(2015-12-01, 12:41 pm)Vempele Wrote: We weren't even allowed bottles, clear or otherwise.

Where were you taking the test? I suppose it could vary by country since the administering organizations are different, but the instructions for American test takers were pretty clear about allowing a single, clear plastic bottle of water.

Finland.

Just so I don't forget, I'll say good luck to everybody taking the test now.  5 days to go.  Wishing everybody well.

I'm taking N3 this weekend! I've been speaking Japanese since age 17, and am now a 41 year old geezer who never studied reading and writing in earnest until this year. I've only been studying since July. I have little chance of passing, but I am so excited to take the exam and see how I do. I can't believe how enjoyable the studying has been and you can imagine my regret at not doing this earlier. Like, 1997 earlier. Here is one more vote of thanks for the JLPT to be there as a motivator for all of us.

Anyone else taking the test in Los Angeles?

Good luck everyone taking the exam!

@poiprotocol: the Los Angeles location would be the testing site I would have to take the JLPT but I plan to take it next year since I've had to deal with so much academically this year.

(2015-12-01, 1:52 pm)yogert909 Wrote: Just so I don't forget, I'll say good luck to everybody taking the test now.  5 days to go.  Wishing everybody well.

Thanks man. I'm so not looking forward to it. But at least it will be over soon. Pretty sure I'll do well on it next year.

Good luck everyone! I'll be cheering you on!

(2015-11-19, 2:45 pm)ariariari Wrote: Well, the test is in a couple of weeks so I thought I'd check my stats for the month:

mature grammar cards:  441 (today) - 434 (end of October) = +7
mature kanji cards: 678 (today) - 685 (end of October) = -7
mature vocab cards: 4,450 (today) - 4,426 (end of October) = +24

Total: 5,569 (today) - 5,545 (end of October) = +24

Kinda surprised about the kanji going down. But I guess that if you stop adding new cards it's only a matter of time before it decreases. Surprised that grammar didn't go up more since that's my new focus. But maybe a bunch of the cards I've been adding recently are just on the verge of going mature.

How are you guys doing? I'm surprised I haven't received any written instructions about where to go on test day, etc.

So it looks like I got a bit sporadic in my posting of stats - the last one was mid november, this is a bit into december. But since the test is tomorrow, why not?

mature grammar cards:  475 (today) - 441 (11-19) = +34
mature kanji cards: 684 (today) - 678 (11-19) = +6
mature vocab cards: 4,497 (today) - 4,450 (11-19) = +47

Total: 5,656 (today) - 5,569 (11-19) = +87

Compared to January 20 (my earliest record for 2015):
mature grammar cards: 475 (today)- 208 (1/20) = +267
mature kanji cards:  684 (today) - 478 mature (1/20) = +206
mature vocab cards: 4,497 (today) - 3,246 (1/20) = +1,251 

Total: 5,656 (today) - 3932 (1/20) = +1,724

I'll have a little party in a few days when my mature vocab count breaks 4,500.

I'm glad to see my grammar cards finally increasing a lot. A month or so ago I started going thru an N4 grammar book and adding all the sentence patterns I either didn't know or was rusty on into Anki. I'm really surprised that my vocab cards went up so much, because I now only add 2 new ones a day. 

This change in focus (more remedial grammar, less new vocab) was a result of my performance on a practice test a few months ago. I realized that I would probably pass the vocab section, but was at risk of failing the grammar section.

In either case, I'm looking forward to this exam being over, and getting a fresh start on my Japanese with some new goals.

Honestly, posting my anki stats has been one of the biggest motivators for me this year. I'm thinking of creating a "2016 Anki Challenge" thread on January 1st just to keep it up.

Great job! Expect some progreas posts from me if you make that new thread happen

(2015-12-05, 1:25 pm)RawrPk Wrote: Great job! Expect some progreas posts from me if you make that new thread happen

So,  I was in a different campus than the previous one here in Tokyo.
Totally different style of facility, new one and the atmoshpere was more human. From the train station a group of 30people were rushing through the street to reach this place. It was written on the directions that it is 12 minutes only from the train station I arrived just 5 minutes before the test!
First section went great, I finished with 5minutes left.
Second section (grammar and reading) I tackled starting from question 24, the first of the reading part, I finished ther eading part and there were only 15 minutes left for the grammar part.
I rushed trough the grammar questions, including the scrambling ones, and sometimes checked the watch until I realized there was maybe two minutes left. I had two questions to answer before turning in the last set of questions,  related to the written passage. I stepped into this last one without trying to read it. I replied two questions hurriedly and the time was gone. At that point I had 5 questions left, thus I marked them totally by hazard.
Awkwardly the vietnamese guy who was sitting on my right side slept half of the time...
I questioned him about that and he said he was fast...
The listening was ok, but it is the hardest to predict.
Even so yesterday I did two sets of exam style test and I scored enough in both.
When you know you are scoring right during the listening section? When you have already found the right answer before the conversation ends. (obbivously in the questions that lets you do it)...

Overall I give myself fifty fifty chances to pass it.
I hope others will post their experience here.

Oh geez, I just realized that I spelled "progress" incorrectly >_< I wrote that in a rush...

Thanks for the update on your experience! It seems like the listening seems like the trickiest. I better work on that, especially since this is my weakest skill.

Btw, is the first section kanji? I've never taken the jlpt before so I don't know how the order of the exam is.

To those who took N3 today... anyone remember the listening question about the student getting ready for the marathon race and the things to bring? Registration form, hat, water bottle. Anyone remember their answer? Did he need to bring the water bottle? This is driving me CRAZY.

spleenlol found what looks like the answer list from today's tests on a Chinese website and posted the links over on the N1-N2 thread. Here are the equivalents for N3. No guarantees on the validity of this info, and of course it's just the answer numbers. Doesn't show the questions themselves.

2015 December JLPT N3

文字・語彙
http://jp.hjenglish.com/new/p758462/

文法
http://jp.hjenglish.com/new/p758463/

読解
http://jp.hjenglish.com/new/p758465/

読解
http://jp.hjenglish.com/new/p758461/

Scary that these are out there already. Even scarier for test administrators, when did these post?

Not sure of the question number about that marathon participant and his water bottle. Dang.

Hi guys, just wanted to post a quick update the same day as the test. I did quite poorly.

Vocab: Harder than I expected. I got about 50% on the practice test, but felt I did worse on the actual test.

Grammar. I got a 33% (B/C borderline) on the practice test, and that felt comparable to the actual test.

(Note: on the practice test I left questions blank if I didn't have an educated guess).

Reading and listening were where the real problems were. I could read and understand all the passages, which was nice. But I couldn't answer any of the questions. I'm still surprised at how big the difference is between being able to get the gist of something and being able to answer questions about it.

Listening was worse, because I often could only pick up out parts of the conversations. I was surprised at how long the conversations were. I'd say I was surprised with how different the listening was compared to conversations with my friends, but I already knew that from the N4 last year.

So overall, I think that I'm on the right path, but I just wasn't up to the level necessary to pass the test this year.

I do not remember the answer of the marathon guy, it was actually difficult. Usually in the listening section, the first 4 questions are the trickiest to my hears.
Yesterday I also collected all my books and watched their prices on the back.
You maybe impressed as I was, but I bought 18 books, most of them were dedicated to exercises. Total amount is 28000 Yen + the Heisig RTK 1...I left the Heisig book outside because it is not only for the JPN3 level.
I doubt anybody need such amount of books to prepare the test, that is me and my little time for studying.
On top of that I would add three months of lessons with a japanese teacher, weekly 1 hour for 3000yen , that makes about 36000yen total. Totally would be 28+36 = 64000 yen . That is exactly the sum after finishing the Minna no Nihongo 初級　couple of books to my actual level whether it is JPN3 or only around it.

Hmm maybe I passed on the third time, if not i will need to find a tutor.

ahh yes, the marathon listening question at first I thought it was 3 things, test cert, cap and water bottle, but then I could not remember if I heard certificate or paper (along those lines) so I picked just cap and water bottle, So now I don't know at all.

Is there such thing as all past papers and answers released in book format, that would be helpful.


1st section easy,

2nd section I always screw this up, with grammar I always pick wrong one between the 2 most likeliest of answers, some stories I did not follow, as always I leaved the scrambled answers till last and prob screwed that up too due to lack of time spent on them.

Listening is simple, only thing is sometimes a moments lack of concentration and then choose wrong answer.

My best book investment, by far, was the official N3 practice test booklet. Out of laziness, I didn't take it until two days ago, the Saturday before the test. Getting the exact feel for each section's time allotment and learning the instructions for each question type gave me a huge advantage on test day.

I also really wondered what level I was really at. My results showed my abilities are hugely lopsided toward grammar, vocab, and listening. Reading is weak and Kanji is very weak. This is what I thought it would be, because I've been speaking Japanese so long (23 years) but never learned more than 150 kanji until now. After 6 months of true study, I estimate I now know around 480 kanji. That's a great improvement, but probably not enough to pass N3. Here are my practice test results. I put a small mark next to each question where I guessed, and out of sheer luck got a lot of those right.

N3 Practice Test (official booklet) December 5, 2015
Kanji/Vocabulary: [10 guesses] 24/33 (72.7%)
Grammar/Reading: [10 guesses] 36/39 (92.3%)
Listening: [2 guesses] 25/27 (92.6%)

I was surprised I got even 72% on the Kanji/Vocab section. A lot of the vocab questions also test kanji knowledge, and I don't have that.  I was surprised I missed much at all on Listening. I've heard others say that if you've lived and worked in Japan for any length of time (2 years total for me), then you can sort of pass this section "for free". For people who are studying outside of Japan, I'm hearing that this section can be the hardest.

I found Yesterday's real test to be quite similar to the practice one. Some sections were definitely harder. The star grammar scrambles were harder, and I think listening was harder too. I think the fancy grading algorithm they use corrects for difficulty each offering, since question points are dynamically weighted according to how many people globally get a question right or wrong.

Just last week, knowing that my kanji level was inadequate, I thought I had no chance of passing. But after taking both the practice and real tests, it seems I may have a chance. Once again, let me sing the praises of their being a JLPT to motivate us. My study would probably be nowhere without it.

(2015-12-07, 8:58 am)redshoulder Wrote: Is there such thing as all past papers and answers released in book format, that would be helpful.

There are no officially released past papers for the New JLPT (2009 and later) source. You can read all about yesterday's test with estimated answers at this Chinese site: Translated link.

(2015-12-07, 8:58 am)redshoulder Wrote: ahh yes, the marathon listening question at first I thought it was 3 things, test cert, cap and water bottle, but then I could not remember if I heard certificate or paper (along those lines) so I picked just cap and water bottle, So now I don't know at all.

That sounds like my thought process exactly. The listening questions are always trying to trip you up my mentioning an item and then modifying what they say about it. In this case, I didn't modify my answer, and stuck with the all three things choice.

(2015-12-07, 8:58 am)redshoulder Wrote: Listening is simple, only thing is sometimes a moments lack of concentration and then choose wrong answer.

Do you live in Japan now, or have you in the past? How long? I feel like that makes all the difference on Listening.

Yes 2 years in an engineering company, yes listening was much improved because of this, when doing nothing passive listening and answering phonecalls, while in group meeting listening was necessary because all of a sudden they would ask you a question and if you did not try to at least know what they were talking about you were scolded.

That and if I learned some new vocab or grammar point then I noticed that I would hear it all the time in daily life if you know what I mean maybe I would call it positive reinforcement, it meant that actual study made daily life a bit easier, more understandable.

Regarding the listening section, I found that if I wrote notes on the question paper it helped, like for example, there is often question about where the speaker and his/her friend should go for lunch etc. If you make note of what was the first option, etc, because in alot of the listening questions, the speaker at the end of the question says afterall something like we will go to first place, but if you did not make note of it then maybe you would have forgotten it.

(2015-12-06, 11:07 pm)poiprotocol Wrote: To those who took N3 today... anyone remember the listening question about the student getting ready for the marathon race and the things to bring? Registration form, hat, water bottle. Anyone remember their answer? Did he need to bring the water bottle? This is driving me CRAZY.

I registered for the forum to post my answer

I think the answer was the registration form and the water bottle. They definitely said bring the form. I think they asked to please bring a bottle from home, and they said they would provide a hat so you can identify everyone easily. I'm not so sure about providing vs bringing the hat though.

(2015-12-08, 3:48 am)redshoulder Wrote: Yes 2 years in an engineering company - that is for AEC industry? Maybe we are in the same boat.

...Yes good advice, I write a lot during the listening .
First I write the question in my own language, simplified. Absolutely to whom is the question related, the woman or the man, for instance.
Also I noticed often the first thing they say during the conversation is the most important. Sometimes it is just the answer meanwhile the conversation go along another topic not sticked to the question..

...more than advices are opinions...
Another opinion is  about two books　 listening I used to improve (hopefully succeding)
1) 聴解トレーニングＮ３　アルク　
耳から覚える　日本語能力試験
小源　。。。。
横井　和子


2)新完全マスター聴解ト
日本語能力試験Ｎ３

The first One I bought after the second one since I needed more training exercises. Good things about the number 1 are: there are really precise sentences, abbreviations that happens in the daililife in Japan I was not aware of. Not much of explanations but good underlining of the difficult things to grasp and exercises on those. For instance' During the training I had to pick up again the Minna no nihongo grammar (basic level, unit 4...grossly) because  I realized I did not fully comprehened how to use the られる　form. At the end two sets of mock test were ok but the fact I do not suggest to use them to prepare for the exam as I did. Indeed the pace of those tests was slower than the real test, and that is wrong. Thus I suggest to use this book, way in advance for the exam, at least one month before.

Number 2 Is well known. It is perfect for the explanations, intonations. I realized what I was missing during my previous mocking preparations. The only thing is that realizing and understanding things is important because after you try to pay attentions on those, but it is not enough. It containt only half of the numbers of exercises I needed to fix my mistakes. Maybe for a clever guy that would work just right, not for me.

(2015-12-08, 9:34 pm)Hannibro Wrote: I registered for the forum to post my answer

I think the answer was the registration form and the water bottle. They definitely said bring the form. I think they asked to please bring a bottle from home, and they said they would provide a hat so you can identify everyone easily. I'm not so sure about providing vs bringing the hat though.

Much appreciated! I think these establishes that out of three of us on this thread, we've produced three unique answers. And we'll probably never know the right one. It's triggered a good conversation though.

I only did one full practice test, and I did it the day before the test. I graded it quickly that night, and I haven't gone back to analyze the ones I've missed. I think that's one of the most important parts. And getting them wrong on a "serious" practice test cements the correct answer in your brain more than missing on an exercise. I think my 2016 study plan will contain a lot more practice tests than 2015 did.

I thought that I'd write up a brief summary of what went well and not well for me in my preparation for the exam in case it helps anyone.

Most helpful

1. Creating this thread. I don't know many people IRL who are taking any JLPT, let alone N3. Connecting with people in the same boat during exam prep was very helpful.
   
2. Posting monthly anki stats. Helped to keep up my motivation
   
3. Taking lessons at the Japanese Online Institute (JOI)
   
4. Adding vocab from soumatome vocab and shin kanzen kanji N3 books
   
5. Reading NHK Easy News - started out as impossible, became totally doable
   

Wish I did sooner

1. Stop doing RtK in favor of a kanji deck that is just kanji -> definition. This was a huge time saver for me.
   
2. Create an anki grammar deck for grammar as I learned it
   
3. Add in N4 grammar from "nihongo challenge n4 grammar and reading"
   
4. Go thru N4 reading practice from "nihongo challenge n4 grammar and reading"
   
5. Listening practice from fluentu
   
6. Limited the number of vocab I added to anki, so that I could spend more time on grammar, reading and listening
   

I think that there is not much in point analysing past papers as they don't release/publish them. It would be helpful if they did.

But I have quick question regarding paper, then my mind can be at ease.

In the first section, does anyone remember the question something about a piano concert, the answers were on the lines of
こうえん
じょうえん
they both been performance, I picked the first one, but i think the second one is correct in this situation?
I have the knack of always picking wrong answer out of two possibilities.

OK, so I got my score. As expected, I failed. Here's the breakdown:

Language knowledge (vocab/grammar): 25/60
Reading: 19/60
Listening: 20/60

Total score: 64/180

Vocabulary: B
Grammar: B

Reflecting on both the score and my experience, my story is that I was near the lower threshold for language knowledge for this level. But once you threw in reading and listening at the level they were testing at, it really all just fell apart for me.

Provided that I keep up my current study habits, I do not think that it will be hard to get a better score next December. I am on track to finish both my N3 kanji book and N4 grammar review book by the end of June. And I'm already doing a lot more reading, of a lot more different types of stuff, than I was doing when I took the exam.

As before, I really wish they offered the test more than once a year here in the US!