How I became an expert at Juken-Eigo
It wasn't until I was in junior high school that I began studying English. While I was slow in acquiring anything other than a rudimentary conversational skill such as hallos and good-byes, students around me quickly got ahead.
My feeling then was that I would never be able to master English, or Juken-Eigo (English language learning system designed for entrance exams).
I expected much from my school to teach me the basic grammar, which only ended in disappointment. So, I tried cram schools. Another disappointment since classes were for students who had altready mastered what I hadn't.
In the end I decided that placing myself under typical mass group learning system would not work. What I needed instead was a strategy of my own and a teacher who could teach me face-to-face.
This was why I ended up in Paideia.
Plunging into 11th grade, I grew more conscious of the university entrance examination looming ahead. My prospect of being a winner was grim; I was not even reaching the average in the school tests. So, what was to be done? My answer was to stick to the basics and learn them thoroughly.
I knew that at this stage I had to be familiarizing myself already with the testing style that universities adopted for their entrance examinations. But what is its use when you cannot even understand the basics?
At Paideia, I concentrated on deepening my grammatical knowledge and improving my translation skill. To further my proficiency, I tackled grammar books and mastered "Teppeki"(Iron Wall), a must-have vocabularly builder for Tohdai (the University of Tokyo) applicants.
My strategy worked. When I reached the level where I could score 90 percent in the Senta-Shiken (the Trans-University Admission Test), I finally set out for the second stage of the entrance examination preparations.
Tohdai's English examination is notorious for intimidating applicants with its wide variety of questions, demanding not only summarizing, translating and writing skills but also knowledge of science, literature, politics, economics, etc.
The knowledge required is so diverse that students are most likely to develop " a weak spot", where their attention is disarrayed. It is my understanding that this had led many cram school instructors to give lessons focusing on a specific field of knowledge.
In my opinion, though, nothing is more important than improving vocabularly, grammar and reading skills and developing one's rational thinking. And that can be achieved only through thoroughgoing practice of the basics. Finally, I dare to add that your score will stabilize at 80 percent if you master the basics.

There are several important points that I have learned by challenging TOEIC.
One thing is making yourself believe that you are a businessman or businesswoman. During the test, it is important to ignore the thoughts that you might be able to get away without knowing these words in daily life.
If you come across new words, try to understand them by the “atmosphere” of the context. As for the listening part, trust your ears.
Even if you do not catch questions, do not get stuck by them and put yourself down.
You have to be defiant. You have to presume that the people next to you are all your rivals. You have to go to the bathroom before the test. You have to have enough time to color the answers at least twice.
Furthermore, set up your goals high. Try to make yourself believe that you are going to be successful globally. Just believe that TOEIC is the path to better opportunities.
I am still far from conquering TOEIC, but I will continue challenging the test by dreaming of the overseas locations, where I might be assigned in my future career