 1) Start with a short greeting. 2) mention that it's getting warmer here in Melbourne' etc)

The reading content from the exam (the two short texts, the fill in the blanks and the letter) all came more-or-less from the kanji section of the textbook, where after each week's kanji there's a written text and some writing exercises. Do these throughout the semester and again before the day and you'll be set. For example, the second text was pretty much verbatim the tanbata festival story from chapter 12 in the textbook.

The exam itself really only requires you to know the stuff in the kanji, vocab and grammar lists from each of the 6 chapters studied. Unfortunately there are a few rogue words in there that aren't on the lists but you can get around them and figure out the answers anyway. The only thing assessed that isn't directly studied was how to sign off the letter at the end with 'look forward to seeing you…' or something along those lines, we were never told to remember the expression but that's it.
The Department: Okay, the lecturer pretty much doesn't respond to emails. If you need anything from him, tough luck. If it's language related, best to email/ask a seminar sensei in class. The LMS has all lecture notes and course information in office file formats and doesn't use PDF. I wrote very angrily about this in the SES and hopefully they change for next year but I wouldn't count on it. Marks are uploaded with a huge delay and sometimes not at all. You get your writing tasks back the week after, with the marks on the paper, but don't expect info on how you went on the final oral and essay until after the exam/if at all. That's why this subject gets a 3/5.

Jun Ohashi

None, and no sample exams, see comments.

3 Out of 5

Genki I Textbook and Workbook, high recommended! Should have them from Japanese 1. They are used heavily in classes and exam texts are based on the reading practice in the kanji section of the textbook.

1h lecture + 1.5h speaking class + 1.5h writing class. 80% Attendance to the classes (but not the lecture) is a hurdle requirement.
Beyond this, be prepared to put in a few hours a week to keep on top of the vocabulary and kanji that you have to memorise to keep up! I made a heap of quizlet lists based closely on the textbook/required vocab, you can use mine or make your own.

2014 Semester 2

87 (H1)