Should i learn extra vocab and grammar?

[lakvinu]

Hello,

I am a year 11 students doing vce japanese unit 1 and 2. So basically i go to a school rated around 300, and in my japanese class i am ranked 1 or 2 (me or my best friend). Other than me and my friend, theres no real competition and in fact it is super easy. For the sacs or test u do in unit 1 and 2 i get over 90% without trying. I know i should be glad about this, but im just wonderig if this is normal or should i actually study and stuff. i am currently using memrise to study the vce vocab. im just wondering if its beneficial or useful if i learn the jlpt 1-5 grammer/vocab as well. Will knowing vocab not in the study design be an advantage in vce japanese. Will awnser my questions of whether im doing enough work and if i should learn more grammar and stuff.

thank you

[LifeisaConstantStruggle]

If your final objective is to actually learn the essence of the language, go for it! JLPT, reading outside of school work or anything similar it doesn't matter.

I should stress on the fact that if you really wanna do well in competitive LOTE subjects (Japanese, Chinese for example), getting ahead of your peers and everyone else in the cohort in terms of content is definitely crucial. Not to mention the added benefits of constantly enriching your vocab and expression in a language!

Now I'm not so sure about Japanese (read the study design they seem to skim through fairly basic N5+tad bit of N4 level vocab) but for my Indonesian oral exam they actually drifted off and went beyond what was taught in the study design, so bear in mind that it might happen as well.

If you don't mind, what textbooks are you using? Would defs recommend Tobira: Gateway to Advanced Japanese if you're up for the challenge.
べんきょうがんばってね！