Comments on: Irish Leaving Cert Japanese — Nihongo Kantan

By: ロバート

ロバート — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 09:39:40 +0000

Not really. Certainly not easily available in Ireland.
I recommend these books from the JLPT. old JLPT3 is probably a bit beyond the level of the LC, so JLPT4 or N5 would be closer.
http://www.shiawase.co.uk/2007/08/19/jlpt-revision/
http://www.shiawase.co.uk/2007/08/17/jlpt-3-grammar-exercises/

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/4770029837/
provides a wealth of structures that will help you in essays and the oral.

I’d also recommend Takeo Kamiya’s books on verbs and adjectives, as well as the particle book by Naoko Chino.
http://www.amazon.co.uk//dp/477002200X/

That said, while you might be able to game an exam, there are few shortcuts to learning to speak a language

By: kieran

kieran — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 08:52:23 +0000

Are there any books like “Less stress more sucess” for japanese as a revision add.

By: ロバート

ロバート — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 22:08:39 +0000

3rd Edition Japanese for Busy People kana version.
Eason’s or Waterstones might have it. Modern Languages on Westland Row, Dublin (near Pearse St. Station) should have it. Even allowing for postage etc. Amazon.co.uk will probably be cheaper. Vol 1 and 2 should cover the Leaving. The only thing is they are geared towards adult use in Japan, so you might need school vocabulary and culture as well.
You can check out AJALTs site as well
http://www.ajalt.org/e/online/online.html

They also do books aimed at Schools but I’ve no experience of them.

By: Kieran

Kieran — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 21:08:18 +0000

Hi I was just wondering what textbooks would you recommend fot the leaving cert other than Nihongo Kantana, i think that nihongo kantana is a great book. Also could you pick books that are easy to get, like in easons, i just want to be more fluent, i am in 5th year and i am done the text about three times over and I know everything in it.

By: ロバート

ロバート — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 20:15:55 +0000

I use an ordinary pen or pencil.

A soft (2B) pencil is good because you can vary line thickness and you can erase mistakes. Italic calligraphy pens are more suited to roman characters. The Japanese equivalent would be a brush. These require a lot of practice especially at small sizes. If you want to try it use at least A4 size paper for a single character and use a largish brush. Preferably find a shodo teacher too.

Squared paper is useful too. A maths copybook with 1cm or bigger squares is ideal. Copy a handwritten style rather than a computer typeface if you can. (This is a good site. http://www.geocities.jp/ki07ji/muryo/1nen.html )

You can also use a cheap whiteboard and fine pointed dry wipe marker to practice.

Best of all is a Nintendo DS LL with Japanese software that corrects your handwriting such as kakitorikun
http://100mas.jp/kakitorikun/
or Bimoji training
http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ds/avmj/index.html

Unfortunately they are only easily available in japan.

By: Kieran

Kieran — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 17:18:02 +0000

I was just wondering, when writing japanese, do you use a calligraphy pen or a pen/pencil

By: ロバート

ロバート — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 06:22:56 +0000

It’s hard to say. (I’m in UK not Ireland now) There is more demand but it’s still a niche area. There are only low hundreds of students actually taking the Leaving in Japanese, although the reported number having tried studying it is much higher. I’m not sure if it’s on the core timetable anywhere, it’s very much an extra. I also don’t know how the Department of Education’s Irish language requirement for teachers is dealt with. Third level might be a better bet, but if Ireland is anything like the UK language departments are badly hit in recent cuts.

My guess is that the best course might be setting up a private class targeting Japanese as a relatively easy subject for high achievers to get some extra points. With other classes targeting the JLPT and any other opportunities such as businessmen, or otaku or prospective JET’s.

These people might be able to give you better information.
http://www.jltireland.com/index/top_en.html
or try the cultural attaché at the Japanese Embassy in Ireland.

Good Luck.

By: paul keating

paul keating — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 05:24:00 +0000

Interesting …. – being mid-40′s I did my leaving back in the mid-80′s, no Nihongo available at the Compo in Sallynoggin but French etc …. – anyway, now out in Sydney, married to Japanese woman who teaches primary, secondary and Uni here – keen to consider a return for a while in Ireland so it looks like she MIGHT be able to get a job, what do you think? Is there an actual demand for native sensei, is there a demand for the language at all?

By: ロバート

ロバート — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 19:11:20 +0000

キヤンくん、
that’s probably the best way and best age to learn a language. You shouldn’t have much trouble with LC Japanese, as long as you are ok with writing and polite forms.
Good Luck.

By: キアン・オコンネル

キアン・オコンネル — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 12:47:14 +0000

I absolutely love Japanese! I’m sort of fluent since I actually attended Japanese primary school for four years because of my dad’s work ( Didn’t go to an International School… ) And I’m definitely taking it for Leaving Cert! :D