Tuesday 4 November 2014

1609 Kanji in under 5 months!! 5ヶ月以内漢字検定10級から3級まで!!

六月の始まりは仕事が数ヶ月で忙しくなく成りそうだったから、久々に日本語の勉強を集中して、自らの日本語能力を改良することを決意した。初心者の教科書も中級の教科書ももう済ましていたから、これから如何進めば良いか迷っていた。後程、漢字が分かれば分かる程、日本語能力が上達すると判断した。次は学び方を悩んで来た。

At the start of June it looked like business wouldn't be as busy for a while, so I decided I'd focus on studying Japanese and improving my Japanese skill, which I had been slacking on for a while. I had already finished a beginner and intermediate textbook and was a little lost what the next best step would be. Eventually I concluded that the better I understand kanji, the more my Japanese skill would improve.

漢字を勉強する覚悟したのは初めてではなかった。2013年3月、本当に日本に引っ越したいという疑問を解決する目的で3ヶ月で日本に居た時にも、一ヶ月くらい毎日の様に数時間漢字の勉強をしていた。毎日新しい漢字を10字書いて、その漢字を使う熟語も2つ記憶していた。勿論その直接後習った漢字を暫く復習した。しかし、今度温故知新でもっと効果的な学び方を立てたかった。

It wasn't the first time I decided to study kanji. I had studied kanji intensively for about a month before officially moving to Japan. I stayed in Japan for 3 months to decide whether I really wanted to move to Japan or not and studied a couple of hours a day for about a month. Every day I'd write 10 kanji and remember 2 words in which that kanji is used. Of course I also reviewed those kanji for a while after first learning them. This time however, I decided I wanted to develop a more efficient kanji learning system.

最初に「Heisig」という結構人気な漢字を学び方を使おうとしたんだけど、先ずは音読みや訓読みを述べず二千字の漢字を教える方法だから、数日間で俺に似合わないことに気付いて諦めた。そこから日本人自身はどうやって漢字を覚えるかを調べた。日本の学校では漢字がどう教わるか分からないけど、学校に通っていない日本人の漢字検定ステップの学び方を発見した。俺に超似合う凄く系統的な学び方なので、使うことにした。

I first tried the somewhat well known Heisig method, but it requires you to learn the meaning of 2000 characters before learning any of there really useful stuff like the Japanese and Chinese readings of each character and what words kanji are used in. After a few days I gave up, because it just didn't suit me at all. From there on out I tried to find out how actual Japanese people themselves study kanji. I didn't find out how they study in school, but I did discover how Japanese people outside of school study kanji. Namely with the Kanji Kentei Step Books aimed towards people taking the Kanji Kentei test. This method of studying is very systematic and therefore really suits me, so I decided to go with it.



俺の方法を詳しく説明する。各漢字を取り敢えず辞書で究めて、電子フラッシュカードに記す。その後、各音読みと各訓読み当たり少なくとも一つの熟語を選んで、それも電子フラッシュカードに記す。4と3級から難しく成ったんだけど、なるべくよく使われる一般の熟語を選ぶ。そこから、漢字を数回書いて、次の漢字に進む。或る課の漢字を全て済ましてから、ステップの問題を解いて、次の課に進む。この上、作ったフラッシュカードを1〜2ヶ月間でどんどん永く成る間隔で復習する。この5箇月間、一日当たり平均的に1〜2時間で電子フラッシュカードを150〜200枚復習していた。ある日のフラッシュカードを全て済ましてから、新しい漢字を習うことを始めた。

I'll explain my method in more detail. For every kanji I first thoroughly investigate them with a dictionary and note them down in electronic flash cards. After that I choose at least one word for each Japanese and each Chinese reading and save those to a flash card too. Whenever possible I choose common words that are often used, although this got rather hard when I got to level 4 and 3. From there on out, I write the kanji a few times. Once I finish doing this with all the kanji in a certain chapter I solve the exercises in the book and continue on with the next chapter. On top of this I review all the flash cards I create for the following 1-2 months in increasingly longer intervals. During these 5 months I studied about 150-200 flashcards on average per day for about 1-2 hours a day. After I finished those, I'd move on to learning new kanji.

現時代ではあんまり便利ではないし、かなり時間が掛かるし、漢字を書くことはそこまで全然勉強してなかった。だけど、漢字検定ステップの学び方を使えば、漢字を書かなければ行けない。とても面白そうな学び方だから、それでも漢検ステップにした。多分漢字を600字位文脈で認識することげ出来たのに、50字位しか書けなかったから、改めて10級から始めた。

In the current day in age it's not all that useful to posses the ability to write kanji and because it also takes a lot of time to learn and remember how to write all the characters I had never studied writing before. However, to study using the Kanji Kentei Step method, you have to learn how to write them as well. Because the study method intrigued me so much, I decided to go with it anyway. I could probably recognize about 600 kanji in context, but write maybe 50 at most, so I had to restart from the very beginning with Level 10(the lowest level, with 1 being the highest. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, sub-2, 2, sub-1, 1).

10、9、8級は、漢字を良く見たり読んだりするし、大体の熟語をもう知っていたし、かなり簡単であって、早く済ました。しかし、そこからどんどん難しく成った。7級には初めて見て、麦芽の様なあんまり使われていない漢字も初めて入っていた。六月が終わって七月が始まったと、もう漢字を600字以上習って、7級を始めた。

Levels 10, 9 and 8 were rather easy, because I often saw and read the vast majority of the kanji and knew the majority of compound words they are used in. As a result I went through these first three levels rather quickly. However, after the first three it gradually became more and more difficult. In level 7 there were kanji such as "麦芽" meaning "Malt" that I had never encountered before and aren't used very often. At the start of July I had already learned 600 something kanji and started level 7.

七月に2週間で凄く病気であって、後2週間で気持ちが良くなかったのに、何とか7級も6級も済ました。八月には5級を始めて、もっと難しく成った。絶えず認識出来る漢字が減っていて、初めて見た漢字が増えていた。5級の漢字の中では多分半分位見たことがあった。八月は仕事がちょっと忙しかったし、結構難しかったし、5級だけ済ますことが出来た。

During July I was extremely ill for 2 weeks and felt like shit for another 2, but despite all of this I nonetheless managed to finish level 7 and 6. In August I started level 5 which became even more difficult. The amount of kanji I recognized continuously declined and the ones I had never seen before continuously increased. I think I was able to recognize about half the kanji in level 5. Because work was a little busier in August I only managed to finish level 5.

九月は七月の様に病気に成ちゃって、今回一週間皆目勉強出来ず。それなのに、尚難しい4級を済ました。知っている漢字より知らない漢字の方がかなり入っていた。知らない漢字の中ではとても難しくて抽象的な意味の物が随分増えた。辞書で英語の翻訳を調べたと、翻訳もよく解らない場合がかなりあった。単語が旨い世界二番のスクラブルプレーヤーの友達の御蔭で何となくこれを克服した。

In September I fell ill just like July and couldn't study at all for a week. Regardless, I finished the even more difficult level 4. At this point there were far more kanji that I had never seen before than that I already knew and the kanji I didn't know also significantly increased in difficult. There were many with extremely abstract meanings that even after looking up the English translation in the dictionary I didn't understand. Fortunately enough my friend who used to be the #2 scrabble player in the world and is still one of the top players helped me out with his vast vocabulary.

十月の始まりには、10月26日に漢検3級を受けると決めた。その為に数週間以内後300字以上の漢字を習って、検定に準備する必要があったので、全身全霊で頑張って行った。3級のステップは二週間半位しか掛からなかった。知っていた3級の漢字が殊の外少なかった。多分9割以上見たことが無く、8割以上一つの熟語も知らなかった。知らない漢字も更に抽象的に成って、その前習った漢字とほとんど同じの意味を持つ漢字も多かった。如何やって三週間以内それだけ難しい漢字を300字以上記憶したのか俺にも解らない。しかし、勉強はめっちゃくちゃ大変に成って、漢字が大好きなのに、十月の始まり楽しんでなかった。

When October started, I decided I'd take the actual Kanji Kentei test level 3 on the 26th of October. For that purpose I studied like a madman and finished the level 3 kanji(over 300!!) in less than 2 and a half weeks. There were very few kanji in level 3 that I already knew. I think that over 90% I had never seen before and that for over 80% of them I had never heard any of the words they were used in. The kanji I didn't know also further increased in abstractness and there were many kanji with nearly the same meaning as other kanjis I had learned before, thus increasing confusion, which one is which. I'm not sure how I managed to complete level 3 and learn over 300 new characters in under 3 weeks, but it was extremely hard and although I love kanji, studying wasn't fun at all during this period.



受験の前にの一週間は検定に向いて過去問題をやっていた。14個の過去受験の中では二つしか全て合格したから、漢字検定の当日に結構自信を持っていた。しかし、5ヶ月間平均的に一日当たり5時間以上勉強して来たので、凄っく疲れていた。

The week before the actual exam I made past exams to prepare. Out of the 14 I made I passed all but 2, so I was pretty confident albeit EXHAUSTED going into the exam.

ギリギリ落ちた過去受験
A past exam I barely failed 

 ギリギリ合格した過去受験
A past exam I barely passed

一番旨く出来た過去受験
The best score I got on a past exam

俺を補された会場は十条駅の近くに在る帝京大学であった。受験者はかなり集まっていたんだけど、予測した通り俺しか外人は一人も居ず。大体の受験者は中学生や高校生等だった。親や先生に「受けた方が良いよ」と言われたはずだから、誰もあんまり気にしてなかったそうだったけど、俺は必ず合格したかったから、非常に緊張していた。

The exam location that had been appointed to me was Teikyou University near Juujou station. It was pretty busy and just as I expected I was the only non-Japanese person to take the test. Most of the test takers were middle school and high school students. Most of them were probably encouraged to take the test by their parents and/or teachers, so none really seemed to be too worried about the test. I however, wanted to pass extremely badly and was extremely nervous.

会場情報

受験が始まってからも、暫く緊張し続けたけど、15〜20分が経って、実に凄く簡単な受験であることに気付いた後、良い事に緩んだ。45分以内全ての問題を解決して、問題を解くより管理者の説明を理解するの方が難しかった程簡単だった!残りの15分を使って、自らの答えを見直した。残念ながら、一つの直したことは直した前に正しかった。笑

After the test started I continued to be nervous for a while, but after about 15-20 minutes had passed I realized the test was actually extremely easy and loosened up.  It was actually so easy that I finished the entire test in under 45 minutes and the explanation by the person in charge before the test began was harder! I used the remaining 15 minutes to review my own answers, but the only change I made actually ended up being me changing a correct answer into an incorrect one... oh well.

結果は40日間掛かるが、自分の答えを審査したと、多分176点で合格したと判断した。合格点は140点だから、幾つかの答えを見損なったとしても、合格したはずだ。驚くことに、最初に一番難しい四字熟語の問題は満点!  \(^o^)/

It takes about 40 days until I get the result, but when I went over my own answers, it looked like I probably passed with about 176/200 points. 140 points are necessary to pass, so it should leave enough room for mistakes I missed. Surprisingly enough, I ended up getting a perfect score on the part that was initially the hardest (4 kanji compound words)!

当受験
The actual exam

四字熟語を変幻自在の皆様に手伝って貰った
A bunch of friends helped me with my 4 Kanji Compounds

5ヶ月間勉強し過ぎちゃったから、11月はちょっと休みたいんだけど、多分いつか準2級も受ける。2級を受ける可能性もあるんだけど、まだ決めていない。準1級と1級は時間の浪費で自己拷問だから、絶対に遠慮する。笑

Because I studied WAY too much for 5 months, I want to take a little break from it in November, but I think I want to take level sub-2 as well at some point. There's a chance I'll take level 2 too eventually, but I haven't decided on that yet. I have decided however, that I will definitely not take level sub-1 and level 1, because they're nothing but a waste of time and self-torture. The kanji you learn there are practically never used (kanji for specific flowers/mushrooms, different ways to write kanjis you've already learned that went out of practice hundreds of years ago etc. etc.).

俺は大学に行ってから、「凄いなぁ」と社会に思われることをかなりやって来て、「フランク、凄いなぁ!」と友達に誉められて頂く事も結構あって、「君を凄く誇っている」ともよく親に言われてくれる。他方で俺自身は「そんなに凄くなくて、普通だよ」と思っていて、誇られてくれたことは今まで一回も無いかも知れない。しかし、5ヶ月以内漢字検定10級から3級まで登って、フラッシュカードを6000枚作って記憶して、漢字を1609字覚えることは。。。一日当たり10字以上だ。 (0_0)

Ever since I've gone to university I've engaged in quite a few things that society considers 'amazing'. Friends have also told me every now and then that this or that thing I have done is amazing and my parents tell me they're proud of me extremely often. I myself on the other hand haven't ever been proud of anything in particular that I've done and always think it's not that amazing and pretty normal. Things just don't impress me very quickly. However, going from Kanji Kentei level 10 to 3 in under 5 months, creating and remembering 6000 flash cards and learning 1609 kanji, which is over 10 a day...

ちょっと自分を誇っているかも知れないけど、もっと強く成ったり、知恵を身に付けたりすればする程、これもだんだん普通に成るのかなぁ。。。

I may be proud of myself a little bit for the first time in my life, but as I grow stronger and become wiser, I wonder if this will also gradually become normal.

2 comments:

  1. Hoe dan ook ik zal altijd over je blijven opscheppen ... heb dat vandaag trouwens nog gedaan tegen een paar collega's! :-)
    Maar ik wens je in ieder geval dat jezelf ook kunt zien hoe bijzonder jij bent. En niet alleen vanwege je prestaties maar ook door wat voor 'mens' je bent. We houden van je Frank!

    ReplyDelete