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| Jessi: Hello, and welcome to Japanesepod101.com's New JLPT N4 Prep Course. I'm Jessi and I'm joined here by |
| Naomi: こんにちは。なおみです。新 日本語能力試験 四級のレッスンへようこそ。 |
| Jessi: This course is designed for those who are preparing for the New Japanese Language Proficiency Test Level N4 test. This course contains 12 lessons. |
| Some of you may have noticed the title we used...「新日本語能力試験 四級」'The New JLPT Level N4'. |
| Naomi: そうです。2010からJLPT が新しくなりました。In 2010, the JLPT switched over to a new format. |
| Jessi: Right. The JLPT used to have four levels (Level 1, 2, 3 and 4), but in 2010 a new level between Levels 2 and 3 was created, increasing the number of levels to 5. Under this new system, all of the levels will be offered twice a year in July and December. You can find more information about the new system and how to apply for the test, at www.jlpt.jp |
| Jessi: OK. Naomi-sensei, can you please tell us about the JLPT Level N4? |
| Naomi: Sure. 新しい四級は古い3級と同じレベルです。 |
| Jessi: The level of N4 is bout the same as the old Level 3. |
| Naomi: 漢字は300、単語は1500くらい知らなければいけません。 |
| Jessi: For Level N4, you're supposed to know about 300 kanji and 1500 vocabulary words. |
| Naomi: 新しい四級は125分のテストです。 |
| Jessi: The N4 test is 125 minutes altogether. |
| Naomi: 3つのセクションがあります。 |
| Jessi: It contains of 3 different sections, which are? |
| Naomi: 文字と語彙 |
| Jessi: Kanji and Vocabulary. This is 30-minutes. |
| Naomi: 文法と読解 |
| Jessi: Grammar and Reading Comprehension and this is 60 minutes. |
| Naomi: そして、聴解. |
| Jessi: Listening Comprehension, and this is 35 minutes. |
| In this prep course for Level N4, we will go over Kanji and Vocabulary in Lessons 1-3, Grammar and Reading Comprehension in Lessons 4-8, and Listening Comprehension in Lessons 9-12. |
| ***Kanji ＆ Vocab section*** |
| Jessi: In the Kanji and Vocabulary section, you are tested on how many words you know, as well as how well you know certain words. There are 5 types of questions. |
| Naomi: In this lesson, we'll cover もんだい１ と もんだい2 or "Questions 1 and 2" of the kanji and vocabulary section. |
| Jessi: In もんだい１ You have to select the correct reading of the kanji, and in もんだい2 it's the opposite. You need to select the correct kanji that corresponds to the hiragana. |
| ***もんだい１＆２*** |
| Jessi: Naomi-sensei, can you read the instructions for もんだい１？ |
| Naomi: 下線の ことばは どう よみますか。 １・２・３・４から いちばん いい ものを ひとつ えらんでください。 |
| Jessi: How do you read the underlined kanji? Choose the best answer from 1 to 4. |
| Naomi: 下線 is underline so...下線の言葉 means "underlined word". |
| Jessi: OK. How about the instructions for もんだい２？ |
| Naomi: 下線の ことばは どう かきますか。 １・２・３・４から いちばんいい ものを ひとつ えらんでください。 |
| Jessi: How do you write the underlined hiragana in kanji? Choose the best answer from 1 to 4. |
| In the lesson notes for this lesson, there is a list of 30 Basic Verbs that often show up in the kanji section. |
| Naomi: I recommend that you check the conjugation of those verbs. |
| Jessi: Good point! Because on the test, the verb may show up in different forms such as negative, past, te-form, etc. |
| Naomi: そうですね。We also have a list of adjectives. |
| Jessi: Naomi-sensei, can you introduce the top five adjectives that show up on the kanji section? Listeners, grab a pen and paper. Naomi's going to say 5 adjectives, so please check to see if you know their kanji! |
| Naomi: 楽しい（fun） 黒い(black)広い(spacious)親切(kind)有名(famous) |
| Jessi: Are you familiar with all 5 words? Make sure to check the kanji to see if you recognize them. |
| Naomi: You can find the kanji for them in the Lesson Notes. |
| Jessi: And also, make sure you study not only the dictionary forms, but also the other forms, like negative, past, negative past, etcl. |
| Naomi: Here's my advice. When you learn a new adjective, please also look up the adjective which has the opposite meaning if possible. For example, 大きい(big) and 小さい(small). 明るい（bright)and 暗い(dark). 重い（heavy)and 軽い（light), like that. |
| Jessi: Good advice. Here are some more words you should know. For the Kanji and Vocabulary section, we recommend that you review how to read the kanji for the four seasons. |
| Naomi: そうですね。Right. 春 (spring) 夏 (summer) 秋 (fall) 冬 (winter). |
| Jessi: Also, the words for body parts. |
| Naomi: 体 (body) 頭 (head) 顔 (face) 首 (neck) and so on. |
| Jessi: Also, words related to nature. |
| Naomi: Such as 海 (ocean) 森 (forest) 林 (grove) 池 (pond) 光 (light) 風 (wind). |
| Jessi: And also, words often used at school. |
| Naomi: For example 教室 (classroom) 質問 (question) 説明 (explanation) 問題 (problem) 漢字 (kanji, or Chinese characters) 英語 (English) etc. etc. etc. |
| Jessi: Those kanji are important not only for preparing for the test, but also for being able to read and understand signs on the street. |
| Naomi: そうですね。Right. Knowing those kanji definitely helps if you live in Japan or visit Japan. |
| Jessi: Kanji really add a lot of color to Japanese words. When you learn how they are written and why, it's really very interesting. It might seem hard at first, but the more kanji you learn, it will all start to fall in place. I promise. |
| Naomi: じゃ、ジェシーさん, I'd like to introduce 2 words with start with the same kanji. |
| Jessi: What are they? |
| Naomi: 以上 and 以下. |
| Jessi: 以上(ijo) is "more than" and 以下 (ika) is "less or equal". |
| Naomi: The kanji, 以 as in 以上 and 以下, indicates the baseline. |
| Jessi: I see. The second kanji for 以上 means "up" or "above" so it literally means "above the baseline". So it means "more than" or "higher than". |
| Naomi: Here's a sample sentence. 30度以上になる. |
| Jessi: "To become more than 30 degrees". |
| Jessi: For the word 以下, the second kanji means "down" "bottom" or "below". So the literal meaning of 以下 is "below the baseline", or in more natural English, "less than" or "lower than". |
| Naomi: 0度以下になる。 |
| Jessi: "To become lower than 0 degrees".There are other words starts with the kanji 以, "baseline", such as 以外(igai) or 以前 (izen). |
| Naomi: そうですね。 |
| Jessi: So please check the lesson notes for the explanation and sample sentences. |
| Naomi: はい。 |
| ***Closing*** |
| Jessi: Well that's all for this lesson. 問題１ and 問題２ will test your kanji knowledge so please be sure to check the lesson notes and memorize the kanji that frequently appear on the test. My advice for learning kanji is writing them out a lot, and doing a lot of reading! Read anything you can get your hands on. And of course, make sure to go over the kanji lists for the tests!! |
| Naomi: じゃ、また。 |
| Jessi: See you in the next lesson. |
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