The Boy Who Strategically Won at Eiken

Hello. This is Sanagi.

I updated this article the other day.

After a short-term study abroad program during summer vacation, he completely fell in love with English and has been studying diligently for a month.

My son, who had been struggling for nearly two years to pass the Grade 3 first-stage exam, successfully passed (he passed the second-stage exam on his first try).

It seems he had always felt that he wouldn't be able to pass anyway. Since passing, he has become much more motivated.

It seems that going abroad really was a big deal. He said so himself.

An environment without parents. There were tour conductors, but during the homestay, communication was basically with the host family.

There were other participants in the same family, but they were total strangers. As a shy boy, he couldn't easily ask for help, haha.

• Will my English be understood?

• Will I be able to keep up with the lessons?

• Huh? I can actually do this, can't I?

• I don't understand, but I have to do it...

It seems he managed to keep up day by day like that.

If you are in Japan, you can look away if you don't want to do something, and you can run away. But you can't do that while studying abroad.

However, the situation gradually began to change.

Just like the phenomenon of a runner's high, as the days went by, he apparently started to get the feeling of “Oh? I might understand this” (I'm bad at English, so I don't really get the feeling, haha).

He had never been interested in grammar, and even when he studied it, he didn't understand it well, so he just did it half-heartedly. He says that those parts were resolved more and more during his study abroad. Naturally, that made him even more motivated.

After returning to Japan, he started studying English diligently.

In the past, he wouldn't do it unless I told him, “The next Eiken test is on such-and-such date,” but perhaps because he finally wanted to pass Grade 3, he started doing it on his own.

And it successfully led to results.

After passing Grade 3, he moved on to the next level, Grade Pre-2.

That was when he started thinking.

Whether it’s by a hair or with room to spare, a pass is a pass. This meant he started thinking about whether he could pass more efficiently by having some kind of strategy.

That’s my boy, alright. My spouse and I think exactly the same way. Must be genetics.

At N Junior High School, in addition to mentors, there are university students called TAs (Teaching Assistants) who come to provide learning support.

It seems he asked the TA he often gets help from about that strategy.

And what he was taught were the following three things.

• From Grade Pre-2, it’s a battle of vocabulary strength

• Vocabulary strength can only be built through memorization

• It’s best to earn points with writing

“Well, obviously!” I thought, but my son had always put vocabulary second until now.

Once he was taught the strategy, he started reading the vocabulary book that had previously been left brand new and untouched.

I had bought him past exam papers and prep workbooks in addition to the vocabulary book, but he ignored both 🥹

While commuting, while out and about, a little bit at night....

“What’s gotten into you?” he changed so much that he was memorizing words (it was almost a little scary).

He would even stare dreamily at his worn-out vocabulary book (this was also quite scary).

Naturally, once you memorize vocabulary, you start being able to solve reading problems as well.

The joy of thinking, 'Oh, I know this word!' creates a positive cycle that leads to further study. First, his reading skills started to improve.

It seems his listening skills had been somewhat sharpened by his time studying abroad.
However, from Grade Pre-2, the audio is only played once.

He would pick out the words written in the questions beforehand.

Apparently, that was the strategy he used.

And then,writing. My son was also bad at writing, which everyone struggles with. He prepared for this using a site called Eigozuke.com.

Times are amazing now; I heard that AI can correct your work.

In our day, we didn't have anything like that, so we studied without knowing if we were right or wrong, haha.

It seems that if you can get 90% in writing, you can pass even if you stumble a bit on the other two sections (reading and listening). In fact, because the weighting for writing is so high, it seems that 'he who masters writing, masters Eiken'.“He who masters writing, masters Eiken”is what they say.

My, my—even though he's my own child, it's interesting. He's quite sharp when it comes to things like that 😂

Three months after passing Grade 3.
He took the Grade Pre-2 first-stage exam and...

The first-stage exam, he actuallypassed on the first try💮 haha

He was the most surprised (though I was also quite surprised).

In writing, he actually got90%. Actually, he stumbled quite a bit in reading and listening, but the writing section covered for him.

Hey now, that's winning through strategy a bit too much, haha.

But you know, that's just how it is. A pass is a pass, even if it's by the skin of your teeth.

Of course, from now on, it won't just be about passing or failing, but the score will also become important, but for now, I think this successful experience is fine.

What I thought was impressive was that he didn't just rejoice in the result, but was analyzing his scores in detail. He was grasping his current status by looking at things like his Eiken band and CEFR level.

As a parent, I also made sure to tell him that the content of the score will be important from here on out.

Based on that, he seems to want to polish his reading and listening skills starting next time.

Wow, people really do change when they get motivated. Even though he's my own child, I was a bit surprised.

Experience with failure is certainly necessary. But if it continues over and over, your heart starts to break.

For my son, those two years of failing Grade 3 must have felt incredibly long.

That's exactly why he must have been so surprised to pass Pre-2nd Grade, haha.

Even as his parent, I thought, 'Well, he probably won't make it on the first try.'

Surely this successful experience will lead to his next growth.

The interview is still left, after all. He is working hard on that in the prep course at QQ English, which we always use.

Oh, that's right, N Junior High and N/S High School also have a Eiken Pre-2nd/2nd Grade Prep Course. My son has also been participating since the beginning of the year, mixed in with the high school students. It's great to have that kind of environment (held during basic study time).

Moving forward little by little while using trial and error... I see.

Come to think of it, when I was little, I was always seeking perfection and was afraid of failure.

I thought if I failed, I would be scolded and disappointed. That's why I chose a school where I wouldn't fail for high school too. Even with the circumstances, the same went for university.

I sometimes wonder if I should have taken more risks. Well, you can't turn back time, so it can't be helped.

I hope my son experiences a fair amount of failure, occasional successes, and keeps taking on the challenges he desires.

That is all for this time.
Thank you for staying with me until the end.