A quick wrap up from the weekend: Saturday I stayed inside and studied all day while Kuniko did housework. She did loads of laundry, did some shopping, brought home goodies for lunch, and really got a lot done. We had a dinner of gyoza from Osho, nikuman, and some leftover kimchee. It was a great dinner – I’m in love with the gyoza from Osho.
Sunday I got up early to go out in the pouring rain and take the big Japanese test in Kobe. In Akashi I met up with Anthony, who is Kuniko’s former co-worker Risa’s husband. He was taking the second level test for the third time. I was also taking the second level test, for the first time. The exam is made up of four levels, the first level being the most difficult, and the fourth level being the easiest. Last year I passed the third level and this year I had studied towards passing the second level.
It turns out it is a huge jump from the third level to the second. As it was I barely passed the third level, so it was a bit ambitious to go for the second so quickly, especially considering Anthony who has lived in Japan for many years has had trouble passing it. The problem is the test is held only once a year, so I had no choice but to try.
My goal all along was to pass the test next year. At this level my listening is not very good, and my reading is way too slow. Although I did well on the practice exams, the actual test was a different story. I built some confidence by really doing well on the first section, but the next two sections were really tough. The last section I had only two minutes left and 10-15 answers still unanswered. I had to fill in guesses on all of them and then go back and try to knock them out. I was really disappointed in that – that cost me a lot of points.
So it looks like I won’t pass this year, but I expected that. It gives me a lot of information on what I need to focus on, though. My listening and speaking skills are probably the worst, but vocabulary and kanji are my strong points. I’ll focus from here on speaking and building my reading speed. The results won’t be ready until sometime at the end of February, so I’ll just forget about them and move on.
When I got home from the test Kuniko was ready. She cooked an incredible dinner Рa pork saut̩ with vegetables and miso soup. She had the kotatsu all warmed up for me, made me some yuzu tea, and had bought a movie for us to watch. It was a great way to come home from a rainy day at the exam.
