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+--- Thread: 2012 JLPT Study Thread (/thread-8736.html)
2012 JLPT Study Thread - Fillanzea - 2012-06-29
That's useful to know, Tzadeck and Erlog and IceCream. I took 1級 the year before they reconfigured the test (on purpose, in case they made N1 harder!) and while I didn't have that much trouble with the grammar, I definitely felt like I spent a lot of time studying grammar points I didn't see too much.
2012 JLPT Study Thread - vileru - 2012-06-29
erlog Wrote:To whoever chooses not to study grammar, good luck on the reading comprehension.nadiatims Wrote:...have some holes in their formal grammar (or at least the type appearing in the exam) and they won't be able to pass N1.This isn't true. The new test has so few grammar questions that it's basically not worth studying grammar for the test.
2012 JLPT Study Thread - Tzadeck - 2012-06-29
IceCream Wrote:Yeah, the vast majority of the grammar on N1 is totally normal. In fact, many are so normal that i don't remember learning them or even thinking of them as a seperate grammar point. i can just imagine a ton of people wandering into a bookshop and picking up 総まとめ, having a look at the first page and concluding that JLPT1 is obscure lol.=)
2012 JLPT Study Thread - erlog - 2012-06-29
vileru Wrote:I didn't say not to study grammar. I said it wasn't worth it to study grammar FOR THE TEST.erlog Wrote:To whoever chooses not to study grammar, good luck on the reading comprehension.nadiatims Wrote:...have some holes in their formal grammar (or at least the type appearing in the exam) and they won't be able to pass N1.This isn't true. The new test has so few grammar questions that it's basically not worth studying grammar for the test.
I was talking specifically in comparison to the way the test was in the past. Being able to understand the grammar was not enough. The grammar questions that used to be on the test were always set up like this: 2 answers were flat wrong based on their meaning, 2 were correct based on their meaning though one was wrong for technical reasons like being the wrong connecting form or "wrong" for the situation. These were the kinds of questions that native Japanese speakers complained about not being able to get right.
The new test has very few of those types of questions. Being able to understand the grammar is enough. It didn't used to be like that. You used to have to study for the test or you wouldn't do well enough enough on that section. Having actual Japanese proficiency is enough now.
2012 JLPT Study Thread - vileru - 2012-06-29
@erlog
Thanks for the clarification. Now I understand what you meant. Anyway, although they have a strong rationale for changing the format of the grammar questions, I'm actually interested in studying the old format. Being able to differentiate between the fine nuances of similar words or grammar points is what distinguishes those who have mastered a language from those who only use it. And, like it or not, you will be judged according to your mastery of a language (at least by hiring personnel or educated/literary types).
2012 JLPT Study Thread - nadiatims - 2012-06-30
I see your point erlog. Maybe 'formal grammar' was the wrong word, I wasn't really talking just about isolated grammar points or specifically about the grammar section either. Questions in the reading section often require familiarity with a certain style of writing, or ask some rather finicky questions. Someone could be very good overall at japanese (with very good reading/listening comprehension across the board) but still get a lot wrong, particularly in the reading section because the multiple choice options given throw them off and they can't pick the subtle differences. Someone else could spend a month or two reading newspaper editorials and going through past papers and they'd likely do much better in the test, but they may well have a lower level generally (have trouble understanding movies, conversations, have a lower vocabulary and so on).
Basically they're trying to test a kind of 'total' comprehension but of a limited amount of material. And the 55% pass mark seems pretty ridiculous for a multiple choice test.
I think they should raise the pass mark substantially, increase the amount and breadth of material (while reducing the length of some longer questions) and rethink multiple choice answers that are too subtle or potentially confusing.
2012 JLPT Study Thread - erlog - 2012-06-30
みんな頑張って！
2012 JLPT Study Thread - partner55083777 - 2012-06-30
Yeah, good luck everyone! Don't forget your watches and test-ticket-pamphlet things!
2012 JLPT Study Thread - erlog - 2012-06-30
partner55083777 Wrote:Yeah, good luck everyone! Don't forget your watches and test-ticket-pamphlet things!Holy god. BRING A WATCH!!!!!!!! There are not enough exclamation points.
2012 JLPT Study Thread - vileru - 2012-06-30
The hour is upon us. Let us prevail.
2012 JLPT Study Thread - partner55083777 - 2012-07-01
So how'd it go? I'm especially interested in hearing from someone who took N1 both this time and last December. How'd it compare? Easier? Harder?
2012 JLPT Study Thread - Splatted - 2012-07-01
Hope it went well everyone!
2012 JLPT Study Thread - erlog - 2012-07-01
partner55083777 Wrote:So how'd it go? I'm especially interested in hearing from someone who took N1 both this time and last December. How'd it compare? Easier? Harder?I think it was probably about the same. I know I did better this time than last time based on my own confidence in my understanding of the material/the questions/etc. I think I did well enough to pass, but I'd like to know how well. I brought a watch this time, and finished the reading with 10 minutes to spare. I was able to go back through to fix some answers I had marked wrong.
If I pass with something like 55-65% I'll be really happy. There were a bunch of questions I was like 100% certain about my answers and completely understood everything. That feeling really didn't happen much at all outside of the vocab section last time I took it.
There was a section of the listening where they just had snippets of conversation, and I think I botched that section completely last time due to not understanding at all what the hell was going on. I never understood that you were supposed to be filling in an appropriate response in the style of a conversation. I thought you were supposed to be choosing the thing that had the same meaning.
My 18/60 last time on the listening despite my listening actually being pretty alright makes a lot more sense now. I can't believe I was so dumb.
It sucks so bad we have to wait until September for our results. At this point, until I get results that tell me otherwise, I'm going to assume that I have passed. This means moving on to my next phase of study.
I want to finish at least one sizable novel per month, finish all the reading material I've bought over the past year, and also start writing. I don't think I'll start doing significant writing practice until after I get the JLPT scores, though. I've got kanji kentei study plans to put together too. Right now while I'm waiting for kanji kentei scores to come out I have to catch up on just a tiny bit of flashcard backlog from when I was cramming for that.
The downside to actually completely finishing my study plan for JLPT is that I don't really have a plan for if I fail. I've done all the drill books I could possibly get my hands on. I guess if I drilled listening harder that might be a thing that could pay off. I'm just not used to the style of the questions on that part of the test, and I think it loses me points.
I need to take better notes during those portions. I get better at it as the test goes along, but it's kind of slow to start.
2012 JLPT Study Thread - Nagareboshi - 2012-07-01
Splatted Wrote:Hope it went well everyone!I'll bet a thousand with you that everyone here will receive the 合格証明書 very soon. (Don't want to jinx it for others or anything), but, seeing how hard everyone here studie(d)s, a fail is highly unlikely.
@erlog, can you tell about the reading section? And what the general topics of the listening section were?
2012 JLPT Study Thread - vix86 - 2012-07-01
I did the N2. I'm not super thrilled about the reading. I got caught up on some of the grammar, like I figured I would. I will say I was quite surprised at the grammar that was present though. It wasn't anything at all complicated like I thought it would be. The reading passages were intense though. I'm not a super fast reader, even in English, I like to actually read, not skim, so getting through those parts would probably require a bit of work. I think I'd actually start backwards next time though. The first part of the section with kanji/vocab was so easy though with my reading/Anki though, it was basically gimme questions.
The listening part was also surprisingly easier than I thought. I didn't due too good on it though I think, but my expectations were higher. I wish I could multitask listening and taking notes though, but I can't.
I will say I was caught a bit off guard by the number of questions dealing with business Japanese though.
2012 JLPT Study Thread - Hint666 - 2012-07-01
I did N2 today. It was quite easy but since i had some japanese-non-related tests last time i couln'd prepare well. I've understood texts and most of listenings but have some problems with answering. It wasn't just enough to understand 70-80% of text.
What really suprised me, there was really small amount of kanji, i'm not used to words like 彫刻 in hiragana. I think that I won't have problems with N1 kanji but still I need to read more.
I suppose I will be able to pass it next year without problems but still hopin for passing N1 next summer.
2012 JLPT Study Thread - erlog - 2012-07-01
Hint666 Wrote:What really suprised me, there was really small amount of kanji, i'm not used to words like 彫刻 in hiragana. I think that I won't have problems with N1 kanji but still I need to read more.They do stuff like this even on the N1 exam. I think it's used as a way to keep the test from being too easy for Chinese people. It's really annoying
I will say, though, that the hiragana versus kanji thing does come down to a stylistic choice for lots of writers. So you'll see stuff happen like that in native material too just because the writer thinks kanji for certain words are ugly or make the sentence not flow very well visually.
2012 JLPT Study Thread - vileru - 2012-07-01
I took five practice tests prior to taking N2 yesterday and I passed each one by over 20 pts, so I'm assuming I passed. However, my scores on the reading section were very unstable on the practice tests, fluctuating between 21 and 38 (the minimum passing grade for each section is 19/60, whereas it's 90/180 for the whole test). For me, reading quickly enough isn't an issue, but rather reading with full comprehension. The questions are usually designed so there are two obviously wrong choices and two that seem correct, but a subtlety in meaning makes one of the options incorrect. Due to this format and not fully comprehending everything in one read, I wasted a lot of time re-reading. It's not enough to get the gist of an article. You really need to fully understand it.
Also, as others have noted, the 文字語彙 section is as easy as putting on our socks for those of us who use Anki and did RTK.
2012 JLPT Study Thread - Tzadeck - 2012-07-01
vileru Wrote:Also, as others have noted, the 文字語彙 section is as easy as putting on our socks for those of us who use Anki and did RTK.Or, if you're like me and you can't really bring yourself to do Anki, they are really hard, haha.
I think I did pretty well on the grammar/reading/listening sections of N1. I barely knew any of the vocab and kanji questions. Maybe I was only absolutely sure of two or three.
2012 JLPT Study Thread - callmedodge - 2012-07-01
Took N4. I did anywhere between failing miserably and kicking ass.
A lot of educated guesses. Too many in fact.
Ah well. It wasn`t my choice to do it, it was my company`s and I think it`s merely to gauge where we`re all at as opposed to being used as a basis for continued employment or not. Pft.
2012 JLPT Study Thread - sonny8988 - 2012-07-27
Im looking to take the N2 this winter, I live in Japan and this will be the first JLPT test for me. Ive read alot of good things about the kanzen master books for studying the grammar section, but I dont know if I should get the new N2 version or get the old 2級 version. Since ive never taken any of the lower JLPTs im worried that the new kanzen book might not include things that are now considered N3. Does it really matter which version I get?
2012 JLPT Study Thread - Tzadeck - 2012-07-27
sonny8988 Wrote:Im looking to take the N2 this winter, I live in Japan and this will be the first JLPT test for me. Ive read alot of good things about the kanzen master books for studying the grammar section, but I dont know if I should get the new N2 version or get the old 2級 version. Since ive never taken any of the lower JLPTs im worried that the new kanzen book might not include things that are now considered N3. Does it really matter which version I get?I doubt the N2 books now include many N3 things, but the Shin Kanzen Master books for N1 and N2 are much better than the old ones for １級 and ２級. So you should go with the N2 book.
The new books have extra notes about subtleties in the the usage of the grammar points, which the old books either didn't have or had with worse explanations. It's a considerable improvement.
2012 JLPT Study Thread - ta12121 - 2012-08-09
Going to be signing up for JLPT Level 1 this September for the winter test. I'm preparing by doing a lot of tests online. Making notes on grammar points/vocab points/reading points and reviewing them. I'm feeling the time it would take me to create anki cards to my liking wouldn't me a smart choice for me. I'm using Anki less and less nowadays (don't add much cards anymore, I add around 20-40 cards per day for all my decks(2 in total))
Anyone got any good tips?
Thanks in advance!
2012 JLPT Study Thread - dizmox - 2012-08-10
Read several books in the few months you have left since the reading is the hardest part probably (I didn't, but I only just scraped a pass).
2012 JLPT Study Thread - atreya - 2012-08-22
When are the results out?
I suppose that they can be checked online?