-- 日本朋友NY BAR经验谈
对，是用英文。我倒是找到了个更具体详尽的，可惜是日文。：）所以很希望TOTOO上可以在
不远的将来总结出中国人的考NY BAR的经验汇集。

1. To begin with:

When I talk about my experiences passing the New York State bar exam, I 
have to begin with my struggles to bring my English ability up to a level 
that would enable me to gain admittance to New York University. The truth 
is that even after I had gotten into law school, I never stopped being 
anxious about my English ability. I felt that, when it came to taking the 
bar exam, my level of English was not only far below that of native 
speakers (naturally) but even lower than that of most other foreign 
students, so how to raise up my English to the level necessary to pass the 
exam was a continuing problem for me. As I have written about my 
experiences with this perspective in mind, I hope that other foreign 
students who have doubts about their English ability will be encouraged to 
believe that, if they have the necessary courage and motivation, they too 
can succeed in passing the exam, as I did.

As I mentioned previously, I took the TOEFL 25 times -- a number that, I 
imagine, has not been surpassed even by people who specialize in TOEFL 
research! The first time I took the test, I scored 447. After a year of 
study, I managed to raise this to 560, and right after I sent out my 
applications to law school (in March), I scored 587. This score was below 
the minimum generally required by most schools of 600 (or the 620-630 
required by the really prestigious schools) and, to make matters worse, I 
did not have any other major strong points to compensate for my low TOEFL 
score, as my career had been devoted to routine domestic legal matters, so 
I did not have any striking legal achievements (nor had my undergraduate 
grades been particularly distinguished). As a result, on my first try, I 
was rejected by the three schools I applied to, including New York 
University. My wife, who had already been accepted into the Columbia SIPA 
program, then had to ask for a one-year deferment of her admittance so that 
she could wait for me while I tried to raise up my score in preparation for 
applying to law school again the following year.

Little did I know that my study efforts had already peaked. My scores in 
the tests I took after this actually became worse until the last (25th) 
time I took the test -- but even then I could only manage a score of 593, 
just six points above my previous high of 587. Despite this, to my great 
amazement, on my second try, I received an offer of admission from NYU -- 
which had rejected me the previous year with a similar TOEFL score. I don’
t know if this was the result of the various extra letters I sent asking 
for special consideration or some other factor, but, no matter, I had 
finally achieved my goal!

As the main point of this page is to talk about my experiences at law 
school, I will only mention briefly that one of the most precious treasures 
I gained while at law school was the contact I had with my classmates, some 
of the best law students from all over the world, as well as the Japanese 
company employees who had survived the fierce competition within their 
companies to win a scholarship to U.S. law school. In fact, one of the main 
reasons I was able to pass the New York bar exam on my first try was due to 
the encouragement I received in my studies from these friends. As well, I 
received a powerful motivation from my determination not to be the only one 
among my friends to fail the exam.

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-- 作者：totoo
-- 发布时间：2003-1-14 6:05:18

-- 
有趣，这个家伙的个人网页居然还有中文版！干脆再转几篇过来：

留学体验记 

与留学无缘的律师生活 

自我从25岁成为律师以来,主要承担一些不管在什么地方都会发生的日常生活中的法律事
务。 

本来,我就是因为喜欢这类工作才成为律师的,所以对这种律师生活感到特别满足。在自己的
心中,一个信念就是,“如果不能使眼前的每一个人幸福的话,这样的律师便毫无意义”。 

妻子的一言,成为我恶梦的开始 

在这样的生活中,变化来访了。这是以我爱人突然决定带着孩子到哥伦比亚大学学习人权问题
为契机的,经过一个星期的考虑之后,我回答说∶“知道了”。因为我愿意让妻子的愿望得到
实现。那个时候,我打算的是,我一个人留在日本,从经济上支助妻子和女儿们的生活。 

这样的我,改变想法决定自己也去留学,却没有花费那么长的时间。使我心情发生变化的直接
原因是,我无法忍受2年间与当时只有4岁和2岁的女儿们分离。但是,说实在的,我自己也不是
完全没有留学的想法。因为,我一直对我的后辈说,今后是国际化的时代,律师也应该进一步地
在国际舞台上活跃,而自己也不过只是在国内当着一般律师的话,缺乏说服力,谁也不会听我
的。 

美国的学校是个什么样的地方？像我这样普通的律师（即不会说英语,也不会处理涉外案件的
律师）去留学能做些什么？所谓国际化,从具体的角度来说有些什么需要？有关这些实际问题
我都想了解。自己如果感觉不到的东西,也无法向他人表述。这种想法使我的心情发生了变
化。 

于是,我终于向妻子发表了宣言∶“不能让你一个人去,我也去”。 

到底学习什么？ 

一旦下了决心留学,就发现在我的眼前面临着几堵墙。 

第一堵墙,不用说也知道是英语能力问题。到美国留学,满分为677分的托福考试最少要达600
分,要考取有名的学校,据说至少必须达到620～630分,可是,我自从在大学期间上过英语课以
后,实际上已经有十年一点儿也没有接触过英语。第一次考试的成绩是447分,也就是说离偏差
值有45。妻子在3～4次考试之后,达到了630分,终于得到了来自第一志愿的哥伦比亚大学的 
“你获得了前百分之四的成绩,被本校录取了”的录取通知书,。然而,此时的我,还在拼命地
忙着托福的考试。 

第二堵墙就是,没能得到周围人的理解。认为理应尽孝子义务的双亲说“为什么当上了律师却
非要去美国呢,再加上你已经30多岁了,我们从来也没有听到过你说英语呀”。当时我工作之
地的事务所所长也说“即不是涉外律师,又不懂英语的人留学有什么意思。恕我直言,即使去
了,也不过进水平低的法学院”。结果,因为不想放弃留学,只好辞去了事务所的工作,经济上
也好,精神上也好,我的退路都被切断了。 

最大的一堵墙是,不知道究竟应该学什么。作为典型的日本律师的我来说,当然没有什么特别
的专业领域,也没有涉及到重大的诉讼案件。但是一旦决定留学,就必须选择某个领域集中学
习。我也知道,实际上,即使是法学院的学生们也是在从前考试的经验中,和学习过的内容中来
决定自己的专业方向,可是这些我都没有。说句真心话,“我就是想知道法学院是个什么地
方。想找到普通律师留学的意义”。但是,我不可能这样写。结果这个问题一直烦恼着我。 

还是不行 

最初应考的3个大学院（哈佛大学,哥伦比亚大学,纽约大学）全都不及格。托福的考分最高也
只有587分,想做什么不明确,要说落第也是当然的了。没有办法,只好决定让已经考试合格的
妻子等了1年。幸亏我和先辈预定好,在留学决定不了的期间,因事务所的工作已经辞退,就暂
时在先辈的事务所占个位置。 

后来回头想想,要是没有这1年的收入,留学费用根本就不够,也许1年就必须回国了。我们甚至
连究竟要多少费用才能留学也不知道就想留学了,真不好意思。 

到了第二年还是很辛苦 

第二年还是在打托福考试仗。但是，也许因为英语的学习进入了极限，上升中的成绩却逐渐
地下降了，不久又进入了提交入学申请书的时期。 

和第一年不一样的是我开始这样想了，既然已经走到这一步了，哪怕在美国与妻子孩子分开
居住我也一定要进入法律大学。于是我开始向全美的17所法律大学院寄出了入学申请书。最
后的一次托福考试是在2月份，我所取得的成绩也不过比到那时为止所取得的最高成绩高6
分，为593分。 

结果第二年还是很艰巨，所有报<