Leaving Certificate Japanese

Klara - Higher Level

Japanese, my last exams and possibly one of the better ones!The minute the exam started I went straight to the last section to see what essay titles came up. I was most worried about the essays as you never know what could come up. However, over the two years of the course the amount of vocabulary you build up really helps to deal with any essay title that comes up - even if you've never written about it before.  The short essay was a choice between writing a diary entry on a hiking trip or on a film festival. For both you had to talk about how the event went and what you did straight afterwards.  The long essay was the first email you would send to a Japanese pen pal in which you would describe your family, Irish weather, food, your area, your daily routine in school and what they they should bring with them if they came to Ireland.The reading comprehension were easy overall, however, it took me a long time to work out some of the katakana readings. I had to read them over and over in my head to try and understand the meaning.The grammar questions were actually pretty good too; changing into the positive and particles came up. The kanji that came up were also pretty easy and there was no obscure kanji compound.The listening was also quite easy but I found parts of the last section challenging to understand.Overall, this was a great exam and I can safely say that my Leaving cert has ended on a high note! 

Please note: blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union. Blogs are updated daily by 6.30 pm on scheduled examination dates.Zeminar is an event for Generation Z, particularly those aged between 15 and 19, and their parents, teachers, mentors and coaches. It will take place from 11th - 13th of October 2016. For more information see www.zeminar.ie