Kyoto Entrance English study plan
Kyoto Entrance English · Give each week a clear focus.
8 weeks · About 7 hours per week
Reading comprehension of English expository and argumentative prose & Vocabulary, idiom, and grammar in context
Read one 600-800 word English expository passage per session and mark its thesis sentence, its support types, and any concession clauses within 20 minutes
Build a personal list of 60 academic verbs and connective adverbs (e.g. attribute, undermine, nevertheless, thereby) and write one original sentence for each
Paraphrase each marked thesis sentence into plain English without reusing its original wording
Time yourself on one argumentative passage and record where comprehension broke down (unknown word, long subject, pronoun reference)
Your checkpoint
A 5-passage reading log with thesis sentence, support map, and a 60-item vocabulary notebook with original example sentences
Reading comprehension of English expository and argumentative prose & Vocabulary, idiom, and grammar in context
Identify the function of each paragraph (claim, evidence, counterargument, conclusion) in four argumentative passages
Answer 20 inference and author-attitude questions and justify each answer with the exact line that supports it
Drill 30 grammar-in-context items on subject-verb agreement, participial modifiers, and comparative structures, and correct every error in writing
Summarize one passage in three sentences without looking back at the text
Your checkpoint
A 20-question inference set with written line-level justification for every answer, plus a corrected grammar error log
English-to-Japanese translation (shakudoku-style paraphrase and interpretation) & Reading comprehension of English expository and argumentative prose
Translate two shakudoku-style passages per session into natural Japanese, keeping technical terms in English where standard
Restructure long English subjects and relative clauses into short Japanese clauses before translating
Compare your translation against a model and classify each gap as vocabulary, structure, or interpretation
Explain in Japanese why a translator chose a particular paraphrase for five marked expressions
Your checkpoint
Six translated passages (about 250 words each) with a self-review table listing every gap by category
English-to-Japanese translation (shakudoku-style paraphrase and interpretation) & Japanese-to-English translation and sentence-level structural rewriting
Back-translate three of your own Japanese versions into English and check whether the original meaning survives
Translate 15 Japanese sentences containing embedded clauses into English, rewriting each into a single clear main clause first
Practise converting English passive and nominalized sentences into active Japanese and back again
Reduce 10 wordy English sentences to 20 words or fewer without losing meaning
Your checkpoint
A bilingual portfolio of 15 Japanese-to-English sentence pairs with before/after structural rewrites
English free composition / essay writing & Japanese-to-English translation and sentence-level structural rewriting
Write two 200-word argumentative essays under 30 minutes each with a clear claim, two supports, and one counterargument
Rewrite each essay opening three ways (statistic, question, concession) and pick the strongest
Eliminate 10 recurring errors from your own drafts (articles, prepositions, run-ons) by editing a marked copy
Build a reusable bank of 15 sentence patterns for concession, causation, and conclusion
Your checkpoint
Two timed 200-word essays plus a revised final draft with a self-editing checklist of your top 10 errors
English free composition / essay writing & Integrated summary and information organization across passages
Write one 300-word essay integrating two short passages that disagree, taking and defending a position
Outline a cross-passage comparison table (claim, evidence, assumption) for three passage pairs
Draft a 150-word integrated summary that attributes each idea to its source passage
Cut 20 percent of the words from your own summary while keeping all key claims
Your checkpoint
One 300-word integrated essay and one 150-word attributed summary, both timed
Reading comprehension of English expository and argumentative prose & English-to-Japanese translation (shakudoku-style paraphrase and interpretation) & Integrated summary and information organization across passages
Complete one full mock section of reading plus translation under exam timing and score it
Re-read every wrong answer and write the reason for the error in one line
Produce a 200-word Japanese summary of an English argumentative passage, then condense it to 100 words
Review your vocabulary notebook and retire items you now use correctly
Your checkpoint
Scored mock results sheet with an error-cause tally and a 100-word Japanese summary
Japanese-to-English translation and sentence-level structural rewriting & English free composition / essay writing & Vocabulary, idiom, and grammar in context
Sit one full timed mock covering all domains and record per-domain scores
Rewrite your two weakest essays from weeks 5 and 6 using feedback and compare drafts side by side
Drill 40 mixed grammar and idiom items and reach at least 85 percent accuracy
Write a one-page exam-day plan covering time allocation per section and a checklist of personal error patterns
Your checkpoint
Full mock score report with per-domain targets met, plus a final one-page exam-day strategy sheet
Milestones
Week 2: You can state the thesis and paragraph function of an unseen 700-word argumentative passage within 15 minutes and justify 80 percent of inference answers with a quoted line
Week 4: Your Japanese translations read naturally without following English word order, and back-translation preserves the original claim in at least 4 of 5 cases
Week 6: You produce a 300-word argumentative essay in 30 minutes with a clear claim, two supports, and one counterargument, and your integrated summary attributes every idea to its source
Week 8: Full mock shows at least 70 percent in reading, translation, and writing domains, with grammar accuracy at or above 85 percent and a written exam-day time plan