I am currently a sophomore in high school, and I plan on learning Japanese for a plethora of reasons. One of the biggest ones is to take the AP exam in May 2023 (around 1.5 years from now). I have little to no past japanese knowledge, and the only languages I speak are: English, Hindi, and Spanish.
I’ve been researching online these past few days, and know that learning Japanese is a very hefty task, and requires a huge time commitment, and it is probably impossible for me to pass the exam with a 4 or a 5.
However, before giving up, I did want to ask this community if it is possible for me to do it, and if so, how many hours am I looking at, in total? Again, the purpose of this question is just for me to pass the exam, and I will continue Japanese after the exam at my own pace. Thanks!
3 comments
What is the exam on? And I mean what JLPT level(s) will it cover if you know?
Honestly, the AP exam for Japanese isn’t too hard. I’ve been studying for a little over a year (granted due to Covid I’ve a a lot of time) and I’m pretty confident I could get a 4 on the exam from the practices and past tests that I’ve seen online.
I think it would be smart to start with the basics through textbooks (Genki 1 and 2) and listening to Japanese media and TV shows will get you to a good spot. I know there is a speaking section on the test, so you might want to get a tutor if you can afford it to practice conversation. Since you are just interested in passing the AP exam for now, I would focus on studying for what appears on the AP test like the writing a story from pictures they provide. You can find past tests on the AP website if you didn’t know.
I think with commitment you can definitely do it. I took 4 years of Chinese in high school and didn’t even try to take the AP test because I knew I would fail. The reason I knew I would fail was because I never put in any effort outside of class to try to improve my Chinese. One of the reasons that I actually switched to Japanese and saw the improvement that I did since I knew I had to spend more time immersing in the language.
One thing my Chinese teacher also told me in high school was that if you weren’t fluent or a native, you’re probably not going to get a 5. I would imagine it’s the same for Japanese, so just keep that in mind.
Sorry if this was a bit messy, I’m bad at organizing my thoughts so I kind of just wrote what came to mind, so if you have any questions of need clarification, just ask! Good Luck!
I’m from Britain, and I started a 2 year GCSE Japanese course for college. I recommend teaching yourself Hiragana, Katakana, and some simple kanji. (Prioritise hiragana). It helps a lot. Also, find a good Japanese YouTuber or Anime series, it helps a lot with listening.