Finally Finished

The JLPT test is finally over. Rob and I took level 2 which is a really difficult exam. It requires you to know 1000 kanji in addition to 6000 words and difficult grammar. And probably junior high level of reading comprehension. Obviously, I am not at that level at all! I still have trouble stringing together sentences that make sense, and tend to just use the phrases I know too often. So I think we will both fail, me miserably, and Rob by not so much (he thinks).

This leads me to a junction in studying Japanese. Should I keep at it? or just know what I know and hope I don't loose the few words I know immediately upon entering America. It's such a tough language to use. Sometimes I feel like it's worth it - today I read an email in all Japanese. Other times like at the travel agent last week I hope to catch a few words I know, and respond in one or two words which is frustrating.

I watched a movie in Spanish the other day and thought I could understand tons of it, even though my last Spanish class was 8 years ago. This is a huge difference from Japanese which I have been studying somewhat diligently (well for me) for the past 7 years, taking a 3 year break while living in Longview and Chicago. The fact that I can't even understand shows with limited vocabulary in Japanese after all this work sort of makes me want to call it quits. hmm. I don't know what to do.