First day at Hosei University

Well, the placement test has come and gone. It... was alright. It could have been a lot worse, but I also think I could have done better.

As expected, it was multiple choice, with a few things that I haven't seen before in regards to kanji, and there was a lot of emphasis on getting particles correct in the grammar sections. I think there are four groups for Japanese language at Hosei, and I know for sure that I'm not in the top one, that'd be silly if I even considered that, but I'd like to think I'm not going to be ranked in the lowest group. I've heard time and time again that at Hosei and for the year abroad in general, you learn more outside of class than you do in it, but in a sense it's more just to justify the effort and time I've put in. Not that I think I'm entitled to it, that just wouldn't be proper, but I'd like to hope.

I've also identified an issue I seem to have with the language. So far, I've not had a great problem with listening, and I can generally understand what is being said, but I don't seem to do a great job when it comes to speaking. I want to think it's a confidence thing, as I generally know what to say, I just can't seem to actually say it when I need to. That's something that I definitely need to work on, so I suppose I just really have to get out there and put myself in situations where I have to talk.

I've also met a few of the other transfer students now, including all the ones from England. Quite pleased to find that two of them are from Newcastle University, so there's something in common already. The range of students here is quite wide though, with one person who, from what he said in his self introduction, can't understand Japanese, along with someone who is on a second attempt at a year abroad what with it being cut short by the earthquake last year. It's reassuring in a sense, I really can't compare myself to that many other people here.

Tomorrow, there's an interview to deal with. I'm not sure what is expected of me, and it's likely that it's another part of the grading process, but I'm understandably more nervous about that then the placement test itself.

頑張りましょう~