A random thought pops into your head, ‘If animals could talk, would they have accents based on where they’re from?’ Then all of a sudden you hear that all too familiar BEEP and you realise you have missed that last passage from your final listening exam…
Fear not, as this will not be you if you follow these simple tips and tricks for your listening exam!
Quick Facts: The listening exam
| Japanese B SL | Japanese B HL | |
|---|---|---|
| Duration | 45 mins (inclu. reading time) | 1 hour including reading time |
| Total marks | 25 | 25 |
| Texts | 問題A, B and C | 問題A, B and C |
Key to success
1. Pace yourself
It’s important – as with any exam – to understand how much time you have.
The full exam for SL is 45 minutes and 1 hour HL inclusive of reading time. Below is an IDEAL breakdown of your time. A similar structure may be useful for HL students.
| AMOUNT OF TIME | ACTIVITY |
|---|---|
| Initial reading time | Read through ALL your questions and translate |
| Reading time for text A | Reread text A questions again + continue translation |
| 1st listen + answering time (A) | 80% of notes + answer + identify areas which need further information |
| 2nd listen + answering time (A) | Consolidate notes + answer remaining questions + edit answers |
| Reading time for text B | Reread text B questions again + continue translation |
| 1st listen + answering time (B) | 80% of notes + answer + identify areas which need further information |
| 2nd listen + answering time (B) | Consolidate notes + answer remaining questions + edit answers |
| Reading time for text C | Reread text C questions again + continue translation |
| 1st listen + answering time (C) | 80% of notes + answer + identify areas which need further information |
| 2nd listen + answering time (C) | Consolidate notes + answer remaining questions + edit answers |
If you’ve seen or read any of the other blog posts for specific exam prep you would know that this is quite a large table compared to other exams.
The main thing to note is that, once a section is finished and the audio moves on to the next text, it is highly unlikely that you will be able to confidently edit/change your previous answers. As such it is vital that you answer all questions to each section in the allocated time.
2. Using ultimate lazer-focus and good note-taking
Obviously, no one wants to miss any information in their listening exam. That said, sometimes it does happen. For Japanese B, you will hear the audio twice (ab initio students will hear it three times, lucky them).
To optimise retention of information, ensure you are ‘actively-listening‘. In conversation, ‘active listening’ means engaging with the speaker either through body language or asking questions. In your listening exam, this takes the form of note-taking.
Although it is not necessary (nor to some extent ‘possible’) to take note of every single word in the audio, at a language B level, I would recommend aiming to get at least 80% of the content down in the first pass. However, if you know what you are looking for (through lots of prior practice and reading the questions beforehand) it is highly likely that you won’t even need to write down 80% of the audio.
After the first hearing of the audio, you will be given the opportunity to fill in your answers. It is vital that you work through this quickly and where possible use the exact vocab given to you. Additionally, during this time, make note of particular questions or segments you didn’t understand or missed.
3. Optimising answers
In both reading and listening exams, note that the mark schemes are not very lenient towards summaries or interpretations of the texts.
Not using the exact vocab from the text or audio (even if your answer is technically correct) may risk your marks. So, please ensure you write at least the hiragana or what you hear even if you may not know the kanji or meaning of the word.
4. Improving your listening skills
There is no one way to improve your listening skills, but as with any other language exam, improving your overall fluency and aptitude is GUARANTEED to boost your marks.
If you struggle with listening in particular, I would recommend you practice discerning phonetics. Play any audio from a native speaker (i.e. news, YouTube video, movie or anime) and practice writing exactly what they are saying. This method allows you to test whether you can hear different pronunciations and dialects of words. Though your exam will be read in ‘Standard Dialect’ (標準語), being able to understand any kind of Japanese is vital for fluency.
Also, practice speed-notetaking. Even in your dominant language, it can be difficult to transcribe audio played at a high speed, so understanding what needs to be WRITTEN versus what needs to be UNDERSTOOD is something that comes with time and practice. Improving your handwriting will also help in the long-run.
Final word of advice
DO NOT PANIC! As with any exam, but ESPECIALLY in a listening exam, panicking is the absolute, most terrible, horrible thing you can do. If you read the questions or listen to the first pass of audio and freak out, you are very likely to freeze and not answer anything at all.
Instead, focus on transcribing as much as you can and thinking critically about what is being said. Oftentimes, you can piece together what they are saying once you have more time to look at the words slowly.
Also, be careful of NEGATION. Negation can be either in the question or the audio, so take note of when it occurs and what it applies to.
Finally, always make note of questions or sections you are unsure about. The second pass is all about focusing on these questions to maximise your marks.
If you read to the end, thank you so much for reading the final part of our three-part exam-specific blog post series! If you have any questions or require further support or personal tutoring, please contact tabun.founder@gmail.com.
Best of luck!
頑張ってください～!!