HSC Japanese Extension study plan

Draft a 200-word monologue script on a personal-experience prompt and record it twice, timing each take

Transcribe your own recording and annotate every instance of です・ます versus plain form and justify each switch

Build a 40-item vocabulary log from your transcript, grouped by register (formal, casual, evaluative)

Analyse one 300-character Japanese opinion passage by labelling its claim, two supporting reasons, and one concession

Record three monologues on unfamiliar prompts with only 60 seconds of preparation each

Practise self-repair by re-recording take one and eliminating fillers such as えーと and あの

Compare two short Japanese texts on the same issue and tabulate where they agree and diverge

Write a 150-word Japanese summary of each text using only the author's stated claims

Deliver a monologue that states a position, gives two reasons, and anticipates one counterargument

Identify and name five rhetorical moves in a Japanese editorial (hedging, anecdote, statistic, rhetorical question, appeal to consensus)

Draft a 250-word Japanese analytical response to an unseen passage within 30 minutes

Revise that response after feedback to sharpen topic sentences and connective devices

Map the prescribed issue into a concept grid of causes, stakeholders, and contested values

Deliver a four-minute monologue arguing one side of the issue without notes

Draft three thesis statements on the issue and stress-test each against a plausible objection

Assemble a quotation and evidence bank of 15 items drawn from your own reading, each with a source note

Write a 400-word Japanese extended response on the issue using a claim-reason-evidence-concession structure

Write a 300-word English extended response on the same issue with a different organisational pattern

Translate your own Japanese thesis and conclusion into English and compare the rhetorical effect

Identify three culture-specific assumptions in your Japanese draft that an English reader would need explained

Write a timed 600-word Japanese extended response in 50 minutes

Write a timed 400-word English extended response in 35 minutes

Audit both drafts for unsupported assertions and add or cut evidence accordingly

Refine your personal lexicon of 25 connectives and evaluative phrases and deploy at least 12 in the timed pieces

Complete a full mock under time: one text-analysis response and one extended response in Japanese

Diagnose errors by category (content, structure, language accuracy, register) and rank them by frequency

Rewrite the weakest section of the mock from scratch without consulting the original

Record a five-minute monologue defending your position against two prepared objections

Sit two full mock papers under exam conditions across all four domains

Reduce recurring error categories from week seven by at least half

Rehearse opening and closing moves for monologues so each can be delivered in under 20 seconds

Finalise a one-page issue summary sheet in both Japanese and English for last-minute review