Take the fifth step to Ace the JLPT - Stay fresh

Ace The Japanese Language Proficiency Test At Any Level - Step Five

How do you stay fresh, during study and on test day? In the fourth step in the series Ace the Japanese Language Proficiency Test we look at how important it is to maintain good health and fitness in the lead up to the JLPT.


Dutch Biker by Stuck in Customs, on Flickr

The brain is an organ that relies almost entirely on blood sugar and oxygen for normal functioning. When regulating the body's energy needs it will cover its own comparably high energy requirements with high priority. Because it doesn't store its own energy it relies on the circulatory system to get it there, on demand. If that blood sugar isn't forthcoming, it will induce physical fatigue to ensure it maintains adequate levels of oxygen and blood sugar.

The only way to ensure that the levels of both of these things don't drop during study, or worse still, during the exam, is to maintain good health and fitness.

Get some exercise.

Go on, get outside! All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Dull in the sense that the intellect is no longer a keen blade, ready to cut through 100's of kanji repetitions. Steer clear of sugary foods that are prone to inducing energy spikes and sleep inducing insulin rebounds.

Sleep is good too. Not too much not too little. If you can manage free running sleep, even better. You know the old adage, "early to bed early to rise..."? Well there is some truth to that. Sleep when you are tired and wake when you are ready; no alarm clocks, no coffee, no alcohol. How bad do you want it?

When you turn up on test day you want to be fully rested, and able to get through the marathon of testing without succumbing to fatigue. If you are confident that your performance, both physically and intellectually, is up to the task then you'll be much more capable of an Ace on test day.

I go into more detail about test taking strategies in the online video seminar 5 Steps To Ace The Japanese Language Proficiency Test At Any Level on eduFire. Subscribers to the Rainbowhill Language Lab newsletter get great study tips throughout the year. If you need some good tips on preparing for the JLPT, please read on.

• Take the first step to Ace the JLPT - Know yourself
• Take the second step to Ace the JLPT - Know the terrain
• Take the third step to Ace the JLPT - Train your weaknesses
• Take the fourth step to Ace the JLPT - Race your strengths
• Take the fifth step to Ace the JLPT - Stay fresh

5 Steps To Ace The Japanese Language Proficiency Test At Any Level is a Free Online Seminar at eduFire

Take the fourth step to Ace the JLPT - Race your strengths

Ace The Japanese Language Proficiency Test At Any Level - Step Four

Race your strengths - the fourth step in the series Ace the Japanese Language Proficiency Test goes hand in hand with the third - train your weaknesses. Today we'll learn why it is just as important to acknowledge your strengths as it is your weaknesses. I'll show you how to excel where you can and not beat yourself up over the things you can't do very well.


Zabriskie rocking by Frank Steele, on Flickr

A good time-triallist will hold back and stay relaxed during sections of the course where they know they'll lose time. When sections come that suit them best they'll be able to let loose and make ground. This helps them conserve energy and make the most of their innate abilities.

This may sound like the antithesis of everything you've learnt about sport, but like a zen koan the strength and weakness must be considered as a whole if you are to come to the right understanding.

If you have an extensive vocabulary, one that never leaves you short of a word, It's very tempting to put more energy here in training. If you love ramping up repetitions on your favourite flash card site to prove something to yourself, don't. Let it go.

Save your best for test day.

Use the things that give you confidence to get started when you don't feel like studying, but don't do any more than that. You can't get any more than 100% in the sections that you're good at. Big efforts here don't mean much, it's the law of diminishing returns at work.

Resting on your laurels will free up precious time for the things you really need to work on. I guess you never expected to hear me say "don't study" did you? It's all about being honest with yourself, and not focussing too much on the things that are easy for you.

When you have put your demons to rest, and you've left some in reserve you can then focus on staying fresh.

I go into more detail about test taking strategies in the online video seminar 5 Steps To Ace The Japanese Language Proficiency Test At Any Level on eduFire. Subscribers to the Rainbowhill Language Lab newsletter get great study tips throughout the year. If you need some good tips on preparing for the JLPT, please read on.

• Take the first step to Ace the JLPT - Know yourself
• Take the second step to Ace the JLPT - Know the terrain
• Take the third step to Ace the JLPT - Train your weaknesses
• Take the fourth step to Ace the JLPT - Race your strengths
• Take the fifth step to Ace the JLPT - Stay fresh

5 Steps To Ace The Japanese Language Proficiency Test At Any Level is a Free Online Seminar at eduFire

Take the third step to Ace the JLPT - Train your weaknesses

Ace The Japanese Language Proficiency Test At Any Level - Step Three

In this third step to Ace the Japanese Language Proficiency Test we take a good hard look in the mirror. Hopefully you've had a look at the past tests, and know which parts are difficult. If you're anything like me there are things you'll feel like tackling right away. But before you do, think about the real purpose of the practice tests. Are you using them to confirm what you already know? Do you sneakily flip from question booklet to answer sheet when you come across a difficult question? If you want to improve your performance on test day it's going to take a little more discipline. It is time to face your demons.


Catford Hill Climb by bareknuckleyellow, on Flickr

It's time to break out of your comfort zone, to extend the cycling analogy, train your weaknesses and race your strengths. When you are weak on hills, then you train on hills. When it comes to race day, if you are good in the sprint this is where you must focus your energy, having successfully made it over the hills.

Do the hard yards.

Having good diagnostic tools are essential to this approach. Practice tests are going pin-point your weaknesses if you take them seriously enough. But the that's the easy part, now you have to get on intimate terms with them.

The past tests allow you to really drill down into those areas where you lose the most marks. Use this knowledge of your weaknesses to find gains. After each practice test, review the ones you got wrong. Write them up, study them again, and think about changing gear or trying a new study technique.

Difficult things are easy to put off doing in favour of doing more enjoyable things, it's only human nature. Resist this temptation. Spend most of your time in the areas that give you the most trouble. Small gains here will open up larger gains in other areas. Call it leverage, or the 80/20 principle, whatever, but put it to work for you so you can tap into your hidden potential.

You have limited time, you don't want to spend too much of it covering stuff you know well. Find out what works for your friends when they have to breakthrough a learning plateau. But more importantly, find out what works for you in overcoming your demons.

When you know what really works for you, race your strengths.

Update: Early in December 2009 the Japan Foundation and Japan Educational Exchanges and Services (JEES) released further detail about the New Japanese Language Proficiency Test for 2010.

I go into more detail about test taking strategies in the online video seminar 5 Steps To Ace The Japanese Language Proficiency Test At Any Level on eduFire. Subscribers to the Rainbowhill Language Lab newsletter get great study tips throughout the year. If you need some good tips on preparing for the JLPT, please read on.

• Take the first step to Ace the JLPT - Know yourself
• Take the second step to Ace the JLPT - Know the terrain
• Take the third step to Ace the JLPT - Train your weaknesses
• Take the fourth step to Ace the JLPT - Race your strengths
• Take the fifth step to Ace the JLPT - Stay fresh

5 Steps To Ace The Japanese Language Proficiency Test At Any Level is a Free Online Seminar at eduFire

Take the second step to Ace the JLPT - Know the terrain

Ace The Japanese Language Proficiency Test At Any Level - Step Two

In this second post of the speed blogging series Ace The Japanese Language Proficiency Test At Any Level, humour me as I extend the cycling metaphor a little further. On any day on tour, you study the map, you assess the prevailing conditions and prepare accordingly. You want to use up every last ounce of energy before you hit the line at the end of day, while still making sure that you've set aside enough for the nasty category 3 climb just before the end. Today we'll study the terrain and discuss what to expect on test day.


Cycle tour of French Alps - Mountain Road Descent by velodenz, on Flickr

There should be no surprises to you as far as the format and the content of the test is concerned when you finally get to the testing centre. You should already know the test is broken into three sections: Writing-Vocabulary; Listening; Reading-Grammar. With points allocated to them respectively: 100; 100; 200, for a total of 400 points.

Did you know however that there are 4 different types of questions in the Writing-Vocabulary section? Or that the two different styles of question in the Listening section are answered differently on the answer sheet? Don't let this be a surprise to you.

Study the test, not just the Japanese.

The New JLPT Official Guidebook with Executive Summary and Sample Tests for N1/N2/N3 and N4/N5 have answer sheets, use them. Get to know the terrain intimately, and under test conditions. Use a stopwatch and time yourself when doing past tests. There is a rhythm you need to get into, especially in the third part of the test where there is barely enough time to finish let alone review. Understand how you strike this rhythm.

You'll be able to anticipate questions on the final exam, if you've done similar questions in practice week in, week out. If these five steps to ace the JLPT are your elaborate and systematic plan of action, then how you answer each question is just a well practised manoeuvre you put in place during the test. Anticipation is key, if you don't want to be drawing blanks on test Sunday.

Do a practice test, find out where you lack, because in the next post we focus on your weak points.

Update: Early in December 2009 the Japan Foundation and Japan Educational Exchanges and Services (JEES) released further detail about the New Japanese Language Proficiency Test for 2010.

I go into more detail about test taking strategies in the online video seminar 5 Steps To Ace The Japanese Language Proficiency Test At Any Level on eduFire. Subscribers to the Rainbowhill Language Lab newsletter get great study tips throughout the year. If you need some good tips on preparing for the JLPT, please read on.

• Take the first step to Ace the JLPT - Know yourself
• Take the second step to Ace the JLPT - Know the terrain
• Take the third step to Ace the JLPT - Train your weaknesses
• Take the fourth step to Ace the JLPT - Race your strengths
• Take the fifth step to Ace the JLPT - Stay fresh

5 Steps To Ace The Japanese Language Proficiency Test At Any Level is a Free Online Seminar at eduFire

Take the first step to Ace the JLPT - Know yourself

Ace The Japanese Language Proficiency Test At Any Level - Step One

There are plenty of good resources to help you study for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test but none more important than doing past tests. I want to share with you what has worked for me in a speed blogging series to help you Ace The Japanese Language Proficiency Test At Any Level. The first step is to know yourself, but before we get started I'm going to share with you a story from my cycling days at University.


Philadelphia Bike Race - flying off Lemon Hill by joiseyshowaa, on Flickr

I was part of the University of Queensland Cycling Club and was pretty competitive at state and national level. Every weekend I used to get together with the guys for "simulated race training", which meant belting around the lower part of the campus near the river, past the duck pond, over a small hill, and then sweeping back down a steep curve on to a long flat alongside the river. We had to share space with cars, joggers pedestrians and sometimes ducks, but I diverge. We weren't allowed to have "actual race training" let alone "actual racing" because that would involve a whole lot of red tape and officiation that we weren't particularly fond of. But I knew then, that racing was the best training for racing.

I learnt that just as specificity is central to training in athletes, it is also essential when preparing for a test. You may have a favourite language learning website, flash language learning game or spaced repetition system, but without doing tests in the lead up to the Japanese Language Proficiency Test you'll really have no idea of what you are capable of.

Do past tests.

So where do you find past tests? White Rabbit Press have a wide selection of past JLPT tests, from 3 year sets of the 2004-2006 Japanese Language Proficiency Tests, Level 4, Level 3, Level 2 and Level 1. To the 2009 Japanese Language Proficiency Test Level 1 and 2. All of them come with a complete answer booklet, CD's and script. I have six volumes of these neatly bound publications which are also filled with useful statistics about the JLPT.

The JLPT has changed for 2010, even so, past tests provide the best method of gauging your ability. If you are not sure if you should be taking the new N3 level test, which falls somewhere between the old Level 3 and Level 2, new sample tests have just been published. The New JLPT Official Guidebook with Executive Summary and Sample Tests for N1/N2/N3 and N4/N5 include a CD and script for the listening section, plus answers.

The official guidebooks are written entirely in Japanese so the folks at White Rabbit Press have gone the extra step in printing out the English version of the executive summary for anyone that purchases through them.

• New JLPT Guidebook - Executive Summary & Sample Test for N1, N2, and N3 (w/CD)
• New JLPT Guidebook - Executive Summary & Sample Test for N4 and N5 (w/CD)

The sample tests are the same as the ones that are available on the official JLPT site, but the audio on the CDs can't be found anywhere else.

Go get them! In the next post we look at the test content in greater detail.

Update: Early in December 2009 the Japan Foundation and Japan Educational Exchanges and Services (JEES) released further detail about the New Japanese Language Proficiency Test for 2010.

I go into more detail about test taking strategies in the online video seminar 5 Steps To Ace The Japanese Language Proficiency Test At Any Level on eduFire. Subscribers to the Rainbowhill Language Lab newsletter get great study tips throughout the year. If you need some good tips on preparing for the JLPT, please read on.

• Take the first step to Ace the JLPT - Know yourself
• Take the second step to Ace the JLPT - Know the terrain
• Take the third step to Ace the JLPT - Train your weaknesses
• Take the fourth step to Ace the JLPT - Race your strengths
• Take the fifth step to Ace the JLPT - Stay fresh

5 Steps To Ace The Japanese Language Proficiency Test At Any Level is a Free Online Seminar at eduFire

SuperPass Winner: One Month of Unlimited Lessons on eduFire!

Congratulations go out to @aggettzz, who was elated when he found out he was the winner of the "Tweet your way to a month of SuperPass on eduFire" competition.



Thanks to @eduFire for the great platform and Koichi (@tofugu) for hyping it on his site tofugu.com. Head on over there now to see other ways you can win a month of SuperPass.

You can find out more about SuperPass here, but put simply - learn anything you want from the comfort of your own home, from expert teachers, at a time that is convenient for you.

Tweet your way to a month of SuperPass on eduFire

A Smorgasbord for your brain with SuperPass

When I first blogged about SuperPass in June this year, I just knew it was going to be a good thing. Now there are hundreds of classes, thousands of teachers and ten of thousands of people using this unlimited learning engine. It has really taken off.

I think I've written enough on this blog about how good I think eduFire is, for so many different reasons. Why don't you see for yourself? You really can't go wrong with a weeks trial of SuperPass for just $1.

I've been able to give away free sessions on eduFire before, but this is the first time I've been able to give away a whole month of SuperPass for my readers here and my followers on twitter.

Before I let you know how you can enter I should really tell you little more about SuperPass.



With a SuperPass subscription you can get access to unlimited live online teachers, at times that are convenient for you. It's like a smorgasbord for your brain. In class you can interact with your classmates and teachers through chat, voice and video. There are powerpoint presentations, whiteboards, note-sharing polling and lots more to keep things interesting. You don't really even have to have a webcam or microphone, a lot of people just turn up to class to watch.

If you sign up now for Superpass you get unlimited lessons on eduFire for the one low price of $29 per month. That’s not just for my classes but for all classes on eduFire, you can learn whatever you want! That's just $1 a day! You can even take a $1 trial for your first 7 days, which you can cancel any time so there’s no risk.

Is there anything that you've really wanted to learn but never been able to find a class in your area? Maybe the times haven't suited you? Here is you chance now to win a month long subscription to SuperPass on eduFire, simply by telling me and your friends what you'd like to learn.

To win a month subscription to SuperPass on eduFire this is all you have to do.

1. Browse some SuperPass classes, in any subject, or any language, whatever you'd like to learn.
2. Find one that you'd really like to do. It shouldn't be too hard, there are heaps to choose from.
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I want to learn about Maslow's Self-Actualizer on edufire #rllsp you can win a pass too... http://bit.ly/sLTUh

or

1. If you have a blog, but aren't on Twitter you can write about the contest following the guidelines above.
2. Make sure you leave a trackback to this post.

Terms and conditions.

1. The contest will run from Tuesday September the 8th, 8.00 am Pacific Standard Time until 8.00 am PST on Tuesday September the 15th.
2. Contestants must be over the age of 18. If you are under 18 (and over the age of 13) you must have the legal consent of your parent or guardian to participate in this competition.
3. Only one (1) prize of a month's subscription to SuperPass will be awarded.
4. One entry per day per person for the term of the contest.
5. The contest winner will be drawn randomly via random.org
6. If the winner is on Twitter they will be notified by direct message on Wednesday September the 16th. Be sure to follow @rainbowhill so you can claim your prize.
7. If the winner results from a blog post then that person will be contacted via that blog's published contact details.
8. Either way, if no reply is received within 2 hours of notification a new winner will be chosen

eduFire is an open platform for teaching and learning. SuperPass is a way to get access to the best teachers and classes at the one low monthly price.