my logic is
350-JLPT 4
320-JLPT 3
300-JLPT 2
280-JLPT 1
It's very likely that as you study more, you tend to score lesser for your JLPT... This is usually the trend... I dunno for her though.
enderさんは１級に合格しましたか。
up to individual.
nope, i only passed JLPT 2 (see
here). strictly speaking, i still need to revise the JLPT 4, JLPT 3 and JLPT 2 notes but since i'm taking a break this year, i don't want to touch it...yet. lol.
currently, i am using my regular bangumi and some dramas to retain some of my japanese skills but i could feel that drop in standard already. studying it and using it remembers the language better than using listening and understanding it.
TestTube said:
i think, as long as you don't make too many wild guesses and know what you're putting down as the answer, that's considered a good pass?
anyway, i feel it matters less, ultimately conversational and writing are the most important skills..
fail jlpt1 and have awesome conversational skills much better then score full marks in JLPT1 and still can't speak properly.
a good pass is like getting good grades. that's the difference between a borderline pass and one with distinction. of course, if you are required to do translation and stuff, you are required to have good grades. so that's where a good pass will come in. (its something for you to show to your employers). of course if you are doing this for interest, then it doesn't really matter unless you are obessed with getting super good grades.
you are quite right on the conversational part, but good grammar is needed. it is true that in most causal conversations you can omit all the grammar parts and as long as the listener can understand you, it is good enough.
however, in business aspect, you need the keigo to help you. that is where your masu-form and and your keio comes in (at different levels), and where your grammar is really needed, because to them, if you can speak, you can communicate in written form too.
i have heard my jcs teacher (one who teaches part-time) say that there are a few singaporeans who scored well for their jlpt 1 but can't speak when being interviewed. so that doesn't work too.
it is best that you get your grammar (and vocab) skills first before improving the conversation part. conversation improvement comes with watching and listening more. let me tell you an example: just the other day, my friends and I were at gyuu-kaku dinning and she showed me the purchases she made in Japan. i was pretty amazed and went "マジっすか~~!!! やばいな～これ！". coincidentally, a japanese waitress walked up to informed us that one of the desserts we ordered was sold out. but because of the japanese i used, she thought our group were a bunch of japanese and she started using japanese to converse with us. we spoke some causal japanese to her back but when we told her we aren't japanese, she is even more shocked than us.
most japanese say i sound like a native, but that is because the first few phrases of the conversation i used (like the ones above) comes with years of listening and being able to speak with the same pronounciation. but that's for the first minutes of the magical effect.
however, once the conversation drags on, they will know very well that i'm not native, which i have to buck up on as i tend to get stuck on the grammar parts and self-correct myself a few times during the conversation. not very smooth but it still gets the points across with me getting irritated with myself and the listeners struggling to get the meanings right.
