I’m going to be at Sophia for a year and will take their Japanese placement test this fall before classes start and I am curious what it’s like. I’m mainly wondering what the test format is like and what kind of studying might be suggested before taking it?
Sorry if this isn’t the best place for this post, it doesn’t look like there’s a sub for sophia students
3 comments
They’ll just be evaluating your level of Japanese ability so that they can place you in an appropriate level class. Don’t stress out too much about it.
I’ve taken it and there will be multiple choice, writing single kanji, writing short answers, and at least one question where you need to write several sentences. You’ll also be placed at least a half-step down from your results because decades of experience has taught them that’s what works best for exchange students.
Also, at least in my experience of seeing a half dozen exchange student groups come and go, if you are from an American university you’ll be required to whine that your placement is too low and you’ve been studying for three years but the reality is most programs are barely teaching a single Sophia semester worth of Japanese over two years.
If you are going to take the intensive course they’ll tell you that you need to study at least 2 hours a day outside of class. This won’t be enough and the only way I survived was by making flash cards out of everything. You’ll also be hand writing a ton so work on that.
While it has been many years since I went to school there I just checked and the system, books, etc haven’t changed one bit. In the end the people who improved the most did so by spending their free-time studying and socializing with native speakers. (The department heads are the same people as when I went.)
This will give you a good overview of how things are setup.
[http://www.sophia-cler.jp/study/ja/pdf/20210302_02.pdf](http://www.sophia-cler.jp/study/ja/pdf/20210302_02.pdf)
I whole-heartedly agree with the advice both u/BraethanMusic and u/AiLover2322 gave. There’s way more to learning the language than the particular course you get placed in.
I took it years ago, as I remember it was separated into three sections: beginner, intermediate advanced. The point of the test was just for you to get as far as you can. Mostly multiple choice from what I remember.
For what it’s worth, I got through the beginner section and then realized that was everything I had ever learned in my home university’s Japanese program.