For Eiken

I got my Eiken 1st grade exam result. I checked it on the web. My score was 1886 of 2550. I failed it. Of course I knew it. 

I think I'll take the next test. I'll learn vocabulary a little and read books and articles in English as much as I can. I declared like that again and again, but...

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Taking Eiken

I took Eiken 1st grade today. Actually, I didn't do it well. There were lots of unfamiliar words for me. Obviously, I didn't study for the test.

I'll try to get the 1st grade near future. For starters, I'll get more and more English vocabulary. I'll start from now on.  

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Japan Times and Eiken

The Japan Times criticized Eiken, an English test for Japanese, even they have been published many workbooks for the test. The article was too long to read as a newspaper article. I was tired from reading that. 

They said that the vocabulary segment was too difficult and the listening section was too easy as its top grade. The reporter checked up these words in the test by using COCA. And true, these words rarely could be seen in magazines and newspapers. Did the corpus work correctly? Maybe, correct. 

I don't study for Eiken, just taking the test for fun. So I don't care much about the article. And to tell the truth, I don't like articles of the Japan Times for some reasons. 

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How to Prepare for Eiken

I'm really afraid of taking Eiken 1st grade next month. I would get a miserable score on the exam. I had only a month to prepare for the test when I decided to take the test. I didn't think I had enough time for the exam, so I prepare for the test without using Eiken workbooks. 

I don't think I have ability to get 1st grade. I have to study hard to get the grade. Instead using Eiken materials, I will read English books and articles, and will listen to audiobooks as much as I can. And also I will check unfamiliar words on dictionary more often. 

I'm not sure my attitude for the test works well, but I just try it. 

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TOPIC：THE ADVANTAGES AND / OR DISADVANTAGES OF PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION POINTS： Environmental effects Traffic conditions Independence Costs Safety Accessibility

Eiken practice 

Public transportation is necessary for modern people. Public transportation has lots of advantages. 

First, public transportation has good environmental effects. Using more public ransportation reduces use of automobiles. That also cuts the green house gas emissions. 

Second, increasing use of transportation naturally reduces car use. It works for good traffic conditions. 

Third, public transportation is less danger than car use. It has high safety rates. Recently, many elderly drivers are having car accidents because of their ages.  

For these reasons, public transportation has lots of advantages for us. 

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Try to Eiken

My younger son took Eiken, an English test in Japan, yesterday.  Many Twitter friends also took the test and reported their impression of the test. I once took the test in January this year and I was exhausted to take English tests since then. 

I have to study English hard if I take Eiken, but I'm not in the mode now, anyway. I think I should wait for my enthusiasm and until then, I should read, listen, speak and write English as much as I can. But would the time come to me? 

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Studying for Eiken

I managed to get Eiken Pre-1st grade this year. I should've started preparing for grade 1 as soon as the test ended, but I didn't have a feeling of studying English at all. I bought some work books for the test, though. 

Listening to the radio in English and posting English blog everyday are only two things for learning or using English for me. These are not boost my English skills so much, but I just enjoy doing so. 

To get Eiken 1st grade, I have to get more and more English vocabularies. I tried an onlin English vocabulary test and I got only grade D for Eiken 1st grade. It was a sad result. I have to work hard to get a lot of new English words. 

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Eiken Application

My son brought back an Eiken application form his high school. He was thinking about what grade's test he should take. He tried to solve some sample questions and failed a lot. He decided to take Eiken grade 5 this time. I'm sure he won't study for the test because he is not interested in English at all. 

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Eiken Practice 1

TOPIC： THE ADVANTAGES AND / OR DISADVANTAGES OF PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

     

      Public transportation plays important role for modern society. There are some advantages and disadvantages of public transportation. 

      

      An important advantage of public transportation is that it improves traffic conditions. Public transportation reduces the number of private cars on the road, so it prevents road damages and traffic congestion. 

      On the other hand, public transportation has some problems. One of the problems is that it is less accessible than using private cars, especially in small population areas. These areas do not have convenient transportation systems. 

      In Japan, public transportation systems are believed to be safe, but once an accident happens, there will be lots of victims of the accidents, so public transportation still have both advantages and disadvantages. 

      

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Eiken Grade 1 and TOEIC 990

Some experts said Eiken Grade 1 and TOEIC 990 are mere entrances of professional translators or interpreters, but for average English learners, these would be one of the goals. 

I don't know if I could get Eiken Grade 1 or TOEIC 990. I'm just trying to get them for now, but first, I think I should try to Eiken. That is simply because I like reading news articles and novels. Of course I would take TOEIC every time held in my town. 

Should English teachers in school have Eiken Grade 1 or TOEIC 990? I don't think they need these certifications, but I want them to have the same ability to English. But TOEIC score 950 over would be enough. That's just my impression, though. 

I want English teachers would say,"Eiken Grade 1? TOEIC 950? Anytime I can get them. No sweat!" What do you think about that?

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Eiken Certification Card

I've got Eiken Grade Pre-1 certification card today. I'm happy to see that because the card looks high quality than I thought. 

I also feel happy because the card ranked my attitude as the highest level. I tried to speak loudly and clearly. I think that worked well at the interview. 

I will practice speaking and speech skills more. So when, if I could, taking Grade 1 speaking test, I want to get a good score on that. 

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Eiken Pre-1st Grade

I've got an Eiken Pre-1st result today. I've pasted the test, so I'm really happy now. I was inspired by many people on the web site, especially in Twitter world. There are lots of enthusiastic English learners on Twitter and they teach me a lot. I really appreciate their help. 

The upper grade of Eiken is really tough. I have to memorize more and more vocabularies and read more and more English articles and books. I'll enjoy it and get Eiken 1st grade as soon as possible. 

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Busy Day

I took the Eiken second stage test in the morning. It was nice. I think I performed better than I had thought. There were only five people took Pre-1st grade and I was the oldest and only male interviewee. 

Preparing for Eiken interview was efficient to improve my speech skills, not exactly for talking though. 

After lunch, I took part in a volunteer English guiding seminar. We learned about how to guide Matsue Castle to foreign people in English. It was hard to explain old Japanese things in English, but we were trying to solve the difficulties as much as we can. 

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Eiken Interview

I will take Eiken interview test for the first time in my life tomorrow. I can't imagine what will happen exactly on the second stage, but I'm really excited about it. 

I have been taking online lessons for preparing that. It was really fun talking about social issues with teachers in English. Anyway, I hope everyone who takes Eiken interview will perform well tomorrow, and wish me luck! 

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Advance to the 2nd Stage

I have passed the first stage of Eiken Pre-1st grade. I was relieved to get the news today. 

On February 22, I will take the 2nd stage of the test. The next stage will be an interview test. I need to prepare for the interview. 

In order to practice for the interview, I think I will take online English lessons for the first time in 19 months. I'm so excited. 

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I'm Exhausted

I took Eiken Pre-1st grade today. I prepared for the test as much as I can. The test was harder than I thought especially in the listing section. 

I took two English tests in this month, TOEIC and Eiken. I really exhausted to prepare for and take these tests, so I don't want to take any English tests for a while. Instead, I'll read English books for some time. 

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Eiken Reading Section

I'm going to take an English test, Eiken Pre-1st in two weeks, so I'm preparing for the test with some work books. 

I've failed over and over again in reading section problems. I finally understand that I failed them because I was answering the questions based on my views and ideas. I should concentrate what the articles actually say.  

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Struggling for Eiken

I can see a red light for Eiken Pre-1st. I've  solved work books twice and I made the same mistakes. I haven't progressed. 

That is because simply I don't have enough skill in English reading. But that is not all. I often misunderstood the meaning of the article even I read it in Japanese transcripts. That's a very big problem. 

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One Month to Go

I'll take Eiken Pre-1st test next month. I really think I'm behind on vocabulary building. There are still lots of unfamiliar words in Eiken Pre-1st work books. These words might be super basic words for English speaking people. I couldn't read English magazines and news articles without getting any stress unless I memorize whole worlds in Eiken Pre-1st work books, or maybe 1st grade words. 
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I Might Have a Problem

The administration ticket for Eiken hasn't come yet. I think I forgot to apply Eiken, maybe, possibly, definitely. I checked the website, but I couldn't find my name or ID. 

Ok. I'll take the test next time on January. I'll never forget to apply any English test. Sigh.