Optional Challenge Exam

If Japanese 300 is the first Japanese class in which you have enrolled, then you skipped four earlier Japanese classes. Because you skipped Japanese 101, 102, 201 and 211, the university administration gives you one chance to obtain credit and grades for these four classes.

If you are a returned missionary or someone with similar residence in Japan or someone with similar knowledge of Japanese, then you may wish to take advantage of this opportunity to gain 14 hours worth of graded credit on your university transcript. Of course, native speakers of Japanese may not take the examination and are not eligible for challenge or G.E. credit in Japanese.

In order to take the challenge exam, you must currently be enrolled in Japanese courses (Japanese 201 or higher) for the first time. You will NOT be able to take this challenge exam in your next Japanese class or any other Japanese class. Your first opportunity to take the challenge exam will be your only opportunity.

The challenge exam is optional. You do not need credit from Japanese 101, 102, 201 or 211 to major or minor in Japanese. Students who take the exam do so for a number of reasons. Some reasons to take the challenge exam would include (1) a chance to raise one’s grade point average (GPA); (2) a chance to obtain 14 hours worth of college credit, enabling one to graduate sooner; (3) a chance to enhance one’s resume--more employers would likely be more impressed with a healthy number of college credit hours of Japanese study and residence in Japan, than with a mention of missionary service. On the other hand, some students choose to skip the exam because the extra 14 credit hours do not help them in their major.

The challenge exam consists of two parts. Part I contains 100 multiple-choice questions and will be worth 100 points. Part I will cover questions on basic grammar and concepts that Japanese 101 and 102 students should know. Part I will cover the grades for Japanese 101, 102 and 211.
Part II contains 75 multiple-choice questions and will be worth 100 points (questions 51-75 will be worth 2 points each.) Part II will cover questions on kanji that 201 students should know and will also test you on reading ability and comprehension. Part II will cover the grade for Japanese 201.

Since Part II contains questions regarding kanji, I do not schedule the challenge exam until after we have studied enough kanji to take the exam successfully. I usually schedule the challenge exam sometime after we have finished the first volume of our textbook. Concretely, I will probably schedule the exam around the end of July.

You will need to fill out a Challenge Examination Form and pay an examination fee ($20.00) before you take the exam. I will hand out this form in class in the latter part of May when we approach the scheduled testing dates. To prepare for the challenge examination covering Japanese 101, 102 and 211 review an elementary Japanese textbook such as your MTC study manual, or:

1. Alfonso, Japanese: A Basic Course (Call No. PL539.5 .A9 A51 1981)
2. Niwa, Basic Japanese for College Students (Call No. PL535 .N58) or,
3. Alfonso, Japanese Language Patterns (Call No. PL613 .A44x 1974)
4. Tohsaku, Yookoso!: An Invitation to Contemporary Japanese (Call No. PL539.5 .E5 T64 1994)

One possible method of reviewing might be speed reading the index and looking up any words or patterns with which you feel uncomfortable.