Apologies on the strange japanese... (and English ;) ) Wanted: Native Speaker(s) to create topics and ’judge' original weekly compositions.
Objective: To promote higher japanese composition skills through a strong foundation in the 2Q grammar points. Duration: 3-4 Months, Weekly Format: An Essay topic or problem w/ 4 or 5 grammar forms to be used. Location: Community Message Board, separate threads for each week. Participants: Anyone
As I'm just tossing this around in my head, if you have anything you'd like to contribute to the program design, let me know...
aki et all - yea it *is* a PITA to sift through about 50+ essays. I would know as I do it for English every few weeks with my third year English students.
Which is why I'm thinking that if we make evaluation a community project there will be enough eyes to tackle the majority of the essays w/o overburdening. We would then only need someone to assign topics / grammar points .
As for the grammar points themselves. The majority of 2Q points are for more formal situations - not really spoken - although there are a few in there. I'll see about typing up a list later...
I'd like to help.
However, as you have noticed,
it could be difficult for us to explain
a subtle difference in meaning etc.
Also MY understanding on Japanese could be
different from what you should get as a
non-native speaker.
So if your purpose is to pass 2Q test,
I might not be a big help to you
but if you want to know how a native
speaker understands and uses Japanese,
I will be very happy to help.
BTW, how about your assigning the topic/grammer of
the week by yourself?
Well that's how it might end up...
(I passed 2Q and am shooting for 1Q in december. 2Q doesn't test usage / composition... only understanding. Which is why I want to do this "activity".)
but as a non-native speaker of Japaense, I can't see how certain grammar patterns might naturally fit together.
Constrast to English where I can think of a gajillion ways to naturally combine grammar points that I might teach.
That is the advantage of having a native speaker choose the topic / the grammar points...
...If ALTs can teach English in Japanese JHS/SHS... then you guys can teach Japanese. ...
*ducks*
(p.s. In all fairness, if anything, the questions that will be raised in this activity will be a nice refresher for your own Japanese, I'm sure. Foreign Language learners always bring the most interesting questions to the table...)
I passed the 2kyuu in 2004 so I can help you out where possible.
I don't believe that using just 2kyuu grammar points in a written composition is the key to passing or mastering the grammar sections in the exam.
I believe you should be reading a wide variety of texts (newspaper, novel, magazine, internet blogs, etc). This will familiarise you with not only grammar, but with new kanji, vocabulary and assist your Japanese in general. Think of it as killing several birds with one stone. A lot of people argue that they are fine in other areas and just want to practice grammar.. that's fine if you want a piece of paper which says you 'passed 2kyuu' but remember that passing the proficiency exam and communicating with Japanese people are completely different in every way.
Your idea however, is excellent just as an idea for improving your reading/writing/kanji/grammar. Don't limit yourself to 2kyuu grammar, utilise as much as you can.
I'm not trying to master working in the grammar section of the exam. I passed the exam this year (didn't I just write that above?)
I want to use what I understand. Understading does not imply that you can use Japanese. On the flipside, using Japanese does seem to require that you understand what you are using... but I could be crazy. Don't get me wrong, I think we are on the same page in that this is a complimentary activity and part of the bigger picture. But skills you can't use rust w/o constant exposure. And I've made myself cut back from the weeklies :-P So I'd rather just tuck the skills in my belt and move on.
Now, why limit things to 2Q? It seems like a nice pool (180) of grammar points. If people want to include higher or lower level grammar points... or even grammar points that aren't covered, go nuts. But 2Q being the most recent animal I've tamed it seems like a nice 30 minute a week study activity on the march to JETRO / 1Q this year.
The List! This project lives!
I think it might be better to provide examples along with each grammar point... I'm not sure. If I need to clarify things, I will.
-CR