Ramen Fanatic - Latest Comments

Re: TextFugu: What’re you really getting?

Randy — Mon, 30 Sep 2013 20:32:25 -0000

Ha, I think if I wanted a refund I'd ask them for 100% back since I'd feel bad about getting 110%

I haven't used this resource myself. However, I did look at the content list, and it looked a little slim for $120.

Re: Why You Shouldn’t Prepare for the JLPT

Brian — Thu, 04 Jul 2013 05:37:56 -0000

What a sour, sour person. You sound like someone that wants to soften one's own personal failures by demeaning the progress of others. The people you are looking down on will excel over you.

Re: Phase 1: Immersion and Heisig

Sakura No Rounin — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 14:46:56 -0000

Wow... That's just... Nonsensically rude.

Re: Why You Shouldn’t Prepare for the JLPT

Sakura No Rounin — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 13:54:57 -0000

While your point is superb, the phrasing in spots (especially the title) is likely to be the cause of a fair bit of the agitation in the comments.

However, I can't see why anyone would give a crap about the people complaining, as they either didn't read what you wrote or don't understand it.

>The point s/he was making is that the JLPT is meant to assess your level of Japanese. If you're trying to learn Japanese because you want to know the language (ie, if you're a Japanophile/Wapanese/Weebo/whatever-the-hell-else-we're-called-these-days or otherwise interested in the language) then you shouldn't think of the test as all your knowledge goal. The test estimates the knowledge you have in its own way. Yes, it's rather a good indicator of many parts of your knowledge; no, that does not mean that passing N1 will mean that you're a perfect Nihongo speaker.

TL;DR: if you're really into learning ANYTHING because you genuinely like it and want to advance, to grow, to learn more- don't study for a test. If you pass the test, then good. If you don't, then don't take it as a crushing defeat; don't think it means you suck or should quit or something. Don't simply study the test questions. The questions are meant to assess parts of the test that have been determined to be important for one reason or another, but they don't assess your overall knowledge of Nihongo. Assessing anyone's knowledge of any subject that is not VERY simple is next to impossible. It's still a good idea, however, to get to know the gist of things you'll be dealing with if you're going to go up against that beast.

>Also, as an avid Linguiphile, I should affirm what was said about studying: yes,I know it's has been repeated by your teachers for years that cramming won't get you to pass, and you crammed, and you passed. However, I guarantee that you will not understand something as well in the long term if you cram the night before the test as opposed to someone of the same intellect as you who took a few minutes a day to study. Or can you truly list the Presidents, in the right order, from memory?
>>Sidenote: while your teachers were and are correct, the evidence has only been around for a few years, as Neuroscience is a very new (and particularly novel) thing. Check PubMed (something of an archive of peer-reviewed, syndicated research articles, run by the National Institute of Health) if you want verification or further reading.

>For anyone particularly interested in language(s) in general, and how they interact with and effect thoughts and behaviour, I suggest looking into Neurolinguistics (the science of the stuff I said in this sentence). (Just trying to share my enthusiasm.) Some of my favorite tidbits:
>>There's a tribe of Native Australians that whose greeting (everything from 'Hi/Kon' to 'How are you/Ogenki desu ka.') means literally 'What direction are you going?' The language co-developed with the tirbe's survival needs, which necessitate geographic knowledge. These people almost never get lost, even going vast distances with in unfimiliar routes, and they always know which direction they are facing (N, SE, WNW, etc.). Our chronological order for things is L>R U>D. Researchers couldn't understand these people's order until they took into account the direction they were facign at the time: their chronological ordering for things, is EAST to WEST. Isn't that great?! :D
>>Russian-speakers are quicker to identify various shades of blues than, say, English or Spanish speakers- but, is only true when they take a WRITTEN test! ^_^ There's something about the written word and the related Neuropathways in the brain that make them quicker! This is even better demonstrated by bilingual Russians: they consistently identify blues better when taking a written Russian test as opposed to a written english/spanish/other test. And why Russian, you might ask? Russian has more words for different types of blues!

Re: Why You Shouldn’t Prepare for the JLPT

jack — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 22:46:08 -0000

You say that you are "intermediate" so that would put you well below my level. Having said that, I would never dream of calling you "incompetent" because that would be holding you up to my standards when you have standards of your own.

Are you competent enough to edit and translate product brochures between Japanese and English to tight deadlines? Are you competent enough to discuss production line schedules with Japanese co-workers and resolve production issues?

While I assume the answers to those two questions were both "No", it's actually irrelevant. I'm only doing this to show you how you've been talking about people around the N5/N4 level.

They are "competent" in the sense that they can hold very basic conversations in Japanese - something expected at the beginner level.

You're "competent" in the sense that you can partially follow a Japanese drama without subtitles (correct me if I'm wrong there) - something which may be expected at around the intermediate level.

I'm "competent" in the sense that I am comfortable with the majority of the things associated with being at the advanced/upper-advanced level.

Being "competent" simply means having the sufficient or suitable skills/knowledge for some purpose/task. So, as you can clearly see, "competence" depends heavily on the context.

I agree with you on the point that the N5/N4 level tests are not great value for money, but to label people at that level as "extremely incompetent" is certainly the wrong way to go about getting people to agree with your view on a topic.

Re: Why You Shouldn’t Prepare for the JLPT

Andy — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 20:07:29 -0000

The practice tests have like 20 questions. I do, do them but it simply isn't enough. It's like a quiz, the easier levels of JPLT. I mean seriously, it's good to know your weakpoints and study up on it. I mean you may not focus on passing it but its good to access yourself to see if you truly understand what you have learned in a test. It's kinda like those shitty projects you do at school to practice or something. Not useful but still helps a bit. However, I believe just practicing in real life situations such as watching dramas, reading books talking to people etc help more

Re: Why You Shouldn’t Prepare for the JLPT

seriously? — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 04:49:46 -0000

What utter nonsense. Firstly, successful people are self-motivated and able to stay on task without the prod of an external motivator like a test. As to your argument about the JLPT being necessary for somebody to mark their progress, if they are taking the N5 then they have a fair idea of what their competence is...virtually nil. How did they go about determining which level to take unless they already had pretty solid indicators of their general level of competence? Why are they paying to have their incompetence confirmed to them? If a person wishes to mark their progress in a language, they can certainly do so without paying a company a hefty fee. In fact, JLPT practice tests are available for free on the JLPT website so there is no need to pay if an independent verification is all that is wanted. Frankly, though, I find it hard to believe someone doesn't have a pretty good idea of their language competence. There has been no point in my Japanese language studies that I didn't know exactly how far along I was. When I could understand nothing being said on a Japanese drama--total incompetence. Now I can understand about half--intermediate. When I can read most of an adult fiction novel, that is clearly low advanced. Etcetera. Those are just examples. Obviously there are numerous other indicators such as knowledge of grammar. How much of my grammar books do I understand? What level are these books? If beginner books are remedial for me then it is rather obvious I am no longer a beginner. How many kanji do I know? Why in the world would I need to pay a testing company to tell me the obvious? I am just stunned by the complete lack of common sense involved with somebody needing a test to tell them how good they are. Do you really need Simon Cowell to know if you are a horrible singer or a talented singer? Are people really too stupid or delusional to be able to figure this out on there own? Incredible.

Re: TextFugu: What’re you really getting?

Jjynxx — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 01:52:43 -0000

Thanks for this review, I am trying out TextFugu now, and so far have really liked what I have been reading and learning. I was wondering how good the rest would be after the free sample was done and was planning on paying for a month before I got the lifetime membership to see if it is worth the money. Thanks to what you have written here I feel confident that just going ahead with the lifetime membership will be the best way to proceed. Thanks :)

Re: The Path to Kanji Motivation

Daphne Vogel — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 14:45:01 -0000

Thank you for this article. I was getting down about my progress, which I perceive as slow. But I'd rather really know and retain readings/meanings than speed through and forget 75% of it by the end of next year. Your input and encouragement helps! Also, you've inspired me to make my own Excel chart, which allowed me to flag the kanji that I'm not 100% sure of.

Re: TextFugu: What’re you really getting?

guardianofvictory — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:03:10 -0000

This article was very helpful. Thank you. I think Koichi does an awsome job with textfugu, his youtube channel and tofugu.com.

Re: Why You Shouldn’t Prepare for the JLPT

:) — Thu, 10 May 2012 11:26:36 -0000

Putting N1 or even N2 on your resume is a huge plus. The same applies for schools even at a lower exam level.

Re: Why You Shouldn’t Prepare for the JLPT

bernician — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 04:20:44 -0000

Most jobs in Japan require JLPT1.
Most daily life, even at work in Japan, only requires somewhere between level 3 and 2.
Cramming like hell to pass the test does the trick there, you don't need to remember the level 1 stuff long term, you just need the bit of paper to get the job.

Re: ONE OK ROCK

Lourens — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 14:35:48 -0000

I never heard of this band untill now thanks a lot! :)

Re: Tutors: Awesomeness Wrapped in Bacon

College Tutoring — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 05:05:45 -0000

Nice post...................................

Re: Why You Shouldn’t Prepare for the JLPT

Skeptical but Not Cynical — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 01:28:48 -0000

I think you're looking at this the wrong way. For example, when you start off a big project, what's one of the first things most (successful) people do? They set up goals and respective deadlines. Would you tackle that long and difficult task by saying, "I will complete this project by the end of the year by working hard" or would you instead take an approach more akin to "In order to finish this project I must first finish tasks X, Y and Z?" It's the same here. These people have an ultimate goal of becoming fluent in Japanese. Consequently, they break up that ultimate goal into subsidiary prerequisites, and seek to fulfill them sequentially. While it is not necessary to pass the N5 to be proficient in Japanese, anybody who is proficient in Japanese would very easily pass the N5. Does passing the N5 have any significance in itself? No. Taking the N5 and claiming success over it would be like saying a rough draft is an accomplishment. And in some cases, it is. On the other hand, even if we drop this whole concept of ultimate goals, there is yet purpose in taking the N5. It is an exam, and what exams do is assess one's progress. If these people assessed themselves or asked friends for their assessments, it would be riddled with bias. An examination administered by an unknown proctor and graded and returned anonymously does not suffer this flaw and offers a less biased, if not more accurate, assessment of one's skill. After all, is it not logical to make sure one's foundation is sound before choosing to build upon it? Though, I do suppose confidence is a virtue...

Re: Japanese 101: Numbers

white master — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 13:41:11 -0000

Seriously... ?!

Now you are reviewing an application that you can't even honestly attest to?

You don't own an iPhone, so you can't really assess the quality or usefulness of this software, right?

Honestly... just... really?!... ugh... ::facepalm::

Re: Why You Shouldn’t Prepare for the JLPT

white master — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 13:31:19 -0000

No offence, but somebody with an essentially non-existent level of Japanese (such as yourself) really shouldn't be telling others what to do.

Your advice is completely based upon conjecture and speculation. If your suggestions possess any sibilance of correctness, it is merely luck.

Just because you purchase a bunch of Japanese stuff and register a domain name doesn't make you a credible authority on a topic. Stop giving advice to people.

You are simply under qualified. Perhaps you should stop talking about learning Japanese and just learn Japanese.

Re: Phase 1: Immersion and Heisig

white master — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 13:04:47 -0000

hmmm... shouldn't you be in Phase 3 by now?

How is all of this going? Are you so busy learning Japanese that you don't update your blog, or did you just end up buying a bunch of Japanese shit to convince yourself that that was the same thing as studying?

Re: Why You Shouldn’t Prepare for the JLPT

Ahelee_94 — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 09:47:54 -0000

thanks.
Now i know where i went wrong.
Actually I've known it all along, but ..-.-'

yeah.

Re: Why You Shouldn’t Prepare for the JLPT

Tom — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 15:26:51 -0000

Experts in the theory of language assessment would say that JLPT has poor construct validity - in other words the test doesn't actually test the specific abilities that it claims to measure. It claims to test people's ability to communicate in Japanese, but in fact it is a test of knowledge of grammar, vocabulary and Kanji.

Having said that, it IS very possible (in my experience, easiest) to broaden vocabulary and grammar knowledge by communicating in Japanese, and reading lots of interesting texts is probably the most efficient way to learn more Kanji. So I plan to do as much communicating as possible, with perhaps the odd practice test here and there, and see how I get on with JLPT N3 at the end of this year. The exam helps to motivate me.

Re: Why You Shouldn’t Prepare for the JLPT

seriously — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 10:52:01 -0000

Oh, you can't win your argument fair and square so you have to try to make some false character assassination about whether I am happy or not. You would have no idea whether I am or am not as you know not a thing about me. I hate fake people. "Have a nice day." What a fake you are. I tell the truth. I frankly don't give a damn about what sort of day you have. So I do know one thing about you. You are a passive aggressive fake.

As to the matter at hand ignoring red herrings, it is moronic to pay money and take time out of your day (including travel and a hotel room for many people) in order to take a test that only proves one's incompetence in a subject. If these people are going to be competent at Japanese later then it would be much more practical and make more sense to wait until LATER to take a test that does show some competence rather than actually spending money to take one that only shows their extreme level of incompetence. And it is pretty pathetic that someone would find "SUCCESS" in such a test that covers only the most remedial knowledge of a subject. And exactly why is it that they need to take these remedial tests before they "work hard" and achieve any measure of actual proficiency? Why do they have to dangle this sad little test in front of their own noses like a carrot in front of a horse in order to have the motivation to study? Do they lack will power, too? I think I have to add weak to foolish in my assessment.

Re: Why You Shouldn’t Prepare for the JLPT

FlushingAccountant — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 12:23:00 -0000

I am not insulted personally (since I have already taken and passed my lower-level JLPT exam.) I am just surprised that you would be scornful of people who are proud of their own success. Of course, passing a low-level JLPT exam is not a success for you. But it is a SUCCESS FOR THEM. And maybe now they will work hard and be able to learn enough Japanese to take a higher-level exam (if they so choose.) Not to mention the fact that they are simply weak at Japanese RIGHT NOW. That doesn't mean that they won't get better in time. If people weren't able to learn over time, there would be no point in school since you either know everything right at the start or you are horrible, correct?

The fact that you are calling other people morons and fools for taking a test (as if they were committing a crime or something)... I'm sorry that you're not happy, in general. Please try to have a good day. That's all.

Re: Why You Shouldn’t Prepare for the JLPT

seriously? — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 10:18:07 -0000

Whether a test is remedial or not has nothing to do with the passing rate. The people who choose to take the N4 and N5 are generally those with extremely low Japanese proficiency. So what their passing rate is is irrelevant. If a bunch of people who are horrible at something have trouble doing well at that thing, that is no indication that the thing is difficult. It is foolish of these people to waste their time and money on taking a remedial test. And it is laughable that after they take it, if they pass, they pat themselves on their own backs for success. What success? Success in passing something remedial? These levels of the jlpt are nothing but a scam. Many websites are parasitically feeding off of and encouraging this scam because they make money through commissions when new learners buy jlpt study materials through links on their sites. This is why so many sites encourage the taking of the lower levels of the jlpt. It is about time someone told the truth about it. These low levels of the jlpt are a complete waste of time. They gain the taker nothing that the person couldn't better have without taking it and they only prove incompetence in the language. If you find the truth insulting, well, maybe you need to absorb what that means and learn something from it.

Re: Why You Shouldn’t Prepare for the JLPT

FlushingAccountant — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 23:43:26 -0000

Why would you need to insult people who want to take the N4 or N5? It is great that you are so proficient in Japanese but let people learn at their own pace :) The lower levels are only remedial to people who know a lot of Japanese. There are many people who do not consider N4/N5 remedial since the passing rate is around 50% in the United States. Putting down other people won't make you feel any better about yourself.

Re: Why You Shouldn’t Prepare for the JLPT

FlushingAccountant — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 23:40:59 -0000

See below.