Oral Exam

[shiba woof woof]

Hey Guys,

I have my oral exam this Monday... and i'm really nervous

I feel like I know most of my stuff but are there any last minute tips?

thanks!

[clarke54321]

Hey Guys,

I have my oral exam this Monday... and i'm really nervous

I feel like I know most of my stuff but are there any last minute tips?

thanks!

Hey!

I also have my oral coming up this Friday, and so can relate to your nervousness!

From the sounds of it, it seems like you've covered all bases. You probably don't want to overdo yourself this weekend. Perhaps a light read over your notes would be a good idea.

Other things that may help:

-Reading through the last three years of examiners reports. Usually they've got a few handy tips (ie. preferable answers, common grammar errors, potential question types)
-Practice with some new people. By practice, I mean, ask them to develop some new questions (even if they cannot speak the language!). This ensures that you are still capable of spontaneous conversion. Sometimes an over-revision of your own material can lead to a rigid mindset.
-Even if you're feeling nervous, go into the oral confident. Answer their first greeting confidently. In SACs I've found that this sets the tone for a really good conversation. Oddly enough, it can rid you of unwanted nerves.
-I'm sure you've already thought of it, but repair strategies. Ensure that you've got these. Don't be afraid to ask for clarification (you won't be marked done). This is so much better than answering the wrong question.
-Think of ways to lead the conversation. Eg. Free time----> Hobby----> Haven't had so much time----->Study------> Future aspirations/subjects you enjoy/dislike.
-Do your best! Really. You've put in the yards and now it's your chance to just show some people (lol I like to term them as people rather than examiners.. less intimidating) how well you can put this into practice.

You'll be fine. All the best for Monday

[LifeisaConstantStruggle]

The examiners are often very nice and want you to be able to engage with them, so they would lead you into conversations and try their best not to put you into a situation where you cannot answer the questions.
So don't worry about it a 15 minute long conversation would feel like 5 minutes, and it will be over
頑張ってください！

[shiba woof woof]

Hey!

I also have my oral coming up this Friday, and so can relate to your nervousness!

From the sounds of it, it seems like you've covered all bases. You probably don't want to overdo yourself this weekend. Perhaps a light read over your notes would be a good idea.

Other things that may help:

-Reading through the last three years of examiners reports. Usually they've got a few handy tips (ie. preferable answers, common grammar errors, potential question types)
-Practice with some new people. By practice, I mean, ask them to develop some new questions (even if they cannot speak the language!). This ensures that you are still capable of spontaneous conversion. Sometimes an over-revision of your own material can lead to a rigid mindset.
-Even if you're feeling nervous, go into the oral confident. Answer their first greeting confidently. In SACs I've found that this sets the tone for a really good conversation. Oddly enough, it can rid you of unwanted nerves.
-I'm sure you've already thought of it, but repair strategies. Ensure that you've got these. Don't be afraid to ask for clarification (you won't be marked done). This is so much better than answering the wrong question.
-Think of ways to lead the conversation. Eg. Free time----> Hobby----> Haven't had so much time----->Study------> Future aspirations/subjects you enjoy/dislike.
-Do your best! Really. You've put in the yards and now it's your chance to just show some people (lol I like to term them as people rather than examiners.. less intimidating) how well you can put this into practice.

You'll be fine. All the best for Monday

Wow, thanks a lot!!! Good luck to you on Friday as well   

[shiba woof woof]

The examiners are often very nice and want you to be able to engage with them, so they would lead you into conversations and try their best not to put you into a situation where you cannot answer the questions.
So don't worry about it a 15 minute long conversation would feel like 5 minutes, and it will be over
頑張ってください！

Yea I get what you mean by a 15min convo would feel like 5 minutes!
Thanks a lot! 

[AngelWings]

Hey guys!

I did Japanese SL back in 2014 and I remember distinctly that I was (and still am) terrified of speaking in Japanese (and actually any other LOTE for that matter) in oral assessments. Some solid tips have been already shared above, so this is a bit of an extension.
- Breathe. It's not going to be the end of the world.
- Know how to play off a mistake.
- Know how to extend your time by using あいづち, such as 「ええと。。。」
- Elaborate and procrastinate on discussing your next point by adding your opinion!
- Be nice about it. Don't forget they love it if you understand the humility and standard of respect Japanese people usually deliver.
- They're people too, so don't speak too quickly. Slow yourself down if you know you'll mutter gibberish words.
- Fake it until you make it! Embrace your inner thespian and pretend like you have the confidence.
- Make sure to bring it back to topics you know. Redirecting is always okay if they traipse into unknown territory.
- Use some body language to distract yourself from your nerves. Similar to how using curse words to helps to relieve pain, body language is sometimes a subtle, but natural way to personally de-stress during the oral. It also has the benefit of making yourself look engaged.

Hope that helps you guys out.

[LifeisaConstantStruggle]

Oh yeah! for Japanese specifically, if you're stuck in a certain situation where you cannot find the word for the thing you wanna talk about, you can always use nominalisations to get around and describe that particular thing (wouldn't work in English, but for Japanese SL it's okay to do this to show that you attempt to articulate your thoughts instead of stuttering and trying to find the word).
Examples include (you've probably learnt these):
~もの (for animate/tangible objects)
~こと (for inanimate/intangible objects)
~ひと or びと (for people)
~じょうたい (状態) (situation)
~ところ (place)
~場所 (ばしょ) (place)
Also make sure you use these! it's to show that you have a natural grasp of the language and to make sure you don't sound rigid in your oral exam (the あいづち as mentioned by AngelWings)
ええーと
あの
なるほど
何だっけ
and many more
Good luck!

[Jigsaw]

頑張って下さい！話すことの試験の後で、けいけんを話してくれて下さい！

[joel_christie2017]

I feel your nerves too!! I have mine on Wednesday. 15 minutes may sound like a really long time but it flys by really quick. As an example, in my Detailed Study SAC, the interview actually went way over the 5 minutes and went to 12. Even though I was nervous, the time went by really fast.

Over the holidays my class had 2 practice oral exams where we ran through the entire process of entering the room, introducing yourself, stating your detailed study topic, General Conversation, Detailed Study Discussion and then finally exiting the room. Make sure you use あいづち as they show that you are attentively engaged in the interaction. Also, it is extremely important to reference your sources when talking about information in the detailed study and add your thoughts/opinions. My Detailed Study topic is Changes in Japanese Society and the sub-topic is Modern Japanese Youth Issues.

Just be yourself and enjoy the experience because once it's over you'll be relieved but the exam is really a valuable way to show off your Japanese speaking skills!!

みんなさん、頑張ってね！

[shiba woof woof]

Thanks guys!! Really good tips here 

BTW, when I reference my sources do you think it's necessary/better to be much more specific?
Eg: 日本人という本によると、、、ｖｓ 本によると

Thanks again!!

[LifeisaConstantStruggle]

Yeah it's better to be specific and refer to your sources. Just don't repeat your sources if you've used it before.

Also you might wanna consider being more specific than 日本人という本によると maybe the book/website you have referenced it to?

[shiba woof woof]

頑張って下さい！話すことの試験の後で、けいけんを話してくれて下さい！

Finished my exam today and forgot to tell you guys how it was!

Well, firstly I'm really happy with how i went!
The examiners were extremely nice and always smiled (especially when I made small mistakes which i corrected)
I had two Asian examiners (probably Japanese) but my friends had examiners which were Caucasians and apparently they had accents (LOL)
The general conversation of the exam went by extremely quickly, i thought only 2 minutes had past but then they moved on to my detailed study (which also went quite fast).

Good luck everyone else who still need to do their exams!

[clarke54321]

Finished my exam today and forgot to tell you guys how it was!

Well, firstly I'm really happy with how i went!
The examiners were extremely nice and always smiled (especially when I made small mistakes which i corrected)
I had two Asian examiners (probably Japanese) but my friends had examiners which were Caucasians and apparently they had accents (LOL)
The general conversation of the exam went by extremely quickly, i thought only 2 minutes had past but then they moved on to my detailed study (which also went quite fast).

Good luck everyone else who still need to do their exams!

I'm so happy to hear it went well! Awesome job 

[Jigsaw]

Congrats! It must be a relief to have this over and done with! Good luck with your written examination 　頑張って！^^