With regard to tests, I’m not able to sum up my current state very easily. First off, I’m dominating the kanji tests. There’s a kanji test every week, and large tests after every five sections. I’m averaging 94% on them, and I think my latest large kanji test may be a 100%. One good thing about the long commute is that there’s often nothing better to do than to go through the flashcards on my iPhone’s Japanese dictionary that I made for all the kanji. Once the crowds clear out enough that I can move my arms, I’m usually able to get about 30 minutes of good practice in before class starts. By the way, if I’m able to leave the house before 7:00, the trains aren’t very packed. I’m trying to adjust my sleep schedule a bit so that can be possible.

When it comes to grammar… I was more prepared for the chapter 1 test than I’d ever been for a grammar test at KCP. I spent several hours in the library over the weekend, just focusing on the upcoming test. By the end, I had everything down perfect. I took the test, felt awesome about it. I knew that I had at least a 90. So imagine my surprise when I get handed my test back and see a big red “66″ on it.

It turns out that the standard in level 4 is much higher. I’ve heard this from fellow level 4ers as well. Problems that we would get the benefit of the doubt with in level 3 are now marked completely wrong. They want us to use the exact grammar forms taught in class. I asked one of my teachers about some of my answers, and she agreed that some of the ones that were marked wrong were perfectly fine in spoken language, but not exactly what the question was looking for. I also lost points because I didn’t know the definition of some words — unrelated to the grammar points being taught.

So yes, there are plenty of small mistakes that I looked at and thought “duh”, but if you hear me reporting that I got a good grade on a future grammar test, it’s a darn good thing.

The written compositions are similar. I turned in one the best papers I’ve ever written last week and got a 70%. And it actually was probably the best paper I’ve ever written, and there wasn’t that much red ink. But the standard is so high that it just wasn’t good enough. I heard from a lot of my classmates that the average for that assignment was an F.

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. At no point during the last four months would I use the word “easy” to describe classes. And it’s good that they are trying to get us to stop making small mistakes. It’s just harder than I thought it would be, and my confidence in the first week seems a bit unfounded at the moment.

On Friday we’re having a school trip to a park, where we’re doing a barbecue and doing park stuff. This means that tomorrow is my last day of school for the week. I’m not thinking much about any excursions next weekend, especially when Monday is our chapter 2 test. Oh well. It’s not a vacation.