Let’s learn Japanese – 日本語を勉強しましょう

あたし の 第八百八十八ポスト は 日本 に あげています.

I give my 888^th post to Japan

This month’s Hello Japan! Mini Challenge , hosted by Nat of In Spring It Is The Dawn, is about learning something about Japan.

The original idea for this mini-challenge was to encourage you to learn some Japanese, a few words, or greetings, in either the spoken or written language.

By participating in this challenge, I have donated 500 yen to either the Japanese Red Cross or JEARS (Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support)

First, I want to share you about why I want to learn Japanese. Second, I want to share my journey to achieve certificate from Japanese Proficiency Test (日本語能力試験). Third, I will share my favorite Kanji.

Reason for Learning Japanese

I should make a confession here, I like Japanese more than English. I learned English because I HAVE TO, it’s the language everyone has to master if they want to survive in good working environment. I learned Japanese or Nihongo (日本語) because I WANT TO.

I first knew Japanese when I was still in elementary. My dad borrowed a couple of video cassettes of Candy-candy and Gaban. But my adoration on Japanese came after I discovered Dorama, Japanese TV Series.

When I graduated from high school, there were only 2 major I wanted to study…Chemistry or Japanese. I got accepted in Academy of Analytical Chemistry without having done any entrance test, my chemistry score from high school was big enough to pass through. At that time, I was preparing for my entrance exam to enter Japanese Literature. Knowing I got accepted in analytical chemistry made me realized that I could never learn chemistry by myself but I can still manage to learn Japanese by myself. Finally, I studied analytical Chemistry and postponed my Japanese.

After I graduated from college, I joined a simple Japanese course for 2 months. I wanted to know how to write Hiragana – ひらがな, Katakana – かたかな and basic Kanji – 漢字. I also wanted to know how to write simple sentences. After that, all I need to do is taught myself…just like what I did with English. But, learning autodidact   Japanese was much more difficult than English.

いまから、あたし の 先生たち は 本-先生 と ドラマ-先生 とアニメ- 先生 と 映画-先生 です (So far, my Japanese sensei are Hon-sensei, Dorama-Sensei, Anime-sensei, Ongaku-sensei and Eiga-sensei.)

Translation: 本 – hon: book; ドラマ – Dorama : Drama Series; 映画 – Eiga: Movie.

Struggling through Japanese Proficiency Test (日本語能力試験)

I honestly do not have any use for Japanese Proficiency Test , but…just like TOEFL, I want to know my own ability.

I have done 4 Japanese Proficiency Tests.

In 2004, there were 4 levels, level 4 was the easiest one and level 1wasthe hardest. I took level 3 and passed without difficulty…but my score wasn’t good. I took level 3 again in 2006, I passed with a much better score. In 2008,I dared myself to do level 2…but I failed 😦

In 2010, the test became 5 levels, level 5 being the easiest. I took N3 (the level of difficulty is in between previous level 2 and level 3)…and the result was: NOT PASSED

でも ね。。。いつまでも あきらめない です！！！！  一生懸命 頑張ります. (But…I will never give up, I will do my best.)

Here are the books I am using to prepare myself for this year’s test…wish me luck, minna-san 🙂

My Favorite Kanji

If you paid closer attention to several of  my posts, I often used this nickname: 虹子, it reads NIJIKO,which means The Child of Rainbow. I love L’Arc~en Ciel’s song  called 虹 (Niji – rainbow) so much and ended up using that nick name for years,tillI decided to use my real name, NovRoz (stand for Novia Rozet)

Written in this order:

My other favorite is, of course, 亀,it reads Kame,which means  Turtle. The same word I am using for my baby turtle, KameChan.

Written in this order:

Looking forward to read other participant’s post for this month’s challenge 🙂