So basically, I want to apply for a postgraduate teacher training degree next year and it requires that I have around an N2 level understanding of Japanese. As my undergraduate degree that I am currently studying does not include Japanese in the overall degree title, I will need to prove my level by taking the exam. I have one year of university left after this academic year.

However, admittedly, I am definitely not at an N2 level yet. I have a good grasp on basic Japanese and I have just completed Level 3 of Japanese at my university, which is equivalent to something like beginner-intermediate stage (I know this is very subjective, but I'm just trying to provide as much info as possible).

So my plan was to do this: revise all summer for the JLPT N3 and take that in December, to give me a goal to work towards and help me understand how the test is structured a bit better. Then after that, take the N2 in July next year.

However, I'm not sure how feasible that sounds or if it is possible to study for the levels at that speed. Just a bit worried that the jump will be a bit too much for me, especially as I will be in my last year of university and have a great workload already.

Do you need the N3 certification? Why not take N2 this year, and whether you pass or fail, you're better equipped for next year.

I got N4 a year ago, and failed N2 in December. However, I was very pleased with how close I got to passing. I'm happy I skipped N3, because now I feel like I know the level of the test better.

There are some good "N3/N2" books out there, as a result of the nature of N3 (that is, being added in a few years ago).

Seems possible to me. Since your end goal is to pass an exam, it would definitely be best to spend the majority of your time on materials focused on exam subjects (feel free to indulge in fun stuff as well, though). As Khakionion said, it might be beneficial to take the N2 twice, in December and July. That way you'll have a better idea of what you're aiming for the second time round.

Personally, I would pick up some books for N3 and N2 (vocabulary, grammar, kanji, reading comp...) that you could work through in a structured fashion. Then if you want, you could also pick up any general intermediate textbook that would serve as a supplement to your main studies or that you could look at from time to time when you don't understand something in your other books.

That's what I would do anyway, but realistically, you can use whatever method you like. I think there's one thing, however, that you're going to need to do no matter what: develop a regular study schedule. Obviously, the more time you can give up, the better, but even 20 minutes per day should do the trick. I find that 1 hour usually works the best (for me) since it's enough time to cover a respectable amount of material, plus you can easily stay concentrated the whole time, especially if you add a 5 minute break in the middle.

Following your schedule, you should make great progress as long as you work hard to get the most out of each study session. By that I mean you should try to have everything prepared before you start studying each day; stay concentrated while you study; make mental or written notes of important points, whether or not they are mentioned in your books; don't review old material that you've already internalized, and for that matter don't spend more time than is necessary reviewing old material; don't spend too much time on points you have trouble understanding, instead, come back to them later... Basically, don't just open your book and read it passively.

Good luck!

In addition to the advice above don't forget that the overall passing requirements are quite low. Make sure you are focusing on improving your test skills where they are weakest and use practice tests liberally to determine where your study time is best spent. You only need to know 60% of the N2 test material, but it must be balanced between all of the sections.

Make sure you follow the advice of planning on taking the N2 twice as the format of N3 does not prepare you for N2. Also take advantage of Anki and the cloze feature. You can make all your decks questions in very similar formats to the actual tests.

Remember, any money you spend on study materials as an investment in your future. Don't get bogged down by price when you are on a hard deadline.

[RawToast]

Tykkylumi Wrote:So basically, I want to apply for a postgraduate teacher training degree next year and it requires that I have around an N2 level understanding of Japanese.

However, I'm not sure how feasible that sounds or if it is possible to study for the levels at that speed. Just a bit worried that the jump will be a bit too much for me, especially as I will be in my last year of university and have a great workload already.

I would try the example tests on the JLPT site and find your level. As you may be close enough to N3 that it's not worth your time studying for it.

I didn't know universities gave JLPT levels for teacher training. Anytime I looked they wanted a Japanese degree or evidence of living in Japan for a year.

Thanks everyone, this is all really helpful.

@sizen, khakionion: Great advice guys. Actually no, I don't need the N3 certification at all... I guess I just thought it'd make sense to take each level at a time. Looking at the structure of N3/N2 now I can see why you're saying this, and I think I will just do the N2 twice. And hell, I might even be able to pass the first time round if I really try, but I'm not gonna hold out too much hope on that one .

Yeah I'm definitely going to pick up some JLPT books, I get lost pretty quickly without some sort of structure. Are there any books in particular you guys could recommend?

@tokyostyle: Haha, don't worry, I use anki quite a lot. I was looking for what the pass criteria was, actually, so do I just need to get at least 60% on the individual sections?

@RawToast: I tried out the tests and I managed to do N5 and N4 not too badly, N3 was more of a struggle though.
I'd emailed a university professor to enquire whether it would be possible, as on the website it did say that Japanese *should* be part of my degree title, but not *has* to be. He said it might be possible but needed a bit more information about the course I'm studying now, still waiting for him to email back a reply actually after a week and a half... don't know whether to email him again but I don't really want to pester anyone, just anxious to know

Tykkylumi Wrote:Thanks everyone, this is all really helpful.
@tokyostyle: Haha, don't worry, I use anki quite a lot. I was looking for what the pass criteria was, actually, so do I just need to get at least 60% on the individual sections?

Total score is out of 180. Each section is 60 points. You need at least 19/60 on each section and 90/180 total to pass for N2...that being said, the test questions get weighted during grading, so a 90/180 doesn't necessarily mean just getting 50% of questions correct.

Tykkylumi Wrote:@tokyostyle: Haha, don't worry, I use anki quite a lot. I was looking for what the pass criteria was, actually, so do I just need to get at least 60% on the individual sections?

The point is more that you should try and stay focused on passing the N2. Part of passing it means making sure you are focusing on the parts of the exam you are weakest as opposed to studying all of the parts equally. It also means you might want to temporarily ignore production skills that aren't tested.

As a somewhat extreme example I have a friend who goes an fails the N2 every six months because he doesn't study specifically what he is weak at. So he does well on the listening and grammar, but then bombs the vocabulary and the reading. Perhaps if he focused more on kanji meanings and vocab he would have passed by now.

Tykkylumi Wrote:Are there any books in particular you guys could recommend?

I love this series, other people in this forum have recommended this series.

Are you in the US, where there is no July test anymore? I am, and after my near-miss it really kills me that I can't take it again until December. (Might be visiting Japan anyway this summer...might time it correctly. haha)

Just going slightly off topic, is it realistically possible to go from N3 this summer to N2 in December this year? Will have around 2 hours a day to dedicate to studying.

saborio Wrote:Just going slightly off topic, is it realistically possible to go from N3 this summer to N2 in December this year? Will have around 2 hours a day to dedicate to studying.

I think it's reasonable if you have a really solid understanding of the N3 material and stick to your daily schedule.