QCAA Japanese common mistakes
QCAA Japanese · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
In the extended response, the candidate writes plain-form verbs and drops particles when quoting or reporting what a character said, producing sentences like 田中さんは行くと言った instead of 田中さんは行くと言っていた or using を/が inconsistently inside quoted speech.
Under time pressure candidates default to the dictionary forms they memorised first and treat quoted clauses as unmarked, forgetting that polite-style tasks require consistent register and that quoted speech still needs its own particle marking.
What to do instead
Before writing, decide the register (です・ます or plain) and keep it uniform outside quotations. Practise a fixed pattern set: 「〜と言っていました」「〜と聞きました」「〜と思います」 with the quoted clause fully marked. After drafting, read each quoted clause aloud and check every verb ending and particle.
The candidate answers a listening or reading item with a detail they personally find interesting rather than the specific information the question asks for, for example giving the price when the question asks who paid.
Candidates decode words in sequence and latch onto the first number or noun they recognise, rather than reading or hearing the question stem first and then scanning for the matching information type.
What to do instead
Read the question stem before the stimulus and underline the interrogative (だれが, いつ, どこで, なぜ, いくら). While listening, note only the information type requested. Reject any option that answers a different question, even if it is factually true of the text.
In the presentational task the candidate produces a list of disconnected sentences about the topic (for example three separate facts about school clubs) with no introduction, linking, or conclusion, and no stated purpose or audience.
Candidates plan at sentence level rather than text level, because classroom practice often drills single sentences, and they run out of planning time before structuring the whole piece.
What to do instead
Spend the first three minutes on a skeleton: opening (topic and purpose), two or three body points each with a linking phrase such as まず, また, さらに, しかし, and a closing that states an opinion or call to action. Write to the skeleton and check that every paragraph connects to the next.
The candidate uses keigo incorrectly by mixing humble and respectful forms in one utterance, for example saying 先生がおっしゃられました or 私がご説明いたします to a teacher while also using いる for the teacher's location.
Candidates learn sonkeigo and kenjougo as vocabulary lists rather than as a system tied to who performs the action, so they double-mark politeness or apply respectful forms to their own actions.
What to do instead
Apply one rule: respectful forms (いらっしゃる, おっしゃる, ご覧になる) describe the other person's actions; humble forms (うかがう, 申し上げる, お目にかかる) describe your own. Drill paired sentences (先生は何とおっしゃいましたか / 私は先生に申し上げました) and check every keigo verb against who the subject is.
The candidate treats は and が as interchangeable, writing 私が学生です as a self-introduction or 田中さんはいます for 'there is Tanaka', and marks the object of a transitive verb with が in simple statements.
English has no equivalent contrast, and textbook explanations are often reduced to 'は = topic, が = subject', which does not explain new versus known information or the exhaustive-listing use of が.
What to do instead
Learn the contrast through minimal pairs: 私は田中です (self-introduction) versus 田中さんが来ました (new information), and きれいな花はありますか versus きれいな花があります. In each sentence ask whether the noun is already established in the discourse; if it is new and being introduced, use が.
The candidate misreads or mishears long vowels, small っ, and ん in vocabulary, confusing おばさん/おばあさん, きって/きて, and しゅくだい/しゅくだい-type minimal pairs, and transcribes them wrongly in the writing task.
Candidates rely on whole-word recognition from context and never trained the sound-length and mora-timing contrasts, which are not distinctive in English.
What to do instead
Build a personal minimal-pair list (おじさん/おじいさん, ここ/こうこう, きた/きった) and practise with audio at natural speed, clapping mora beats. In dictation, count mora per word and check long-vowel and small-っ spelling before submitting.
In the interpersonal speaking task the candidate delivers a memorised monologue, does not respond to the interlocutor's follow-up question, and never asks a question back, so the exchange stalls.
Candidates rehearse scripted answers and freeze when the prompt deviates, and they do not know a stock set of follow-up questions to keep the interaction going.
What to do instead
Rehearse topic plus question pairs, not scripts: for each topic prepare one answer and one question (e.g., 週末は何をしますか / 私はテニスをします。〜さんは?). Practise with an unseen partner who must ask one unexpected question, and train a repair phrase such as すみません、もう一度お願いします and それはどういう意味ですか.
The candidate answers culture questions with stereotypes or personal impressions ('Japanese people are shy', 'they bow because they are polite') rather than explaining the practice in terms of its function and context, and confuses similar practices such as 内/外 language use with simple politeness.
Culture content is often learned as isolated facts or generalisations without the underlying social logic, so candidates cannot explain why a practice exists or when it applies.
What to do instead
For each practice, learn a three-part frame: what is done, in which context, and what social relationship it manages (for example, けいご marks uchi/soto distance; おみやげ marks return and obligation). Practise explaining one practice in three sentences with a concrete example rather than an adjective.
The candidate writes kanji that are visually similar but wrong in context, such as 待/持, 勉/免, or omits the small っ in がっこう, and does not proofread because they believe the draft is finished.
Kanji are stored by shape rather than by component and reading, and timed conditions discourage the final checking pass that would catch these errors.
What to do instead
Learn kanji by component and by a keyword-compound pair (持つ = hold, 待つ = wait) and keep an error log of your own confusions. Reserve the last three minutes of any writing task for a fixed checklist: long vowels, small っ, ん, particle choice, verb ending, and kanji stroke count.
The candidate answers an interpretive item using outside knowledge or a plausible assumption instead of evidence from the text, for example inferring that a character is unhappy because the situation seems sad, when the text says nothing about feelings.
Interpretive items often require inference, and candidates do not distinguish what the text states, what it implies, and what they assume, especially when the topic is familiar.
What to do instead
For each option, find and underline the line in the text that supports or contradicts it; if no line supports it, eliminate it. Label each item mentally as stated, implied, or unsupported, and choose only stated or clearly implied answers.