Ishikawa Entrance English common mistakes
Ishikawa Entrance English · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
Reading a passage once and answering from memory of the general topic rather than returning to the exact sentence or clause each question depends on.
The Ishikawa-style passage questions hinge on small details (a negation, a comparison, a stated cause), and candidates under time pressure trust a first impression of the passage's gist instead of verifying the specific line.
What to do instead
For each question, underline the keyword in the stem, locate the matching sentence, and physically point to the words that justify the answer before choosing. If no single sentence supports the choice, the choice is wrong.
Choosing a reading answer that is true in the real world or true elsewhere in the passage, but not what the question asks.
Distractors are built from plausible general knowledge and from other parts of the passage, so a candidate who is not checking the question stem against the evidence picks the familiar-sounding option.
What to do instead
Restate the question in your own words before looking at the options, then eliminate any option that answers a different question. Keep a running note of the exact question type (detail, inference, main idea, vocabulary-in-context).
Answering grammar items by ear, picking the form that 'sounds natural' rather than identifying the grammatical structure being tested.
Japanese learners often have strong exposure-based intuitions about common patterns but no explicit rule for tense sequence, subject-verb agreement with intervening phrases, or article use, so intuition fails exactly on the items designed to test those rules.
What to do instead
Before choosing, name the structure in the blank (e.g., 'present perfect vs. past simple', 'relative pronoun subject vs. object'). Then apply the rule, and only afterwards check whether it sounds right.
Ignoring the words around a blank and choosing a word that fits the meaning but not the grammar (or vice versa).
Fill-in-the-blank items test two things at once: collocation/meaning and grammatical form. Candidates fixate on one dimension and overlook the other, such as a noun where a participle is required.
What to do instead
For every blank, check two things in order: (1) what part of speech and form does the surrounding syntax demand, and (2) which option among those that pass step 1 fits the meaning and collocation.
Treating near-synonyms as interchangeable and choosing a vocabulary option without checking its collocation, register, or part of speech.
Vocabulary items commonly pair words that share a rough meaning but differ in what they combine with (e.g., 'do' vs. 'make', 'affect' vs. 'effect', 'raise' vs. 'rise'), and candidates match only the Japanese gloss.
What to do instead
Learn new words in short collocation chunks rather than as single words with a translation. When answering, test each option inside the full sentence and reject any that requires a different preposition, object, or word class.
Losing points on listening items because of a single unheard word, then abandoning the rest of the utterance and guessing.
Candidates try to decode every word in real time; one unknown word or a contracted fast-speech form causes them to stop processing, and the following information (often the answer) is missed.
What to do instead
Practise listening for gist and for the specific information type the question asks about (number, time, reason, speaker's feeling). When a word is missed, let it go and keep tracking the stream; pre-read the question options so you know what to listen for.
Writing an essay or paragraph with no clear topic sentence and no linking between sentences, so ideas appear as a list.
Under time pressure candidates write down ideas in the order they think of them, without planning the paragraph's controlling idea or the logical relationship between sentences.
What to do instead
Spend two minutes outlining: one controlling idea, two or three supporting points, and the connector for each (however, therefore, for example). Then write a topic sentence that states the controlling idea and check that every following sentence supports it.
Producing writing that is grammatically correct sentence by sentence but contains fragments, run-ons, or faulty parallel structure at the sentence level.
Candidates focus on vocabulary and content while composing and do not re-read for sentence boundaries, so comma splices and dangling modifiers survive into the final draft.
What to do instead
Reserve the last few minutes for a dedicated sentence-level check: read each sentence alone and confirm it has a subject and a finite verb, that clauses are joined by a conjunction or punctuation that matches, and that items in a list share the same grammatical form.
Misreading the task in a writing prompt (e.g., writing an opinion essay when the prompt asks for a description or a letter) and losing content marks despite good English.
Candidates skim the prompt, recognise a familiar topic, and start writing from a memorised template rather than identifying the required genre, audience, and purpose.
What to do instead
Underline the prompt's instruction words (describe, explain, compare, give your opinion, write to a friend) and the audience. State the genre and purpose in one line at the top of your plan, and check the finished piece against them.
Spending too long on one difficult reading or grammar item and leaving later, easier items unanswered or rushed.
Candidates treat every item as equally costly and are reluctant to leave a question unresolved, so a single hard passage consumes time that several straightforward items would have earned.
What to do instead
Do two passes: answer everything you can resolve quickly, mark uncertain items, and return to them with the remaining time. Never leave a blank, since an eliminated-choice guess costs nothing and may earn a mark.