Just a reminder to everyone that it'll be time to sign up for the December 2014 JLPT.

In the US, the signup start date is September 1, 2014. If you want to take it in the US, sign up here (from 9/1 onwards): http://www.aatj.org/jlpt-us

Also, 112 days until the real thing. Good times.

I live in the US but was hoping to take JLTP while on a work trip/vacation in Japan in December. Do you know if this is possible? I haven't been able to find out information on whether that is a problem by viewing the JLPT site.

ariariari Wrote:I live in the US but was hoping to take JLTP while on a work trip/vacation in Japan in December. Do you know if this is possible? I haven't been able to find out information on whether that is a problem by viewing the JLPT site.

It is possible. I just took the JLPT in July, while on vacation. The only hurdle is the registration process, which requires that you have an address in Japan for them to send your registration card to. Unfortunately, the registration card is mailed out just before the actual test, so registering in advance and using a shipping service like Tenso, to get an address in Japan and have the card forwarded to you in advance is not really an option.

If you'll be in Japan several weeks before the test, and know your address, I would just use that. Or if you already know where you'll be staying, it may be worth contacting them and asking if it would be possible for them to hold a piece of mail for you until you arrive.

I am seriously considering registering to take the N1 in London in December, but nowhere on their site can I find any mention of the time of day at which it takes place.

Since I would be taking the train down to London I would like to know before booking, as if it's at 9am or something I might have to think about it.

@jasberg Thank you. It's nice to meet someone who has done what I'm trying to do. A lot of people here give me funny looks when I tell them that I actually want to take a test on my vacation

It's unfortunate, but from their website it looks like they refuse to do any communication about this via email, so I'll have to call them. Ideally they could make an exception and just mail me my card to the US (I leave 2 weeks before the exam). I don't have any close friends in Tokyo, so if I do what you did I'd have to impose on an acquantaince. Which I can of course do, but I'm just not enthusiastic about it.

@anotherjohn check out: http://www.jlpt.jp/e/application/overseas_list.html. I believe that all tests are on December 7. If you scroll down to "london" you can see the phone numbers and email address of the people who are putting the test on. If you call or email them I'm sure that they can give you info about the time of day.

@anotherjohn: I've taken the JLPT at SOAS in London, and it started at 1. I also took it in DC, and in Nagoya. Always at 1. (But get there before 1 for registration-- usually 12:30 or so.) Expect to be there until 4:30-5:00 PM. You can't finish early-- you're not allowed to.

@ariariari: if you want to take the JLPT in Japan, you should expect them not to budge on mailing you your stuff to the US. They have thousands of applicants to deal with, and the rules are the rules. You can get smaller sites/countries to make exceptions, but in Japan, so many people take the test that it's just not practicable to make exceptions.

SOAS in London mailed my test materials to the US and even told me my results over the phone, because I needed to know before the deadline to apply for the next one. But that was the University of London, and it was their first year doing the JLPT, so there was room for exceptions.

When I took it in Nagoya, there were probably a couple thousand people just at my site, and about 500 taking the N1 with me alone. The rush to the buses after the exam was nuts. Now spread that all over the country, and you'll see what I mean about Japan not being flexible about making exceptions.

But you can try! Think of it as practice.

@rich_f WOW! What's a story! You are a JLPT expert! I will have to ask my acquaintances (or my hostel) for a favor.

I'll be in Japan in October (first time ever!!), but will be taking the JLPT N2 in boring ol' Seattle come December. Thanks for the registration reminder, rich_f.

Of the three places I've taken it, I like DC the best, because it's the most comfortable. London was nice, too, but when I took it, the logistics were a bit of a mess.

Nagoya was brutally uncomfortable. I'm over 6', so the chairs destroyed my knees. It's really hard to concentrate when you're in pain. And there wasn't any alternative. It was a giant lecture hall from the 1960s where the chairs were bolted to the floor. So keep that in mind, too.

I'm going back to DC again this time. (I hope to stop knowing so much about the stupid test and just pass N1 already.)

rich_f Wrote:Nagoya was brutally uncomfortable. I'm over 6', so the chairs destroyed my knees. It's really hard to concentrate when you're in pain. And there wasn't any alternative. It was a giant lecture hall from the 1960s where the chairs were bolted to the floor. So keep that in mind, too.)

I took the test in July in Nagoya. It was so hot, and there were some girls that kept complaining about being cold every time they turned the AC on. I could barely focus on the test, sitting there with sweat pouring down my brow.

Where did you take it in Nagoya? I took it at Aichi Gakuen, Nisshin Campus. (愛知学院日進学舎) When I took it, it was December, and the room was freezing cold, because the doors opened right out to the outside. It took over an hour to get the from Okazaki, because I had to go by train/subway/bus.

Not sure if I'll sign-up for N1 again. Failed it last year so I guess I just have no motivation. I take my JLPT tests at Chicago and I think the environment they provide is okay, but I feel the fee is too high. Probably just trying to give myself reasons to not register.

Just got the application form and filled it out. It definitely reminded me of Japanese bureaucracy. Although ironically, when I took the test last year in Japan, the application procedure was actually much more convenient as one could do everything online.

Filling out the form kind of made me question if I should really do the test though. I don't really have any concrete and solid reasons for taking it. The sole existence of a level higher than the one I already passed just bothers me somehow. Also, as Japan and Japanese continue to fade in importance for me and my college days are slowly coming to an end, I guess that now would probably be my best shot.

Can anyone tell me, please, if completion of Genki 2 would be an absolute minimum, or more than enough, for the grammar points covered in N4?

I wanted to ask people with more experience: is it possible to start studying for N5 right now? I stopped studying for a while, I was about 500 in RTK and I think JPLT is the right thing to give me motivation. What I usually read is to skip N5 but I like goals and I think it's the perfect way to get me back on track. To be honest I love self-studying but what I miss about it it's the tests and the accountability they give (weird thing since I hated them in college )

kassiaJ Wrote:is it possible to start studying for N5 right now?

From what I've heard, it's quite common to not begin studying for N4/N5 until around this time of the year. So it's definitely possible if you've done some grammar, vocab already. You need very few kanji for N5.

kassia Wrote:I think JPLT is the right thing to give me motivation.

I've been self-studying, but with very poor focus and concentration (even though I love it). Setting a specific goal helps enormously. I decided to take N5 about 6 weeks out from it last year, and it REALLY helped me focus. I consolidated more in that 6 weeks than I had in a very long time. (Embarrassing, but true.)

I passed the kanji, vocab, grammar, and reading pretty well, though just scraped through on the listening. (You have to pass all sections to pass the exam.)

I found passing the exam was very motivating for me, as it was good to feel I really had learned something on my own.

kassia Wrote:I love self-studying but what I miss about it it's the tests and the accountability they give

I absolutely agree with you about this. I dropped out of a formal course of study, honestly believing I could learn more on my own. But without accountability and tests, I've really struggled to progress.

People who say skip N5 are probably at a higher level of learning when they're considering the exam. If that's the level you really think you're at, go for it. (It would be good practice for your future levels to sit the exam at N5 anyway, to get the hang of its very structured format.)

Do the test on the JLPT website and/or buy/borrow some practice test books. They will give you a good idea of how much you already know, and how much you've got left to learn before December.

It sounds like you really would like to give it a go, and I encourage you to do so.

I'm probably going to try N1 this December, but I'm not completely sure about this decision.

This is my Anki situation:
I've finished Core 10k one month ago; besides that I've finished the All About Particles Deck, the Kanzen Master N2 Deck and of course RTK (1 and 3).
Now I'm doing the 1000 JLPT words of the CorePLUS deck (they don't look very useful, though), and I'm planning to do Kanzen Master N1 in September.

Will this be enough?
I tried some practice tests and I scored a little above 50%, but I hope I'll improve a little by December.
I also do extensive reading everyday (mainly novels, about 50 pages a day) and listen to the language all the time.

Wise and experienced suggestions will be highly appreciated.

When in doubt: go for it. Even if you fail, you will get good data. (This goes for pretty much any "Should I take the Nx test?" question.)

For the person taking N4 on Genki 2-- it's doable, but you need to get some N4 prep books and work on it. If you don't study for it, you won't pass. (Lesson learned the hard way with the old 3級 while I was taking Japanese at uni.) Genki isn't geared towards JLPT prep, it's geared towards you learning the fundamentals of Japanese. So you need to find something to help you with the test prep. (There are tons of books out there, too.)

For the person debating to take N1-- go for it. You need to know where your deficiencies are, and nothing will show you like the real test will. You need oodles of vocab, solid reading comp skills, strong grammar, and solid listening skills. Don't worry-- the N1 will expose any flaws you have. (._.) But it's good data for improving regardless.

Practice tests are always useful as practice, but don't get too high/low based on your practice test scores. Everyone's Japanese is a little different in terms of how much/what you know, so you may mesh badly with a practice test, and nail the real thing, or you may nail a bunch of practice tests and still flunk the real thing.

rich_f Wrote:For the person taking N4 on Genki 2-- it's doable, but you need to get some N4 prep books and work on it. If you don't study for it, you won't pass. (Lesson learned the hard way with the old 3級 while I was taking Japanese at uni.) Genki isn't geared towards JLPT prep, it's geared towards you learning the fundamentals of Japanese. So you need to find something to help you with the test prep. (There are tons of books out there, too.)

Any recommendations on N4 prep books?

scarby dancer Wrote:People who say skip N5 are probably at a higher level of learning when they're considering the exam. If that's the level you really think you're at, go for it. (It would be good practice for your future levels to sit the exam at N5 anyway, to get the hang of its very structured format.)

Do the test on the JLPT website and/or buy/borrow some practice test books. They will give you a good idea of how much you already know, and how much you've got left to learn before December.

It sounds like you really would like to give it a go, and I encourage you to do so.

Thank you very much for the encouragement, really! It seems like I'll be a little bit like you! I can see myself studying more after I sign up for the exam.
I'm going to see practice tests to figure out what I are my main weaknesses.

ariariari Wrote:Any recommendations on N4 prep books?

Check out some of these.

http://shop.whiterabbitjapan.com/search?q=jlpt+n4

ariariari Wrote:Any recommendations on N4 prep books?

This book by Unicom looks pretty thorough. It's hard to tell from 7000 miles away, but Unicom usually makes good prep books.

This book is the old Kanzen Master 3級 grammar prep book (3級 is the old N4). It doesn't line up perfectly with N4, but if you can master all of the material in this, you're on the right track. You'll only find it used now, though, so it's probably expensive. (But it's a great book!)

This book isn't JLPT-specific, but it's a good review of everything you should know by now. It has a lot of exercises, fill in the blank style, and will make sure you have everything grammar-wise squared away.

Try an amazon.co.jp search for 日本語能力試験N4 (copy/paste it.) You don't have to buy there, you can copy down ISBN numbers and search other booksellers to see if they have them. It's just faster/easier to search amazon.co.jp.

If that's not enough, look for two books called 文法が弱いあなたへ (on grammar) and 読解をはじめるあなたへ (on learning 読解, どっかい, or reading comprehension.) They will drill you in ways you may not like being drilled, but they're thorough as hell. (Also not necessarily JLPT-specific, but they will レベルアップ your 日本語.)

Thanks for all the N4 book suggestions guys! A simple search on Amazon does not give nearly such good results.

Hi all,

I'll be taking the JLPT test in December and was wondering how big the gap was between N5 and N4? I'm about 900 kanji into RTK. I've also gone through most of the Human Japanese CD, and have taken a elementary Japanese college course that used the Nakama 1A textbook.

I think I'll just play it safe it do the N5 (since I have a better chance of passing that), but I can't help but wonder how N4 compares in difficulty. Thoughts?

Hmm, I didn't realize snail mail registration was already open in the US and I didn't know there could be capacity issues at some sites. I was going to register online on Sept 1, but does anyone know what the chances are for popular sites to be already full in early September?