Hello everyone,
Not too long ago I wrote another post here. My plans to take N2 this December remain unchanged (I took the N4 last December and passed it with a score of 155/180) but I'm getting more and more unsure whenever I'll be able to do it. I'm almost done with the N3 grammar and I should finish learning the N3/N2 kanji by July. I'll be able to study Japanese as much as I want for about 2 months (July and August) and I'll have around 2-3 hours daily from September till the test. I have previous experience learning Indo-European languages so I can memorise 40 Japanese words daily and can memorise max 80 if needed. My main concern is the vocab. I know 3000-ish words but I have been told that I'll need at least 9000 words and around 1400 kanji to even have chances passing the test. I'll be also using N2 Shin Kanzen master and grammar dictionaries. Are my goals realistic?

kamnn Wrote:My main concern is the vocab. I know 3000-ish words but I have been told that I'll need at least 9000 words and around 1400 kanji to even have chances passing the test.

Even the old N1 vocab list contained only 8009 words, there's no way you're going to need 9000 for N2. Also, ~1000 kanji is the commonly quoted number for N2.

I'd say Core6k would be sufficient to ensure that lack of vocab won't be the reason you fail.

Thank you for your reply. I'm not a fan of SRS but I might give it a try...

kamnn Wrote:Thank you for your reply. I'm not a fan of SRS but I might give it a try...

Hey, whatever other method you used to learn your current 3000 words applied to another 3000 words should also do just fine.

Never took the actual JLPT tests myself. But the jump from JLPT N4 to N2 is rather large. Get the Kanzen Master N2 Reading and Listening Workbooks as well so you get a taste of what you are striving to achieve.

It's certainly realistic to try. I took and passed the N4 in 2012 N3 in 2013. Both times I knew I would pass and probably would have done okay on the N3 and N2 respectively, but I also knew I wouldn't pass those. So it just depends how you like to go about things. If you take N2 this year and don't pass (not that this is guaranteed, it's certainly possible to pass it in a year's time from N4 and if that's what you want to aim for you should) you can pass it next time. If you don't pass, will you quit studying Japanese? Probably not, but you will have gained a lot in reaching towards your ambition of passing N2. in other words, go for it!

It sounds like, whether you pass or not, you're motivated and making excellent progress, so I think what you're doing is great.

In terms of the test, many people struggle with the reading section. That is, you can have solid kanji and grammar knowledge, but still be unused to quickly skimming through texts looking for the key points.

For me, that's always been the hardest skill to acquire. I feel like one can learn kanji and grammar fairly quickly, but improving reading speed and comprehension, well, that just requires reading a lot. So I guess I'd suggest throwing that into the mix at some point.

You ought to be fine. You seem motivated, you've made solid, long-term progress, and you have a ton of time to prepare. I'd start reading sooner rather than later. I know for me personally on the practice tests nothing seems all that hard until I hit a huge block of Japanese--despite having a nearly 5,000-strong sentence deck and being halfway done with Core6k, it feels like a smack in the face.

It is certainly something you can shoot for. Like Ken said, you need to do a lot of reading to get your comprehension up. It's not just a matter of knowing words, but being very familiar with a huge variety of patterns.

If I were you, I wouldn't even study for the test per se. Just try and become as familiar with real text as you can, and for that purpose anything is good, manga included. Once you feel really comfortable with reading the language you won't have any trouble with these kinds of tests.

Thank you so much for your replies! I feel really motivated. 読解, indeed, seems to be the most challenging section. I will definitely try making reading Japanese books a habit.