しあわせ » grammar

Fridge Haiku – Desktop Poet

ロバート — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 19:29:01 +0000

Desktop Poet is a fun little program from Mariner Software. It replicates those little packs of magnetic words you find in bookshops that allow you to compose poetry on your fridge. This program allows you to do the same on your computer. And as such is much more convenient.

As words can be imported from simple text files I thought it might be interesting to use it to play at making sentences to improve my Japanese grammar and reading. Haiku or any poetry might be a bit advanced.

Another feature is that a single tile can contain multiple words. For instance in English you can chose between “run”, “runs”, “running”, “ran” and “runner” on a single tile. In my Japanese version this allows me to have the kanji, furigana, and a verbs root on a tile. I decided to split out the inflections so I didn’t have to write so much mainly but it’s also good for playing with grammar. It could allow for English meanings but I decided to leave them out and try to work with words I know already.

On the word lists I’m working on, you can automatically look up a word on Denshi Jisho if you have an Internet connection.
I hope to be able to figure out how to easily change the colour of groups of words depending on their function. At the moment when you merge a set of words into the program you can set the colour of the tiles.

Desktop Poet is available for both Mac and Windows and the download version is a mere $15 (about £8)

Hopefully I’ll soon have some word lists here for you to download.

Originaily this software was published by Stick Software where it was called Issa after the Haiku poet Kobayashi Issa. So maybe it’s fitting to use it to learn Japanese.

It’s not yet the perfect program so I had these few thoughts which I shared with Mariner in the hopes that 1.1 will be better

Desktop Poet 1.0.1 Mac — feedback & feature requests

I recently bought Desktop poet and have been playing with it.
I have a couple of thoughts.

The option to run it in a normal window would be extremely useful. The “virtual fridge” is cumbersome to move around and resize. Also a normal window could have a toolbar which would be useful. Multiple instances of the window would be good. A workspace could be saved like a standard document. with different backgrounds and type settings for different types of project.

A workspace / container space(s) separation would also be useful.
The containers could be for different wordlists.
A drawer metaphor might work. Allowing words from separate lists to be accessed separately.

An ability to show/hide tiles or groups of tiles while working could also be useful.

In the new tile dialog It would be good to be able to input a complete list rather than just a single word or phrase. Maybe if it accepted the same strings as when writing a wordlist in a texteditor.

The ability to define the colour of tiles for a wordlist in the metadata of the wordlist for example:
@tilecolor red.
@tilecolor #3300FF
I’m quite interested in Desktop poet as a learning tool and the ability to colour code parts of speech would be useful. (It can be done after the fact in the program but I’d like it on import)

A wider range of colours through a colour picker would be good.

Changing the background via a contextual menu would be nice too.

The HTML export is very crude. integrate some style sheets. This could also be user expandable like wordlists.

An iTouch version of Desktop Poet might work as well don’t you think?

Thank you for reading. I appreciate how hard it can be to program. If I had the skill I’d give it a go myself to get the sort of program I’d like.

JLPT3 Grammar Mock Test Papers

ロバート — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 07:07:12 +0000

日本語能力試験　直前対策　文法３級 (国書刊行会）

This is a companion volume to JLPT3 Kanji and Vocabulary Cram Session.

Again there are 15 mock tests interspersed with short sections of grammar. Again it is all in Japanese so the grammar explanations require a bit of work. There are also explanations for all the answers. However, as they are all in Japanese, they might not be simple to understand; although the extra practice might be useful.

The book is from before the changes made to the test 2 years ago. However the nature of the grammar questions haven’t changed. The only difference I can see is that section IV has an extra question. What the book doesn’t have is any questions for the 読解 reading comprehension part of the third paper.

As usual try to do these tests against the clock. Suggested times are: Section I ー13分; Section II ー14分; Section III ー8分; Section IV ー5分 . 40分 in total, leaving 30分 for the last two reading comprehension sections.

Unicom Preparatory Course For JLPT3

ロバート — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 13:07:51 +0000

実力アップ!日本語能力試験3級文法編実力アップ! (Unicom Inc)

A challenging book. This is a Japanese Grammar written in Japanese. There are two pages of an English preface but after that you’re on your own. There is an English translation available separately but Part of what interested me was trying to cover the grammar in an immersive manner. It’s a bit slower than using an English book but it might pay off in the long run.

Of particular interest are Section 2 40 Important Points (重要語４０のポイント）, and Section 3 Confusing Words（まちがいやすい言葉）One dealing with difficult words that have a high probability of appearing on the test and the other with expressions using similar words but having different meanings.

There are also 2 CDs with this book. These are recordings of the sample sentences, each indexed to a page in the book. These can help with providing extra listening practice and possibly allowing some study on the move with an iPod. Although listening to all of them one after another is just a bit too intense. Maybe making your own translation recordings and adding some extra notes and headings and you’d have a useful recision tool. Lots of work though.

JLPT Revision

ロバート — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 12:39:46 +0000

３級問題種
Komoku Seiri Hyojyun Mondaishu 3kyu　(Bonjinsha)

This is an excellent book for revision. It consists almost solely of questions with no explanations. It’s completely in Japanese but understanding what you have to do is no problem. The useful idea behind the book is a short test you take at the start. Depending on the questions you get wrong it points you toward other sections of the book with the aim of improving your score. If you have already covered the material it would be a good book for the last 4 to 6 weeks of your JLPT study. It will help you focus on your weak points and consolidate your studies. I used an earlier version when I sat JLPT4 and found it very useful.

There are also audio tapes (I don’t think CDs are available) that go with this for the listening questions but they were so expensive I didn’t buy them.

JLPT 3 Grammar Exercises

ロバート — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 15:07:33 +0000

完全マスター３級日本語能力試験文法問題対策
Mie Shigeno, Kaoru Seki, Shizue Nishikimi (スリーエーネットワーク)

By the same publisher as Minna No Nihongo series, this is a fantastic little book. It is very well designed and laid out and easy to use.

It covers all the grammar needed for JLPT3. It is very hard to get hold of a list of what grammar is needed, unlike the lists of kanji you can find. This book has it. For that alone you should buy it. (It’s fairly cheap at 1200 円 )

There are 120 grammar points, most consisting of a single page or less. The book is mostly written in Japanese, with some brief explanations in English in places.
All the points have example sentences using vocabulary from JLPT3. There are also brief JLPT style multiple choice questions on each point. However as these are immediately below the point, it’s not too hard to choose the correct answer. The longer practice exercises at the end of each section and the comprehensive exercises are more useful I think.

It is possible to learn the grammar from this book, however the explanations are very brief. It might be more suitable as a revision tool. That said grammar points are usually brief. What is really needed is practice in using the grammar so it becomes second nature.
Studying Grammar using Japanese vocabulary and kanji from JLPT should be a cornerstone of your preparation for the test I think.

As usual in London you can find it at JP Books in Mitsukoshi and also in the Japan Centre.

The publisher, 3A Networks, has an extract on their site which includes the contents pages. It’s marked 立ち読み! (which I think is a wonderful phrase reminding me of all the people reading magazines in the bookstores of Japan.) This will give you a useful overview if you can’t find the book anywhere else.

JLPT past exam papers

ロバート — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 14:12:51 +0000

日本語能力試験試験問題と正解３・４級
(Japan Educational Exchanges and Services and The Japan Foundation)

Every year JEES and the Japan Foundation publish the previous December’s test papers. They come in 2 volumes. One with level 4 and 3, one with level 2 and 1. You can usually find some past years but they do go out of print. I wonder if I shouldn’t start buying level 2 test papers now, but it’ll be a few years before I’m ready for level 2.

Basically what you get is the test paper reproduced exactly; A CD of the listening section; the answers and marking scheme; transcripts of the listening dialogues and statistics on the years scores.

I must say the price is a bit steep (at least in the UK). I’d recommend this book as being more useful. Also it may be possible to get past test papers online, but you’ll need to google for them. It’s useful to have them on paper.
You might find that your teacher may have copies you can borrow or people who have taken the test before might have copies too.

Taking these test papers is a good way to prepare for the test. You should take them against the clock. Check your incorrect and guessed answers to make sure you understand the questions. Check all the vocabulary you didn’t know. Re-listen to the dialogues. This is probably the only way you can get listening exercises that are completely geared to the test and the level of Japanese required for the test.

I’d suggest that you could study 1 exam paper in a week or two. Practice makes perfect!

It’s worth pointing out that kanji account for only 47 marks out of 400; about 12%. You wouldn’t think that from the amount of attention on the internet given to kanji for JLPT. Grammar is far more important. If you don’t have grammar you might not be able to understand the listening section.
In it’s own right grammar accounts for 128 marks out of 400; 32%. The rest is vocabulary and that’s probably the most important part. If you study a good grammar with example sentences you should be studying kanji and vocabulary as a by-product and I think it’s easier to remember vocabulary if learnt in context and with other words.

As with most JLPT texts it is available in London at the Japan Centre or JP Books in the basement of Mitsukoshi.

––update 23Jul11––
Since the JLPT changed 2 years ago official past exam papers are no longer published, however various publishers are printing example papers.

JLPT Mock Test Level 3

ロバート — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 15:48:03 +0000

あなたの弱点がわかる!日本語能力試験3級模試×2
(Unicom)

This book has 2 mock exam papers for JLPT level 3. Complete with sheets for you to mark answers on by filling in boxes just like the actual test and a CD for the listening portion.

Where it is better than the official past exam papers you can buy is the extras.

Firstly it fully explains the composition of the papers.
What each section is testing and what the questions are like.

Then it gives a suggested time for each section on the paper.
You should make a record of the time taken when you take your mock test. I slightly disagree with their breakdown and think you should give slightly more time to questions that give higher marks.

The answers have explanations for the trickier problems.
It explains why one answer is better than the others and gives a translation of key words. What is very useful is a transcript of the listening dialogues with the key sentences highlighted. Did you manage to pick out the important information?

You then analyse your test scores and times.
This allows you to see your weak points. In fairly stark terms. But it will allow you to concentrate you study where it’s most needed. I’m good at kanji I think so I’m tempted to spend time there when I really need to spend more time on gaining vocabulary.

Lastly there is a section aimed at improving your scores or at least raising them to a pass level. Based on the answers you got wrong in Test 1 it offers strategies for further study before taking Test 2 to see if you have improved. Although the book doesn’t give any suggestion for using Test 2 my plan is to take Test 1, analyse my score. Study. Study some more, take the official past papers then a month before the actual test take Test 2 and hope I will have substantially improved.

I think this is a better buy than the official past test papers. Although the more mock tests you can take the more you can judge your strengths and weaknesses and hopefully the more confident you’ll be when going into the test.

At the early stages of preparation I can’t find the time to do a full paper in a single day but instead I complete it over 3 days. Managing to get a good score in last years paper was a huge confidence boost! I thought my listening would be poor. However I found my reading speed has vastly improved from JLPT4 and my listening and grammar are better than I thought. My vocabulary is weak though. I obviously rely on dictionaries far too much when reading and writing.

I think that you’d need to be scoring 50% at this stage (4 months to go), otherwise save the exam fee and try next year. You should be able to pull up the extra 10% with some study. Ideally you’d go into the real test scoring 75% or more. Although it isn’t graded and you only need 60% to pass; 100% is where to aim for.

This is a Japanese book. Written mostly in Japanese but almost everything is translated into English, Chinese and Korean. I bought it on Amazon.jp but I’m sure I’ve seen it in the Japan Centre or JP Books in the basement of Mitsukoshi in London.

MLC Meguro Language Center (Tokyo)

ロバート — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 18:01:43 +0000

This is a language school in Tokyo which quite generously makes a lot of materials available for free on it’s web site. Among these are a series of very short dialogues that are suitable for beginners through to intermediate learners. It’s very hard to find recordings that are suitable for learners so it’s great to have a large amount of recorded material that you might be able to completely understand.

JapanesePod 101

ロバート — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 17:56:49 +0000

This is a fantastic resource. Every week JapanesePod101.com podcast a survival lesson, 3 basic lessons, an intermediate lesson and on alternate weeks a culture lesson and a news podcast. Like a lot of audio language classes the programs are based around a conversation that is then broken down and analysed. Usually a single topic or grammar point is covered.

The host is an American, Peter-san and there is a team of Japanese, including Yoshi-san, Sakura-san, Takase-san, Chigusa-san, Take-san and others that I can’t keep up with. The tone is light and fun. It took a little while for me to get used to it but it grew on me. The lessons are at a level that’s easy to understand. There is a fair amount of repetition and key words are broken down syllable by syllable. There is perhaps a bit too much padding for repeated listening and I often feel like editing them down to just the core conversation. The biggest problem for newcomers is to catch up on the large back catalogue of podcasts. As of October 2006 they have over 140 lessons and it’s growing each week.

The audio content is free but there is also backup material that they charge for as a subscription service.
There are two levels. Basic which gives you transcripts and notes in pdf format. Advanced that adds a learning centre where there are quizzes and vocabulary lists. Also there is a fairly neat feature which puts a line by line transcript with audio onto your iPod which makes for a very compact way of reviewing episodes
There is a fee trial subscription so you can check it out before you get out your credit card.

Finally there is a bulletin board that has a friendly core of users. As yet it’s not as busy as some boards out there but because of that, overall it seems friendlier. If you need any help about things Japanese I’m sure you could find it here.

Check it out.

The Handbook of Japanese Adjectives and Adverbs

ロバート — Thu, 31 May 2007 15:40:47 +0000

Taeko Kamiya (Kondansha International)

A sister title to Kamiya’s Handbook of Japanese Verbs. It takes a similar approach with adjectives and adverbs. Lots of examples. Very Useful.