Hi cabbage , I have struggled with the oral component for VCE Japanese but want you to know to keep up with study and practice for this topic! I had recently looked at previous ATAR notes discussion on preparing for the Japanese oral and written examination and there are some general study tips for both and each separately.
For the oral examination it is definitely a good idea to practice and prepare by:
Be able to ask for clarification (rather than silence or with a wrong answer) For example:
"can you please repeat what you said?," "ah, I understand," _"sorry, what do you mean by...?"
The goal is to have a conversation in Japanese, not answer in a robotic and monotone way just because you have memorised parts of your script. We aren't perfect and may not have understood the first time the examiner asked and remember, you are speaking to another person and not a robot!
You can practice being confident and keeping positive even when mistakes happen. This can be with a teacher if they have time, another students who is in your class or can speak Japanese, making sure you stay with a positive tone. Some people like to say 'fake it till you make it!' Examiners may remember if you kept positive or became negative throughout your oral examination.
Knowing some 'repair' strategies which may involve sentences or plans when something might go wrong or you are stuck as you don't understand something the examiner has said or you haven't planned for. You can do this in several ways such as pretending to be an examiner for a friend asking specific questions which may give ideas for yourself to also prepare responses for. Also, by creating generic sentences with different grammar patterns, this may be helpful for you to use in certain circumstances except the topic may be different.
Another very important thing highlighted by a lot of language teachers I know is to lead the conversation and be able to direct your Japanese conversation with your examiner. For example, they may ask you what your hobbies are (which is a broad question) which gives an opportunity to either talk about maybe a sport, an activity you do or maybe a musical instrument you may play. You can also "deflect" questions. By this I do not mean to bluntly disregard what the examiner asks but instead for example, an examiner may ask "do you plan to do..." and all you know what to say is 'no'. You can always add a "but", in some cases where you may say "I am not sure, but I know that I am planning to..."
Lastly, (if you have kept reading) you should generally try to practice your oral transcript aloud and as much as you can either by yourself and with others. Even recording yourself creates a similar environment to the exam conditions. Coming up to the exam, try make some sort of routine or preparation which can help you get into the flow of things and the mindset. You may be pumped with adrenaline and your brain might be going 120 miles an hour trying to think of what you last said when someone asked you in Japanese "how was school this year", but some things you can do such as taking deep breathes, thinking that you will do well and you feel proud of yourself (regardless of how well or how much you studied) and that you can do this!
I hope all goes well and know it's not as scary as you might think it to be! The examiners are there and want you to pass your exam, not ask you the most difficult questions any student has come across. Also, the feeling after leaving the examination room after it finishes will be great! Best of luck!
