A lecture aimed at first year students at the university was recorded and shown to exchange students with Level 2 of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. Four of the participants were filmed to see what they wrote in their notebooks or on the lecture handouts. We learnt that the students spent about one third in the lecture taking notes and often wrote notes after the lecturer repeated the same words they already knew. Repeating the same words also has the effect of correcting misunderstandings the students have. However, students were unable to write down sentences, and the notes ended up as lists of words making it difficult for students to look at their notes and recall the details of the lecture.