May 24. Learning Japanese (2). What is "Advanced" Japanese Proficiency?
I'll be the first to admit that there is a huge gap between the language ability of a native Japanese speaker and the "advanced" Japanese ability I am so proud of. Because of my work, I know a lot of words that the ordinary Japanese man-in-the-street doesn't know, but at the same time, I didn't learn Japanese babytalk or all the jokes and code words that you learn as you go through elementary school, junior high school, high school ... and lacking that context, I both miss a lot and am unable to convey certain nuances, and I feel that weakness in my expressive powers quite keenly. There are good things about the limitations, though, and I'll put those in another post.
Anyway, I consider someone a beginner in Japanese if they have a vocabulary of less than a thousand words, know a hundred or so kanji, and are still wrestling with verb tenses and positive and negative forms.
Intermediate goes from Japanese Proficiency Test Level 2 to Level 1. At this point, the student knows more than 2,000 words, has no trouble with verb tenses or negative forms, and has a reading knowledge of more than 1,000 kanji. They can read the TV program listings and all their utility bills, buy things in stores, order pizza, and generally get around in Japan.
Advanced Japanese. The ultimate test is simply reading and understanding newspapers, magazines, and TV news programs meant for adult native speakers. This is SERIOUSLY hard. Think about how old you were before you could watch the news on TV in your own language, or make heads or tails of a Wall Street Journal article. I feel like I have climbed up this mountain to the point where I can see the distant peak, but as I climb I step on a patch of ice and slide back down. I fight my way through contracts and patent documents daily, but the sheer speed of TV news reporting makes it difficult.
Upper Advanced....I think being able to follow and truly appreciate Japanese comedians will probably be about as far as I can go ... Maybe I'll try memorizing some of the routines. I could probably become famous if I pulled this off. I mean, how many native Japanese speakers can do a convincing version of an old Woody Allen or Richard Pryor routine?
10:14:55 AM 
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