A “passed” week

This week proofed to be very successful for me. First I got my results from the JLPT level 3 back (which were first send to my old adress): 301 points out of 400 isn’t bad and the Kanji/vocab plus the grammar section lifted me above the required points for passing. I have to work on the listening comprehension though, it was the part I practised less.

I was also quite lucky to get another shot at the Unit Test, the most important (and longest) test at Naganuma. This time it consisted of reading, essay, communication, grammar and listening sections. You need to pass every section with at least 60 percent to pass the whole test. I passed both the essay and the communication, but was slightly below passing grade on the other ones. Usually you’ll get a shot at a retest if you are slightly below the grade at one test.

After some talk with the teacher, a compromise was found. I’d write the reading test again and only if I’d pass this test, they’d let me do grammar and listening again the next day (Thursday).

Never in my school career – not at Naganuma, not in Germany – had I experienced such a tense moment. Because of the tight schedule, the teacher immediately corrected the test after I finished it. I could see every time he would put a circle or a cross on the paper. 71 percent. I expressed my gratitude to the teacher for taking his time and ran back home.

On Thursday, I redid the other two tests starting with the listening one.

I almost doubled my score on that one (85 percent) and then it was just me, forty Kanji and a lot of grammar. Unlike the previous semester, when Kanji were my weak spot, they are now one of my strengths. Hours of training with my iPod touch at Starbucks paid off 😉