1. The JLPT Level 4 test seems, based on our assessment, to cover a very wide range of various superficial phenomena in Japanese at random. It seems to require a student to study the entire scope of the Japanese language (with the inexplicable exception of some very important aspects of oral communication - see example at 2. below), learning grammar in a fragmentary, hit-and-miss fashion instead of taking the integrated, comprehensive approach required for truly useful understanding. It looks as if those who made questions had a perverse desire to force test-takers to traverse a huge jungle by checking one tree at a time.
2. Moreover, in Japanese, conversations are mostly carried out with ‘-N' DESU*' endings. JLPT Level 4 test, in contrast, mostly tests just ‘DESU'/'-MASU' endings, which are mainly used in written Japanese, and contains almost no content concerning conversational ‘-N' DESU' endings. In fact, the 2008 version of the JLPT Level 4 test had no content containing ‘N' DESU' endings at all.
*The -N' DESU ending, the conversational ending, involves the listener in the conversation, and shows that the speaker is trying to convey a certain implication to the listener in addition to the pure value of reporting information. The implication is basically as follows:
1. | "I want to have a talk with you about what I am currently saying." |
2. | "I have something more to talk about." |
3. | "I want you to catch the gist or the drift of what I've said." |
4. | "This is the reason for what I am going to say or do, or for what I have said or done." |
5. | When used in the question from, -N' DESU-KA?, the speaker is trying to imply, “I want to have a more detailed answer rather than just a simple answer like ‘yes' or ‘no,' because I have something I want to talk about <although I don't have to, or wish to actually mention it>.” |
It sounds quite awkward, however, to use the -N' DESU ending when reporting pure unilateral information to the listener, or when inquiring about pure unilateral information from the listener. Although the -N' DESU ending is most commonly used in conversation, it cannot be used when the speaker is conveying one-way unilateral information, such as when the speaker is:
1. | Writing a diary, a letter, or a report |
2. | Addressing an audience |
3. | Reporting or describing a fact |
4. | Making an announcement, a declaration, or a warning |
5. | Exchanging greetings or paying a compliment |
6. | Asking for a simple agreement (in which case the ending must be followed by the particle -NE) |
7. | Asking for a simple answer, such as ‘yes,' or ‘no.' |