JLPT4 through JLPT2 - Printable Version

JLPT4 through JLPT2 - Printable Version

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JLPT4 through JLPT2 - mpacheco - 2010-11-18

I understand that JLPT1 gives you some cred for jobs and is required for many school admissions over here.. But what's the point of JLPT2, 3, or 4?

JLPT4 through JLPT2 - Womacks23 - 2010-11-18

Baby steps.

JLPT4 through JLPT2 - mpacheco - 2010-11-18

Yes but why meter progress with official tests that cost money to take? I understand people want to take the tests so they can say they are JLPTx, but I'm wondering if there's a practical reason for the various levels. ?

JLPT4 through JLPT2 - Jarvik7 - 2010-11-18

There is no point in taking the actual tests until you actually need the cert. Just take practice/previous tests until then.

JLPT4 through JLPT2 - Womacks23 - 2010-11-18

And believe it or not there are companies and organizations out there who value N5-N2 certification.

JLPT4 through JLPT2 - captal - 2010-11-18

N1 and N2 I'd believe. But N3-N5? The only companies that value those might be English teaching companies that would like you to have a little Japanese skill. I know Interac used to (perhaps still does) offer a bonus based on your JLPT level.

JLPT4 through JLPT2 - Womacks23 - 2010-11-18

A few years ago the Japanese government was considering making 4級 a minimum requirement when applying for permanent residency. Of course the foreigner community in Japan cried racism (how dare the Japanese government require Japanese skills for immigrants!) and I'm not sure where it went from there.

Some prefectures on the JET program require N4 certification or completion of the "JET Japanese" course in order to re-contract for a 4th and 5th year.

JLPT4 through JLPT2 - thurd - 2010-11-18

captal Wrote:N1 and N2 I'd believe. But N3-N5? The only companies that value those might be English teaching companies that would like you to have a little Japanese skill. I know Interac used to (perhaps still does) offer a bonus based on your JLPT level.

N3-N5 could tell a company that you're a little bit more engaged into this whole Japan thing resulting in a longer stay/ROI and better integration/adaptation. Not to mention that even the worst language ability is better than none in daily situations, work included.

If I had known that my country has JLPT 2 times each year, I'd definitely go for N3 this summer before trying to pass N2 in December. Cost is insignificant and its always better than nothing when looking for work, especially considering how Japanese like exams&certificates.

JLPT4 through JLPT2 - Womacks23 - 2010-11-18

Yea thurd is right on. Pretend that you are working in a multinational company and want to spend a few years at the Tokyo office and put in a transfer request...what is going to happen when 5 or 6 other people apply for the same position...? Will the HR people start looking at language ability and motivation?

JLPT4 through JLPT2 - jcdietz03 - 2010-11-18

N1 is supposed to be high school graduate equivalent.
N2,3,4,5 are arbitrary. The only rule that applies to these is 1>2>3>4>5 in terms of proficiency level.

From taking practice tests, I'm 100% sure I could pass N4. I get around 80% on the practice tests. I'm not sure about N3; there is no data to go on in terms of what will be tested.

I work for a multinational company. I should put in a transfer request, because we do have a small office in Japan Smile

They don't do what I do there, they do inspection and quality assurance. That doesn't seem so hard (I work with people that do this at one of our biggest offices in the USA), I'm sure I could learn. However, my friend who transferred said none of the employees there speak English. The office is not in a major city.

JLPT4 through JLPT2 - zigmonty - 2010-11-18

mpacheco Wrote:I understand that JLPT1 gives you some cred for jobs and is required for many school admissions over here.. But what's the point of JLPT2, 3, or 4?

Not everyone learning japanese is doing it for application at a job in japan where high level japanese is expected. Where i work (a toyota subsidiary in australia), they're thrilled if you pass N5. Generally grads are expected to push through to at least N4.

I think you underestimate how much cred especially N2 has. It may not be enough to get you a job in japan intended for a native (not if there are other candidates that have N1 or are native anyway), but its far from worthless.

JLPT4 through JLPT2 - Jarvik7 - 2010-11-18

Where did you read that jlpt1 was supposed to be high school graduate equivalent? It's not even close to jr highschool graduate equivalent and a lot of elementary schoolers could pass it too. I'd rate it as jrhigh1 level. Check out nihongo kentei and kanji kentei to see what is expected of Japanese students of certain ages. Jlpt1 is pretty easy in comparison.

JLPT2 used to open a lot of doors, but since NOVA collapsed and the the economy tanked, there is a glut of foreigners who want work but not enough companies to hire them all. That means more competition and I've noticed many more jobs requiring JLPT1 or native-level where JLPT2 or business-level used to be accepted.

That said, if anyone is a pro mechanic, my company will hire you even if you're JLPT5 Tongue

JLPT4 through JLPT2 - Womacks23 - 2010-11-18

Oh lets be more fair. JLPT 1 is more like JHS 3....depending on what grammar they decide to test. Any kid will ace the other sections for sure.

JLPT4 through JLPT2 - captal - 2010-11-18

Jarvik7 Wrote:Where did you read that jlpt1 was supposed to be high school graduate equivalent? It's not even close to jr highschool graduate equivalent and a lot of elementary schoolers could pass it too. I'd rate it as jrhigh1 level.

Cmon, seriously? Elementary school kids? Ok, listening I give em a pass but the grammar and kanji are nothing close to what they've studied. I mean, you've taken the test, so your opinion is more valid than mine, but I find it hard to believe.

Who just posted that they showed their Jr. High lvl 3 kids 1kyuu and they had no problem, but 1st grade struggled with it? That sounded more realistic to me.

JLPT4 through JLPT2 - nadiatims - 2010-11-18

Every kokugo teacher I've ever asked has told me JHS 1nensei can't read the newspaper. So I think the reading and kanji section could be a little difficult. Perhaps they can fudge their way through it though. It's multiple choice after all. 3nensei should have no problems passing though.

JLPT4 through JLPT2 - vinniram - 2010-11-18

Womacks23 Wrote:A few years ago the Japanese government was considering making 4級 a minimum requirement when applying for permanent residency. Of course the foreigner community in Japan cried racism (how dare the Japanese government require Japanese skills for immigrants!) and I'm not sure where it went from there.

Some prefectures on the JET program require N4 certification or completion of the "JET Japanese" course in order to re-contract for a 4th and 5th year.

Japanese government should do what it wants and ignore these attention-seeking whiners.

JLPT4 through JLPT2 - julianjalapeno - 2010-11-18

N1 seems to be passable for JHS 1st year students and probably close to acing with the 3rd year students. Its the listening sections and the fact that its multiple choice that elementary school kids have a good shot at passing.

I showed some EHS 4th graders the vocab and kanji section of the N1 and they smashed it, making only one error and not needing to even think about the others, they knew the answers right away (and these are by no means above average students).

Regarding why anyone would take below N1, I`ve seen job ads asking for an N2 equivalent and I think taking the earlier level tests is good training for the test taking experience and will prepare you for the higher levels (although I personally wouldn`t take any lower than N3 because for me the test money would be better spent on more books for study.

JLPT4 through JLPT2 - magamo - 2010-11-18

nadiatims Wrote:Every kokugo teacher I've ever asked has told me JHS 1nensei can't read the newspaper.

I'm sure the average 7th grader can read newspapers just fine. Younger kids who read books can also read them without a problem. JLPT is extremely easy for native speakers. Your average stupid kid can pass JLPT 1 unless he gets too bored to complete it. This doesn't mean JLPT 2~4 are useless though.

JLPT4 through JLPT2 - nadiatims - 2010-11-18

Then why do all the kokugo teachers seem to claim otherwise? I aggree N1 level is easy for natives, but the lack of furigana may throw off some younger kids. Obviously the voracious readers will be fine, but I'm talking about the majority. Public school aims to finish teaching the Jouyou kanji by the end of JHS. N1 uses jouyou kanji.

JLPT4 through JLPT2 - Womacks23 - 2010-11-18

Your kids must spend way too much time in Kumon or something. There is no way my 4th graders can get more than 1 or 2 questions right on a N1 test.

JLPT4 through JLPT2 - magamo - 2010-11-18

nadiatims Wrote:Then why do all the kokugo teachers seem to claim otherwise? I aggree N1 level is easy for natives, but the lack of furigana may throw off some younger kids. Obviously the voracious readers will be fine, but I'm talking about the majority. Public school aims to finish teaching the Jouyou kanji by the end of JHS. N1 uses jouyou kanji.

The average kid knows kanji when they're introduced in Japanese classes. Kids with low grades may not know them all. Many kids can't write them by hand before they learn the kanji. But the majority sure can read most of the kanji before they learn them.

I don't mean to be rude to you, but do you find Japanese newspapers difficult to read by any chance? I mean, the only reason I can think of is that they're being nice to you, ...or kids these days are not as good at their mother tongue.

Womacks23 Wrote:Your kids must spend way too much time in Kumon or something. There is no way my 4th graders can get more than 1 or 2 questions right on a N1 test.

Ah, when I changed the subject to JLPT, I had kids much older than 4th graders in mind. I meant something like partially educated teenagers should find it quite easy.

JLPT4 through JLPT2 - nadiatims - 2010-11-18

magamo Wrote:I don't mean to be rude to you, but do you find Japanese newspapers difficult to read by any chance? I mean, the only reason I can think of is that they're being nice to you, ...or kids these days are not as good at their mother tongue.

I can and do read Japanese newspapers. Not at fast as English but I can read tem comfortably without a dictionary. Kanji is not a problem for me. When I ask this question out of general curiosity (not fishing for a certain answer), the most common answer I get is the head tilting, sucking through the teeth and a 　難しい。読めないと思う

JLPT4 through JLPT2 - Nukemarine - 2010-11-18

So on how well Japanese kids can do on the JLPT: nobody knows cause nobody bothered to test the theory.

Sounds easy enough to get a number of kids ages 10 to 14 to take N1 and N2. With that, you can get a useful graph to guage your test score against native kids. Personally, passing the N1 would be cool, but I would be ecstatic knowing if my reading scores were above 50% of 14 year old natives that took the test.

JLPT4 through JLPT2 - magamo - 2010-11-18

nadiatims Wrote:I can and do read Japanese newspapers. Not at fast as English but I can read tem comfortably without a dictionary. Kanji is not a problem for me. When I ask this question out of general curiosity (not fishing for a certain answer), the most common answer I get is the head tilting, sucking through the teeth and a 　難しい。読めないと思う

Then I think they're talking about newspaper literacy by adult native speakers' standards. For example, a Japanese high school dropout who has zero interest in politics may find it impossible to understand news articles in the politics section as well as your average Japanese adult. In Japanese, this person is described as "新聞が読めない." But this doesn't mean he can't read newspapers because of lack of grammar knowledge or his poor vocabulary. He can gain information he needs by reading newspapers. So 読めない here isn't the same as Japanese learners' "I can't read."

If you asked me if a 7th grader understands news articles to the same degree as educated adults would, I'd say no because they may not know how society works etc. very well. But they can read and understand them in their own ways. It's definitely not like "I can't read newspapers" from a nonnative speaker's mouth. Nonnative speakers your age must have enough knowledge to understand pretty much everything on newspapers. If they can't, that's because they lack language skills. This is not the case for kids who speak Japanese as their native language.

JLPT4 through JLPT2 - Jarvik7 - 2010-11-19

Native elementary school students might not be able to write the kanji in question or produce the grammar, but JLPT doesn't test production so it's not a problem since they can generally recognize it. It's a multiple choice test and any 6th grader should be able to pass it, even if it's not at a 100% grade. Nihongo Kentei is MUCH harder.