[shinn]

Hi there!

I am planning to take SAT II Japanese this November, so I was wondering if there is anyone who has taken it before?
How was it? Was it hard? What kind of format was it?

I used to live and went to elementary school in Japan for 2 years, and I have been watching J-drams for quite a long time (over 7 years.)
I can listen, read and understand Japanese pretty well (I think o.o?), but my grammar probably sucks since I am used to slangs and stuff..
Do you guys think I would do well on it? or should I opt for SAT II Chinese instead since I am a native speaker?

Any help would be wonderful!

Thanks a lot in advance

[koneee]

ahaha I've taken this one like what.. 3 years ago? Long time ago. There's a listening section and there's a reading section, make sure you buy a casette player or something, if they still do that.
All I have to say is.. STUDY YOUR KANJI! there is a ridiculous amount of kanji that it almost looks chinese to me.
good luck though, it wasn't too bad.

[shinn]

^
so there isn't a filling the blank portion? YAY!
I think I am pretty updated w/ my Kanji but yes, I'll study a lot for that!
thanks for the tips <3
so the test wasn't so bad? whew xD

[Tamago86]

When I took the Japanese SATII years ago I got a 790 I think, and as I understand it the average score for Chinese on SAT IIs is around the same - almost 800, same with Korean, probably because most of the people who take those are native speakers, but the mean score for the Japanese SAT II is much lower probably because of all the foreigners learning Japanese who take it. So on one hand since the SAT IIs are graded on a scale you might be ok with Japanese as long as you score high (700+) because of all the lower scores, but on the other hand the Japanese test is a little bit more difficult than most people think especially those who've taken high school Japanese (since most high school courses are more focused on introducing culture than teaching language), I don't know about you though, exactly how well do you speak listen read and write Japanese then?? 'Pretty well' is subjective, it can mean anything. Can you hold a conversation, listen to the news, read everyday things? etc.
Anyways take Chinese if you're reading in it is native as well, if you can't read Chinese then take Japanese.

[akira53]

All I have to say is.. STUDY YOUR KANJI! there is a ridiculous amount of kanji that it almost looks chinese to me.
good luck though, it wasn't too bad.

agreed! The beginning portion of the test was alright but the last few pages were pretty crazy. The listening portion was very easy IMO so you shouldn't need to worry.
If you say your grammar is weak, grammar is a big part of the test too so definitely study that.

[shinn]

exactly how well do you speak listen read and write Japanese then?? 'Pretty well' is subjective, it can mean anything. Can you hold a conversation, listen to the news, read everyday things? etc.
Anyways take Chinese if you're reading in it is native as well, if you can't read Chinese then take Japanese.

thanks so much for the head notice!
well.. I can hold a conversation with a Japapnese.. it might take me awhile to think of the word I want to say tho LOL.
but besides that, that I can listen and read everyday things and understand them 98% at the time o.o?!

the thing is, I have taken something Chinese classes (the highest it offers) in the university in my town, so I don't think there is a need for me to take the SAT II.. that's what my counselor said anyways.

akira53
thanks so much for the tip! I get I better get cracking them xD

[misz.perfect.]

Just wondering, are there any prep books for the SAT II Japanese?

Thanks!

[akenon]

Just wondering, are there any prep books for the SAT II Japanese?

Thanks!

I'm pretty sure I saw one at Borders the other day. Just search on Amazon~