(2016-02-18, 7:47 pm)PotbellyPig Wrote:(2016-02-18, 6:50 pm)afterglowefx Wrote: I have not sat any of the JLPT tests so my experience may not be the most relevant, but my speaking and listening are JLPT1ish and I know all the words from the JLPT1 vocab decks.
I have never sat down and studied grammar directly. What I do is when I find a new grammar form I am unfamiliar with is immediately look up 5-10 example sentences, add them all into Anki, and work out the usage through osmosis. Grammar than starts to "feel right" or "feel wrong" as I am exposed to more and more examples.
I am not suggesting you throw away grammar study in favor of this, but it may help you to develop a more nuanced grasp of grammar if used in conjunction with your other studies.
I agree with you to some extent, but the questions in the Kanzen Master N1 grammer book can be tricky. If you don't practice production frequently, they would be hard to remember the exact usage naturally. By the way, I bought the book that zx573 recommended. The Google Play Book Store happened to have it at a decent price.
For what it's worth, I think the questions in the (Shin) Kanzen Master grammar books are intentionally harder than the actual test. You're taught 5-6 different grammar points that are all similar but with slight differences, and you are tested on them all at the same time. I used the Shin Kanzen Master N2 grammar book during my N2 prep last year and I felt the actual test was much easier. I felt with the actual JLPT test I was able to rule out 1 or 2 choices pretty quickly because they did not fit at all, whereas it was harder to do that with the questions from the Shin Kanzen Master grammar book.
Also, glad you checked out the book! It indeed seems to be at a very reasonable price right now. It's the best grammar/expression book I've used and even when the explanation in Shin Kanzen Master doesn't quite click for me, it's usually enough to clear things up. Hopefully you find it as useful as I do!