Placement Test

This morning was our three-hour placement test at ICU, to assess our Japanese level so we can be placed in the appropriate classes.

It was quite a tough test. There were three sections - a general grammar comprehension, a reading and writing section, and a listening. All of them were multiple-choice answers, which I was pleased about.

I found the listening the most difficult by far, as listening and speaking are my weakest points. It didn't help that I was a bit tired (still from jetlag I think) and my head was throbbing. It was such a relief when I could close my eyes in between sections.

I couldn't quite finish the first section, which was 64 questions, but I did finish the second, which was 90. I had time to check through the second one, and realised I'd made lots of stupid mistakes, like just marking the wrong box.

All the way through, I was thinking, I must get into Level 3! Level 3 is what students who did the Beginners' course at Leeds should go into. Intermediate students, like me, should go into 4, but I want to do a bit of recapping.

There are eight levels in total, Regular Japanese 1-6, 6 being the highest, and then Advanced Japanese 1 and 2. You can take Intensive courses, incorporating 1-2, 3-4, or 5-6 into one term, rather than doing one level per term. Last year you could do any Intensive course in any term, but this year it's changed so you can only take Intensive 1-2 in the Autumn term, 3-4 in Winter, and 5-6 in Spring. So I might not be able to take advantage of ICU's intensive course like I wanted after all!

We get the results tomorrow so I'll see what level they think I'm best suited for then!