Are you a Beginner or Intermediate on JPOD?

[Liz21]

I can't figure out how to make a real poll with a lot of questions! Hmmmmm....

[Belton]

It's a hard question in some ways.

I think my grammar level is further along than the jPod beginner maybe some of my vocabulary. But my listening level seems to be around the current beginner lessons. So I find those lessons quite comfortable.

I haven't really tried out the Intermediate lessons and it takes most of my time and energy available for jPod to keep up with the Beginner strand.
I think the Intermediate might stretch me more if I tried them.

I am enjoying the Audio Blogs. (and I think it's great that so many people comment in 日本語)

So... Beginner plus Intermediate minus maybe.

[Liz21]

Belton-san,
Thanks for your reply. I can almost understand some of the later beginner lessons, but I usually have to look at the transcript and repeat it a lot before I really understand it. The earlier Beginner lessons are almost all understandable to me.

I listen to the Intermediate Lessons, even though they are too hard, because I don't want to miss a thing!! And I enjoy the stories they use, etc.!!

Still looking for Nihongo satori. Are you the one that mentioned that? (Waking up one day and suddenly being able to understand Japanese without translating in your head!!)

As to this thread and poll, it's possible our comments may help guide JPDO in their planning? Oh, well, they're doing a great job as it is!

[Belton]

Nihongo Satori
Maybe we need a zen monk to whack us with a big stick to make it happen!

With practice, patience and perseverance we'll get there in the end.

(I was helping out a Japanese group at the weekend. It was embarrassing how little I could speak. But (and in a large part thanks to jPod) I found I could understand a fair amount of what was being said. ...even more embarrassing when my teacher was part of the group! )

I think the jPod crew would find any focused feedback like this useful. As long as the sample is big enough I suppose; so anybody just reading why not cast a vote as well?

[JockZon]

I don't really know what intermediate means How do I know if I am on that level?

[Alan]

I'm been studying for a year and am definitely a beginner & am likely to be so for at least another year, probably two. I'm classsifying beginner as up to passing JLPT 3, intermediate as up to passing JLPT 2 and Advanced as post JLPT 2, although possibly Advanced should be post JLPT 1.

So far, I know all the grammar for JLPT 4 and most of what's required for JLPT 3 (although I haven't rigourously checked that). My listening ability is also better than JLPT 4, regarding speed, but my vocabulary is only about JLPT 4 level. I've only really been looking at the Kanji for the last 3 to 4 months & as a result, my Kanji skills are below JLPT 4. My speaking is very poor as I get very little practice.

It looks likely that I'll be taking GCSE Japanese classes this year, which requires 200 kanji (and they are not an exact match to Grade 1/2 or JLPT) and a vocab of around 1100 words, including writing them in Kanji, so learning Kanji is a priority for this year. I was going to take the GCSE class next year, but the lower level class I wanted to do this year isn't running. 作り、作り、作り、。。。

While not a priority in terms of examinations, my poor speaking ability needs addressing. I have transcribed and translated quite a few songs for grammar and vocabulary practice and am now attempting to sing them to improve my articulation (the iLove video started off that idea, so it's all jpod's fault ). I'm not sure that this will translate into fluency, but it is at least helping with pronunciation of endings such as -kunakatta. And no, there isn't going to be a greatest hits video.

[Belton]

On the topic of what is beginner or intermediate.

This is an interesting set of benchmarks.
http://members.aol.com/sokogakuen/actfl.html

and so are these
http://casls.uoregon.edu/benchmarks.php

and this
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ILR_scale

[Bueller_007]

On the topic of what is beginner or intermediate.

This is an interesting set of benchmarks.
http://members.aol.com/sokogakuen/actfl.html

and so are these
http://casls.uoregon.edu/benchmarks.php

and this
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ILR_scale

I'd say the standards are a bit low for the first one... If that were true, I would have been "advanced" a long time ago. I still consider myself borderline intermediate-advanced.

[Liz21]

Belton-san,
These benchmarks are very interesting! Thanks so much. It helps me to understand where I am now and where I want to go!! Since I have been studying for only a year, I need to get some kind of perspective. Thanks!

[Belton]

Here's another one I remembered this morning but could only now find the URL
Griffith University - listening
This is a listening self assessment using recordings of increasing difficulty. There's also a link to using their scale for reading and writing tasks.
--edit--
here's a reading self assessment (their site doesn't have the best structure or indexing)
Griffith University - reading
--edit--

Essentially all the scales or benchmarks are going to be subjective and tailored to how the institution works and what classes and levels they offer.
(That'd be an interesting quiz for jPod to offer. Based on score or at what point you start getting questions wrong it could indicate what lesson you might consider starting at. )

And yeah I thought I was doing quite well on Soko Gakuen's scale. It seems based on ACTFL scale, an original of which I couldn't find. However as it has Superior above Advanced and maybe implies Native level above Superior, it might not fit with everyones notion of Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced.

At best you can say you place at a particular point on a particular scale.

[tiroth2]

The ACTFL is a very scientific standard that, I think, has been well thought-out. Note that "Superior" is roughly 3 of 5 on the full ILR scale. The more up-to-date scoring guidelines make this more clear.

http://www.actfl.org/files/public/Guidelinesspeak.pdf
http://www.actfl.org/files/public/writingguidelines.pdf

[Liz21]

Belton-san,
Those listening assessments and written assessments are great!! Thanks so much!!

[minodragon]

I would say a begginer ... I just started a week ago

[Liz21]

Minodragon-san,
Welcome and good luck! Please ask for help if you need it. You can use the Forums for questions or you can post a comment on the lessons.

Why are you interested in studying Japanese?

[minodragon]

Minodragon-san,
Welcome and good luck! Please ask for help if you need it. You can use the Forums for questions or you can post a comment on the lessons.

Why are you interested in studying Japanese?

Dömo arigatö!

I am intrested becaus i already watched Anime and lissens radio. But i would love to understand wat they are saying. :-þ I like the langwith so.... I do not realy do it for work or some thing. Some people find me crazy. Yeah I just am. :-þ