The "JLPT" Thread!

[KiaiFighterMember]

I know for a lot of members on this website, JLPT might not be in the forefront of their minds right now, but it is one accreditation many Japanese students eventually seek to attain as evidence of their Japanese ability.

I know a lot of people disagree that just having JLPT doesn’t always mean you are a good communicator, and the opposite is true. You can be a good communicator and not have ever taken the JLPT. That being said, having looked at a lot of job listings in Japan, if you are a foreigner, almost ALL of the postings want to know you have atleast passed N# if not N2 or N1 before they will even look at your resume.

So, this is a thread for anyone on this forum who has any questions, wants advice, or can give advice about the JLPT test. Also, I hope we can get a good list of resources going.

As a brief outline, the JLPT test is split into 5 levels (previously 4) from N1 to N5. N1 being the most difficult and N5 being the easiest. I can really say in terms of Textfugu what seasons would correlate to which levels since I haven’t really been using TF for studying since the reorganization of seasons. Anyways, hopefully someone can provide some input on that front…

..
On a more personal level, I took N4 last year and N3 last week if anyone wanted to ask any questions about the test or anything related.

I hope this helps some people here =D

[マーク・ウェーバーMember]

I took N4 this year as my first JLPT ^^
I bought “新しい「日本語能力試験」ガイドブック N4, N5″ to prepare for the test. Decent book, and it didn’t cost too much, but if you are only buying the book it might not be worth it. It is in all Japanese so you can only import it from Japan, but I bought it together with a CD so it wasn’t too bad :)

Other than that – ofc the JLPT website is a great place to go for all questions you might have. It even has some (very short) sample questions.
From what I have found of interesting jobs that are actually things I would really like to work with, they require JLPT 2 or 1. Everything below doesn’t do, so you could argue it is a waste of money to apply for lower levels, but I think it is good to have something that you aim to achieve that isn’t just pass JLPT1, because that is many years out in the future. At least that is why I took N4 :)

[KiaiFighterMember]

I agree completely. Just because JLPT 3 or 4 (or even 5) won’t land you the job of your dreams, it is a great way to gauge your progress.

And as well, I am glad to hear you got a book from Japan too. They have a MUCH MUCH wider selection of text books than you could EVER find in any foreign country. Many of which have just Japanese, or Japanese accompanied by English, Korean and Chinese to hit the broadest spectrum of Japanese studiers.
I’ve built up quite the library of said books… I really should take a picture one day and upload it…

[LukeMember]

I know we take N1 at university in a few years, I might try 3 next year perhaps but more than likely I’ll just wait to do the first at university. You are right though, it would be a good way to gauge progress.

• This reply was modified 12 years, 4 months ago by  Luke.

[kanjiman8Member]

I do plan to take it at some point. Is it worth taking every test from N5 all the way to N1 or just starting at say N3 and doing N2 and N1?

My kanji level is still way below N5 level so I’m thinking the VERY earliest I’d take it is July next year.

[KiaiFighterMember]

there are only about 80 kanji for N5, but if you only study textfugu kanji, those first 80 kanji wont be anywhere near the test.

depending on your level, I skipped N5, so i can’t say for sure, but I took N4, and N3 and will take N2 and N1 eventually..

[missingno15Member]

As you may or may or may not know, the US only offers the JLPT once a year and that is during the winter in December. I still have time to choose what JLPT leve I want to take but I realize that the clock is ticking and I better sit my buttocks down and actually get some studying done.

I’m stuck between taking the JLPT 3 or 2. I think taking JLPT 3 this year as it is would be a safe choice but want to try JLPT 2 as a way to really push myself though I’m not personally confident I could really do it. It’s a hard choice cause remember, in the US, you can only take it once a year. So if I take JLPT 3 and pass it, thats really great except now I have to wait an entire year again to retake the next level and so on and so forth.

Why the haste? Well, I just want something good to appear on my resumes and scholarship applications because I have just about nothing to write about my abilities, cause Japanese is like the only one lol.

[kanjiman8Member]

I’m surprised the US only offer it once a year. I’d say it’s safer to take N3 and pass then taking N2 and risk not passing.

Off Topic

Aside from the JLPT there’s two other tests. The BJPT (Business Japanese Proficency Test), and the Kanji Kentei (漢字検定). According to Wikipedia, here’s the requirements for passing Level 1 (the highest) on the Kanji kentei:

Level 1

Tests the ability to read and write approximately 6000 kanji, with their on readings and kun readings
Requires the ability to use the kanji in sentences and to choose the most appropriate kanji for a given context
Tests special or unusual kanji readings
Tests ateji
Tests knowledge of synonyms and antonyms
Tests ability to differentiate between homonyms
Tests special compound words
Tests complex radicals
Tests kanji unique to the Japanese language
Tests classical Japanese proverbs and idiomatic expressions
Tests place and country names
Tests the ability to recognize the relationship between modern and ancient or old character forms

Anyone up for it eventually?

[PatrickMember]

kanjiman8:

Aside from the JLPT there’s two other tests. The BJPT (Business Japanese Proficency Test), and the Kanji Kentei (漢字検定). According to Wikipedia, here’s the requirements for passing Level 1 (the highest) on the Kanji kentei:

Level 1

Tests the ability to read and write approximately 6000 kanji, with their on readings and kun readings Requires the ability to use the kanji in sentences and to choose the most appropriate kanji for a given context Tests special or unusual kanji readings Tests ateji Tests knowledge of synonyms and antonyms Tests ability to differentiate between homonyms Tests special compound words Tests complex radicals Tests kanji unique to the Japanese language Tests classical Japanese proverbs and idiomatic expressions Tests place and country names Tests the ability to recognize the relationship between modern and ancient or old character forms

Anyone up for it eventually?

Assuming I stick with my life plan (or, at least, the parts involving Japanese/Japan), I would love to take this test in several years to check my abilities/knowledge. I guess I don’t really mind standardized tests (probably the result of years of taking several ACT/SAT/AP tests), so I’m up for the challenge [far down the road].

[thisiskyleMember]

missingno15: I’m stuck between taking the JLPT 3 or 2.

I’m going for the N3 and I think you’re quite a bit above me in terms of ability based off the fact that a lot of the things you post require some puzzling for me to figure out. Think about it this way: If you take N3 and pass it, you would wait a year and try for N2. If you take the N2 now and fail it, you still have to wait a year to take it again next time and your chances will be better since you have seen the actual test and have a better idea how to study and where your weak points are. So you don’t really gain that much by wasting your time on a test that, in my opinion, will be too easy for you. Unless, that is, you just really want that certificate asap.

[Anonymous]

I’ll probably only ever take the JLPT once and that will be when I know I can pass level 1.

Kyle: Assuming missing is above you in ability (I’d say he is) generally the difficulty in tests increases exponentially between 3 and 2. 5-4-3 are standard increases in difficulty, 3-2 is a massive leap, and 2-1 is not as bad an increase in difficulty.

Just saying, using N3 as a reference point to judge N2 is probably a large underestimation.

[thisiskyleMember]

I’ve heard that as well and I believe it. I stand by what I said though; to me, (unless you need the certificate for something) why not give the harder one a shot if you think you might be able to pass? Worst case scenario, you end up not getting something (N3 certificate) that you don’t really care about anyway. For me, I think N2 is way past me, so trying for it wouldn’t accomplish much.

In general, I agree that it is fairly meaningless (if you are learning for personal reasons) to take the test at all until you can pass N1, but it does provide a short term, concrete goal and gives you something to focus on instead of the vague aimlessness that can infect a self-learner.

[Michael LowreyMember]

I have done a fare amount of reading on this, most students in Japan only take/pass the N2 because that is what most jobs require, N1 has a very small passing rate and is really just a bonus to the emplyer. That being said if you pass the N2 and feel really prepared go for the N1, since you would be a foreigner I am sure that will more than level the playing field. The source for this imformation would be the all mighty Wikipedia lol.

On a slightly different note if you want a place to buy books for the jlpt or for any other study purpose i would recommend TheJapanShop.com i have seen quite a few different books for the jlpt and kanji, whichever you need. They tend to have fairly low prices from what i have seen also. They are based out of Florisa in the southeastern US but I think they can ship internationally, though being one state away i cant say for sure.

I hope this information helps and please let me know if i am in error on any of this.

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