Doing a language in 5 months + Stress!!!

Seloth

So I took up Japanese being told it wuld be easy...now dont get me wrong it is.But I changed to a grind school for 5th and 6th year but the only way I could get to classes were going to UCC on saturday mornings.In 5th eyar I went from september to January but I was behind and the saturdya teacher did little to help as she wished for me to catch up in my own time whcih I tried so I left as I felt I would do mbetter by myself for 5th year..I didnt...went back after the sumer in Ocotber finding myself far far behind and I'm still in the situation,My teacher told me at this rate I'd even fail Ordinary level(she gave me a 5th eyar christmas test and I failed it!))

So anyway I'mm getting in another teacher to come in twice a week for"grinds" to my school as well as the saturday class...Do ye think I could atleast get a D in the subject...litrally thats all I want...In such a little amount of time.

Just to say,I'm s bad at languages I have to have an extra one to one Irish class,However I've greatly improved at Irish,I actually feel I could get a C3

But yeah,What d'ye think?I'm doing no other forgein language and this is causing me the most stress!I'm not even going for much points,Only around 350-360!So when I'm feeling more stress over someone going for Medicine or over 500+((Insomnia,Headaches,Eye twitches and now dry falkaing skin with a sudden outburst of achne)).I can handle most situations,very little cna get me stressed but this seems to be the one thing that really gets me.

sold

Seloth wrote: »

So I took up Japanese being told it wuld be easy...now dont get me wrong it is.But I changed to a grind school for 5th and 6th year but the only way I could get to classes were going to UCC on saturday mornings.In 5th eyar I went from september to January but I was behind and the saturdya teacher did little to help as she wished for me to catch up in my own time whcih I tried so I left as I felt I would do mbetter by myself for 5th year..I didnt...went back after the sumer in Ocotber finding myself far far behind and I'm still in the situation,My teacher told me at this rate I'd even fail Ordinary level(she gave me a 5th eyar christmas test and I failed it!))

So anyway I'mm getting in another teacher to come in twice a week for"grinds" to my school as well as the saturday class...Do ye think I could atleast get a D in the subject...litrally thats all I want...In such a little amount of time.

Just to say,I'm s bad at languages I have to have an extra one to one Irish class,However I've greatly improved at Irish,I actually feel I could get a C3

But yeah,What d'ye think?I'm doing no other forgein language and this is causing me the most stress!I'm not even going for much points,Only around 350-360!So when I'm feeling more stress over someone going for Medicine or over 500+((Insomnia,Headaches,Eye twitches and now dry falkaing skin with a sudden outburst of achne)).I can handle most situations,very little cna get me stressed but this seems to be the one thing that really gets me.

No offense, but I think you should start by improving your english.
dont = don't
saturdya = Saturday
eyar = year
didnt = didn't
I'mm = I'm
d'ye = do you

I know on boards.ie we all use the slang and don't pay attention to spelling(me included), but if your post has anything to go by then I would say Japanese for your leaving cert is the least of your worries.

Whoever told you that Japanese was easy does not know Japanese. My advise, ditch the Japanese if you have already failed the last test you did. Concentrate on the subjects that you really need.

It is possible to learn Japanese in 5 months, I did it, but you need to be in Japan to do it. Learning Japanese (in Ireland) along with all your other subjects for your leaving is crazy, you haven't a hope in Hell (unless you are really intelligent and from the fact you are taking grinds I presume you are no Einstein)

theowen

What course do you want to do? I'm presuming you need a foreign langauge for the course you want to do and therefore you can't really drop it? I'd say look into a different course/college and drop it asap as I'm sure the stress of it is taking away from your other subjects.

Seloth

*Sigh* No need to be a grammer Nazi,I was typing fast as I had to do something.

I do great in my other subjects,But Irish and which ever other language I do((Was spanish till 4th year)) I'm always ****e at...and I need it!

Sold I'm going to take a guess that you never did it in the LC because the way its structured its veyr easy to learn,and I myself to find it easier to elarn than Irish and Spanish,But I do still need help with it.

and By which I mean a grinds school I mean a private school which you enter for 5th and 6th year which helps students gain higher points,Many people in the school for instance are going for Medicine.The Institute in Dublin or Bruce or Hewit in Cork are examples of these.

What course do you want to do? I'm presuming you need a foreign langauge for the course you want to do and therefore you can't really drop it? I'd say look into a different course/college and drop it asap as I'm sure the stress of it is taking away from your other subjects.

It may seem Ironic so some but Government in UCC.Its really the only course I want to do,and tis only around 350 points.I think the stress is just a combination of LC stress in generall but my lowest point is when I'm in hte Saturdya Japanese class.

And While I'd love to drop it I'm not going to.

sold

Seloth, Its your life, as a secondary school teacher I know all about teenages "thinking" they can do a subject when its clear they can't. I can give advise but at the end of the day its your choice. You need to talk to your teachers and let them give you the honest truth.

Most important is be positive. If you don't get the university course you want, than opt for another, once in university you can always move to another course after a year or two (like move to Medicine from Science in UCD)

Mary007

Why don't you just forget the Japanese if it's causing you that much stress and go back to the Spanish? If you've done it up until 4th year you should be pretty okay at it, suffice to pass ordinary level. Nothing is worth that stress and everything else will suffer.

Black Magic

sold wrote: »

No offense, but I think you should start by improving your english.
dont = don't
saturdya = Saturday
eyar = year
didnt = didn't
I'mm = I'm
d'ye = do you

Get off. I don't be spell checking my own posts either. You might accidentally hit the wrong letter on the keyboard or if your brain is one step ahead of your fingers you may mix and "a" and an "e" etc.

Christ.

SligoBrewer

sold wrote: »

I can give advise .

Not on English hopefully.

WELL.

pervertedcoffee

Don't dispair - I taught myself Japanese for the leaving (no grinds/no teacher - just me, myself and I) and I did it in 3 months. To be honest I did 90% of the work the week before, though I was really good at hiragana and katakana. I got a B1 and am studying Japanese at UL now

がんばってください！

Aard

Forget about learning Kanji, but know your kana upside down! Download Anki (it's a free flashcard-program) and use it to learn at least the JLPT 4 and 3 vocabulary.* Get the basic grammatical structures down, and know them well. Do the te-form if you can. Practice speaking out loud for the oral. That should be enough to get you a D in Ordinary.


DON'T DROP SUBJECT! It's too late, and likely to confuse and upset you more. Just focus on doing 20 mins of flashcards a day - even weekends! - and then as much more time as you need to get the grammar down. If you learn a few kanji by osmosis then all the better, but you needn't worry about it. If you make a plan - you will get the mark you want. Don't worry, just knuckle down.


*Anki is available here: http://ichi2.net/anki/
You can download the JLPT decks by going into File > Download > Shared Deck and search for "JLPT ..."

karlog

Have you tried Pimsleur Japanese for the oral?

<snip>

Seloth

karlog wrote: »

Have you tried Pimsleur Japanese for the oral?

<snip>

Ya I'm going to try and set out atleast an Hour a day during the weekdays and will do a little on the weekend like the flash cards.

I do know a good bit of the alphabets but still weak at them and I have the basic grammer learned.

Thanks guys,Nearly all of you have been a really great help.Keep it coming if any of you have more info or stories from your experiances please because its a huge boost:D

eVeNtInE

This post has been deleted.

Seloth

Just an update...I've gotten a teacher to come in twice a week for an hour to give me grinds,and even though I've only had one class I've really improved


thanks for the support

Aard

Glad to hear you've stuck with it.

pervertedcoffee

Delighted to hear you didn't give up! You truly understand the Japanese mindset (lol!). If there's anything you'd like to ask me or want some motivation be sure to give me a PM - or post on the Japanese forum (Soc>Languages>Nihongo/Japanese)! At the very least let me know how your exams go - would be delighted to hear about it.

Seloth

heh thanks,even with a pass I would be happy,If I got anything more I'd be really shocked and tbh would probably end up bragging about it alot lol:D

I found myself being able to read hiriganna at a fast pase now((Cept for the other day in my first and so far only grind class where I couldnt read her handwritting,Her No looked like a Wa heh))