Listening - understanding spoken Japanese on familiar matters (91133)
What the standard asks for
Listening tests your understanding of spoken Japanese about everyday matters - school, home, travel, hobbies, part-time work. You hear short announcements, conversations, interviews and radio-style items, usually twice, and you answer in English. Marks come from meaning, not word-for-word translation, so a sensible paraphrase scores better than a literal sentence you cannot finish.
Wait for the ending
The decisive information sits at the end of the Japanese clause, so resist answering at the first recognisable word. The same stem flips meaning with its ending: ～てもいいです (permission) versus ～てはいけません and ～なければなりません (prohibition, obligation); ～たいです (my wish) versus ～たがっています (someone else's). A trailing ～かもしれません, ～そうです or ～つもり changes how certain the claim is. Discourse markers でも, が and ただし often introduce the real answer after a deliberate distractor.
Numbers, times, counters
Hear the difference between ふつか and ようか, よっか and はつか, しちじ and ななじ, and between counters in ～ほん, ～まい, ～さつ, ～はい. Distinguish まで (until) from までに (by), and から as both because and from.
Worked example
Question: Why can the man not go to the movie tonight? Tape: 「えいがは いいですね。でも、あした テストが あるから、こんばんは ちょっと…」 Reasoning: えいがは いいですね is a friendly opener, not the reason. から marks the cause, and あした テストが ある supplies it. ちょっと plus a trailing ellipsis is a polite refusal. Answer: he has a test tomorrow, so tonight is difficult - not simply that he likes films.
Traps that cost marks
Writing he is busy without the stated reason; confusing ～てみる (try doing) with ～ておく (do in advance); missing negatives such as あまり…ない and ぜんぜん…ない; treating ～は ちょっと as agreement when it signals refusal; ignoring the second speaker's correction.