Discussion board for VCE Japanese!!!

MyDay Hi! As someone who did 1/2, hopefully I'll be able to offer some helpful advice

I agree with Lemondade_222 about reading the study design and learning the Kanji required. Though it is tedious, I would recommend learning how to at least recognise and read all 200 Kanji on the study design, this could be practiced by writing them out repeatedly, etc. Learning all the kanji early on is probably one of the easiest parts and it will leave you more time to study other things during the year such as grammar.
I am unsure as to what you mean by enhancing writing, but nonetheless, I would recommend learning how to write different forms in Japanese: e.g. letters, news reports, emails, diary entries, etc. Most forms will have slightly different intricacies to them, such as formality, language used, etc. All that is really needed for genko youshi is to briefly touch up on the writing rules for it. Such as leaving an empty square to the left of your first character in a new paragraph, things like that.
Good luck with units 1/2! Feel free to ask more questions if you need any clarity about my response and such

Hello!

First of all, I would like to wish everyone well and I hope that everyone on here is having a nice year so far.

By the way, I’m thinking about studying Japanese SL 1/2 next year, however it would be useful for me to know how much work I should be doing, esp. when balancing Japanese with other content-heavy subjects (e.g., Methods, Chem, Bio) when my school doesn’t have a Japanese program or teachers at all. I’ve recently had a big move as well, so I’ve also been getting used to a new education system and environment for the past year.

I’m of non-Japanese background, but taking a look at the past exams I understand the listening sections and the reading passages quite well. I can also read and write all the kanji characters in the Study Design. Of course, VCE isn’t just based on those things, but would 1/2 be a good place to start on?

Thank you so much for reading up to this point, and I look forward to everyone’s replies.

possible_to_return_passport Hey there!

possible_to_return_passport I’m thinking about studying Japanese SL 1/2 next year, however it would be useful for me to know how much work I should be doing, esp. when balancing Japanese with other content-heavy subjects (e.g., Methods, Chem, Bio) when my school doesn’t have a Japanese program or teachers at all.

I don’t think there’s any right or wrong answer as everyone will find it of varying difficulty. However, personally in year 11 (10 years ago now), I took Japanese SL U1/2 along with Eng Lang, Methods, Chem, Economics (all U1/2s) and Psych U3/4 (I also took General Maths U1/2 and Chinese SL U1/2 in year 10). I found it challenging to find enough time for Japanese SL and it suffered a bit. In Year 12, Japanese SL and Chem were my two most time-consuming subjects (by then, I’d dropped Economics in favour of Further and ditched CSL), but they also ended up my worst two subjects according to my raw scores in my ATAR, despite all my efforts. (No regrets though!) So balancing was hard for me, but everyone will find it of different difficulty and thus will find the workload bigger or smaller as a result.

As to how to balance it with other content-heavy subjects, this depends on your study method and again, this is personal. I never dedicated specific time but did whatever homework and revision was due soonest. When I did have time, I’d dedicate it to my subjects in my weakest areas e.g. Japanese listening tasks were weak so in year 12, I’d spend my first few spare periods doing listening tasks to improve.

possible_to_return_passport VCE isn’t just based on those things, but would 1/2 be a good place to start on?

Yes. Japanese, at least in my experience, builds up from the foundations, despite the topics being different. If you’re confident already with it, your main issue will be refining your answers to VCAA standards.

AngelWings

Thank you so much for your advice!

Hello!,
I'm in year 11, and currently doing Japanese SL 1&2, however, I'm struggling with the listening part and I've tried everything to practice and build skills for the listening but I still find it hard. I do well on the practice listening online, but I lose track when doing an outcome or in an exam. I have my exams soon and I'm scared I'm going to do really bad on it because of the listening. How else could I practice better for the listening?
Thanks

@Lemonade_222 hiii, I saw that you got an incredible score for Japanese Second Language back in 2022. I’m currently taking the 1/2 and will be moving onto the 3/4 next year, I have no Japanese background and picked up the language three years ago. I studied abroad in Japan for a summer holiday and managed to pick up on listening quite well but still am not amazing at VCE style oral. I’ve tried writing as much as I can but I find it super hard to determine whether how I’m writing is enough to achieve a really high score in year 12, as I feel my standards at the school are quite low and the assessor will award really high marks to those who write exceptionally. I really want to achieve a raw 40+ as it’s probably going to save my ATAR . In terms of writing, do you think you could give me an idea of what the top achievers wrote like to gain such high marks? Also, do you have any other tips or suggestions especially since I am not a native speaker? Thank you

Lemonade_222

hi! just wondering what the oral is like cause mine is in less than 2 weeks. I had a practice oral and found it difficult to include the content I prepared because the assessors may not ask for it

Lemonade_222 Thank you so much for your reply! Your feedback is really assuring and I’ll try my best once again thank you!!

Hello,

I'm starting Unit 3/4 Jap SL next year. I've written a sample essay. It would be really helpful if anyone could provide some feedback (what I did right / what I did wrong / how I can improve / how many marks I would get). Thx in advance :3

Here is my essay:

During the summer holidays, you had a meal with your family at a Japanese restaurant in Melbourne and took the photograph below (a Jap lunch set). Japanese food is known as healthy diet. Write an informative essay that describes Japanese food and explains the benefits of eating a healthy Japanese diet. Your Japanese teacher will read the essay.

　　　日本食
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 　 　名前
　夏休みに家族と一緒に「日本の森」というメルボルンにある有名な日本食レストランで食事をしました。ご飯や魚や野菜などを食べて、すごく美味しいと思いました。

　日本食は健康的で体にいい食事として知られていますが、なぜでしょうか。日本に住んでいる友人によると、主な理由は日本食には体に悪い材料の代わりに、野菜や魚や米などのヘルシーで新鮮な材料が使われることだそうです。例えば、レストランで食べた料理には栄養の高い材料がたくさん含まれました。

　更に、リサーチによると、日本食はとうにょう病や心ぞう病などの病気を防ぐことができると言われています。リサーチは「毎日日本食を食べる人の９０％の方が日本食を食べない人より健康がいい」と言いました。私も日本食を食べれば食べるほど、健康がよくなると思います。

　全体的に、日本食はおいしいだけでなく、体にいいです。

T33M0M41N It would be a better essay if you explained what 一汁三菜 is.

sopiadavo I don't think I would として, I would use だと。

https://jlptsensei.com/learn-japanese-grammar/%E3%81%A8%E3%81%97%E3%81%A6-toshite-meaning/

the link above explains the として grammar point.