@rich_f Thanks for the advice. When I take practice exams, I try to stay within the normal test limits as much as possible. I haven't been taking it every few weeks, but I planned on taking more practice exams every month or so before the exam since I don't have a lot of material and would end up memorizing the answers instead of the content of the question (as in, read a few words of the question and remember the answer). After 2-ish months of studying I saw a pretty significant increase in scores when I redid my big book of questions and wasn't able to remember most of the questions. I was too busy to do much studying during July and August unfortunately, so I doubt I improved any since the last time.

At any rate, the I really need to finish going through the Shin Kanzen Master N2 level grammar and reading comprehension books. Mostly need to work on the grammar since I'm pretty far behind there.

Edit: Now would actually probably be a good time to go through all of my practice exam material again and add the results to the spreadsheet I've been keeping. I might do that starting this week so I have a data point to compare with before my second serious attempt at studying for N2.

Well, the results are in and I passed N1. Wish I had done better, to be honest, but a pass is a pass!

言語知識：33/60
読解：29/60
聴解：52/60
総合得点：114/180

I guess I gotta work on my reading skills! But it's basically in line with how many of my practice tests went so I'm not surprised. Anyway, was waiting on pins and needles for that score so glad to see it's a pass!

As soon as I saw Jawful's post I ran to the computer. I'm so surprised and happy with my results for N2!

言語知識：49/60
読解：60/60
聴解：60/60
総合得点：169/180

I thought I was struggling so much during the test, but maybe I was just working really hard toward a good score?

Congrats Jawful and Banchan - awesome!!

For those of us in the United States - registration is OPEN. Looks like it's Put Up or Shut Up time. Ulp.

Taking Friday off work and carving out a few hours to take my first practice N1. Hope to repeat this once every month until December.

Congrats to people who passed!

For the rest of us:
http://days.to/6-december/2015

The results are published online already? Can you give me the link?

Kisei Wrote:The results are published online already? Can you give me the link?

http://info.jees-jlpt.jp/

But you needed to have signed up online. If you signed up via the paper test packet then the results (apparently) aren't posted online.

Man, signing up for the test has gotten me all nervous! There's no going back now!
And there's only 14 weeks left!

I passed N2. Not with an impressive score though.
Congrats to people passed too.

Wow, Passed the N2, with 86%. (155/80 )
Amazed to see I did so well.

According to the irc channel I have no other choice but to post here.

Passed N2 with the following scores:
Language knowledge (vocabulary/grammar): 40/60
Reading: 50/60
Listening: 44/60
Total: 134/180

A bit different from what I expected. I thought the first section was going to be quite a bit better, while my listening should've been worse as I fell asleep a couple times during that section.

Going to attempt the N1 in december but I don't think I'll be able to cover all the material for N1 before that. I wonder how much I can get done in the three months before the test. I didn't really study for the N2, mostly read and translated manga for fun. I went through the kanzen master n2 grammar book at the end of 2014 and did almost half of the reading book. That's pretty much all I did to prepare.

PS: all this is done in flamerokz-sama's honor, I shall forward my certificate to him as soon as I get it.

ikore Wrote:Going to attempt the N1 in december but I don't think I'll be able to cover all the material for N1 before that. I wonder how much I can get done in the three months before the test. I didn't really study for the N2, mostly read and translated manga for fun. I went through the kanzen master n2 grammar book at the end of 2014 and did almost half of the reading book. That's pretty much all I did to prepare.

I passed N1 without ever specifically studying for it. I don't want to say how many years I studied Japanese before that happened, heh... (Let me just say - if you do nothing in Japanese for 2 years and then come back to it... well, while it does come back faster to re-learn it still costs you a lot of time compared to maintaining your ability).

Any-way, I don't think N1 is really any 'harder' than N2 in any significant respect -except- .... it's twice as much test in the same time. The most important thing in my opinion is to just read a -lot-. Ideally you would read essays, since so many reading examples are essays, but reading novels or newspapers is fine too. Just read a -lot-, because you simply need to improve your reading speed and single-pass reading comprehension.
Of course, don't neglect -some- listening practice, but I think for most people at the N2 level that's hardly something you need to plan. You're going to be watching shows or listening to podcasts or something anyway just for fun, right? Well, if not, then head over NHK's 高校講座 and check out some high school level educational videos. They are plenty advanced enough to be comparable to N1.

Congrats on N2 and good luck on N1!

I didn't pass the N1, though I am not far from my goal! I'll take in in December and get those last few points (but I'm shooting for 40 out of 60 at least in every category. Listening is free marks, so I will read lots like the above paste said, as it seems the most useful to the test and a good use of my time. That, and master the kun yomi of all the joyo kanji with my anki deck and do mcd reps.

For those curious I got 20/24/41 which is say is pretty bad as far as a score on a test is concerned lol. How many people are going for December's test here?

If anyone wants some challenging practice problems, check out the 国語 section of the センター試験 (example here). It has a lot of parallels with N1, but the texts are much longer. You can find 3 years' worth of past papers (plus the answers to that example) on this website.

Dovetron Wrote:How many people are going for December's test here?

Sounds like you're almost there. Good luck! I passed, but I will retake as, like you, I'd like to have at least 40 on each section. My listening is already over 50 and I think just by studying vocab I could even get closer to 60. So I'm going to keep studying vocab and give it another go.

My biggest problem is that I don't read. I've never really been a reader in English either so trying to become one in Japanese is a challenge. But I'll need to do something if I'm going to raise my score...

Anyway, congrats to those who passed and good luck to those taking in December!

Jawful Wrote:

Dovetron Wrote:How many people are going for December's test here?

Sounds like you're almost there. Good luck! I passed, but I will retake as, like you, I'd like to have at least 40 on each section. My listening is already over 50 and I think just by studying vocab I could even get closer to 60. So I'm going to keep studying vocab and give it another go.

My biggest problem is that I don't read. I've never really been a reader in English either so trying to become one in Japanese is a challenge. But I'll need to do something if I'm going to raise my score...

Anyway, congrats to those who passed and good luck to those taking in December!

If you prepare with mock tests, you should have a good practice.
I just took the reading tests in each book I could find on 読解.
It helped me improve my reading speed.
My N2 test details were as follows:
Vocab/Grammar = 40
Reading = 57
Listening = 58

I thought I will do badly in reading though, so prepared for it just
by going through 読解　sections of mock tests and books(like shin kanzen master)

dudeshane01 Wrote:If you prepare with mock tests, you should have a good practice.
I just took the reading tests in each book I could find on 読解.
It helped me improve my reading speed.
My N2 test details were as follows:
Vocab/Grammar = 40
Reading = 57
Listening = 58

I thought I will do badly in reading though, so prepared for it just
by going through 読解　sections of mock tests and books(like shin kanzen master)

Thanks. I did actually take several mock tests before taking the actual test and always got a variety of scores, ranging from 25 to 45. On the actual test I got 29 which means I got on the lower end of that range. So while I will certainly retake the mock tests (and find new ones), I will have to go through at least one book that focuses on the reading section if I hope to get over 40.

Nice scores, by the way. That shows real mastery of the content. I'd love to get something like that on N1 (which is why I will take it again!)

Nice, Jawful! let's do our best!

I feel like for me, reading is the major thing i need to practice. how do you study vocab? I find that I learn more vocab by reading than I do by rote. thoughts?

Dovetron Wrote:Nice, Jawful! let's do our best!

I feel like for me, reading is the major thing i need to practice. how do you study vocab? I find that I learn more vocab by reading than I do by rote. thoughts?

Second that!
I have started reading some light novels geared towards younger children.
Surprisingly, This increased my speed of reviewing the anki deck for N1.
I have already come across a lot of new words in N1 decks in the novels itself.
I am currently using the JADE reader in android to read novels.
It is pretty much similar to rikaichan in firefox.
This method has helped me up my level and I feel more confident reading long texts.
I have also installed the rikaichan for android in firefox.
Reading newspaper editorials in it.
http://forum.koohii.com/showthread.php?tid=12985

Just finished mogi test #3 for N1.

Here are my scores (prior scores in parentheses):

言語知識: 40/60 (35/60, 38/60)
読解: 38/60 (41/60, 44/60)
聴解: 57/60 (48/60, 56/60)
Total: 135/180 (124/180, 138/180)

A better score than last time, but my reading scores keep getting lower and lower. Before this exam I completed the Sou-matome Goi book and Drill & Drill Grammar. After that I took a bit of a break and focused on clearing up some of my Anki reviews and re-activating some of my leech kanji cards.

Time-wise I finished the first section with about 5 minutes to spare, making sure to make a decision rather quickly on the grammar/vocab points I was unsure of, instead of burning time thinking too much about it. Finishing the first section with time to spare really makes a difference in terms of how frazzled I am before going into the listening section it seems.

My reading scores are getting worse but I do have the Shin Kanzen master reading book, so hopefully working through that will shore up my score there. It may have to do with the fact that I haven't been doing any leisure reading in Japanese lately, so perhaps I will pick that up again.

I plan to take one more practice exam a few weeks before the real deal. 62 days until December 6th, according to that link above. Good luck everyone!

harahachibu Wrote:Just finished mogi test #3 for N1.

Here are my scores (prior scores in parentheses):

言語知識: 40/60 (35/60, 38/60)
読解: 38/60 (41/60, 44/60)
聴解: 57/60 (48/60, 56/60)
Total: 135/180 (124/180, 138/180)

A better score than last time, but my reading scores keep getting lower and lower. Before this exam I completed the Sou-matome Goi book and Drill & Drill Grammar. After that I took a bit of a break and focused on clearing up some of my Anki reviews and re-activating some of my leech kanji cards.

I'm probably going to buy all of the N1 Drill & Drill textbooks. Waiting on them to arrive at the nearby Kinokuniya after having ordered. I don't typically study via textbook, but figured it might help after already failing twice. Since you've already done one, how helpful are the Drill & Drill books? Is there a specific way you recommend to study them?

TheVinster Wrote:I'm probably going to buy all of the N1 Drill & Drill textbooks. Waiting on them to arrive at the nearby Kinokuniya after having ordered. I don't typically study via textbook, but figured it might help after already failing twice. Since you've already done one, how helpful are the Drill & Drill books? Is there a specific way you recommend to study them?

They're probably a good choice if you don't like studying out of textbooks. It's basically just tons of example problems (you probably already knew this). I went through and did one exercise set each day, so it took me about 2 months to do. There is an answer key and explanation of the grammar point in the back for each problem. I'm debating if I should go through and collate all of the grammar points from all of my missed problems and study them separately, but that will require a lot of work that I'm not sure I'm willing to do at this point. The book suggests that you do the exercises 3 times, to see if you are improving.

I'll probably try and go through all of the exercises at least once more before the exam, mainly because grammar is my weakest section. I'm not sure if I would have the patience to do all of the exercises 2 or 3 times if it weren't my weakest section.

One thing that is nice is that you get several different examples scattered throughout the book for how to use certain grammar points. So while a textbook may use it one way, seeing it used several times in slightly different contexts was useful for me.

Starting to go through the Drill & Drill N1 book for grammar, and man... shit's rough. Glad I bought the book to start studying, but disappointed in how well I'm doing thus far. I go through the section of 10 questions pretending it's the test and answering them, then check my answers. Falling below 50% on average although I did just start.

Giving 'Try!　日本語能力試験 N1' a... try... with my tutor. I've only looked through the introduction, the format description, and the first passage, but so far, it's looking pretty good.
It was written by (the?) ABK (Not used to legal entities being referred to as authors beyond the news...) and published by ASK (the same publisher of the '日本語総まとめ' series), if that's of interest to anyone.

It's been suggested to me as good material to practice for the long listening passages and reading passages in the exam. Judging by the format guide and glancing through the first chapter, it contains very nice explanations (including a categorization of the kind of feeling it has) of grammar points along with example sentences.

Of course, it has an accompanying audio CD with recordings of all the passages and any audio questions. I was told that I should listen to the passage first, without reading it, in order to better train my ear, and then basically LR it. The CD actually has proper track data on it, so it's easy to transfer it to your audio device of choice.
The passages are long enough to really test your endurance for focused listening.

It's got ten chapters overall (each with a passage, several grammar exercises, questions, and a review quiz) and is priced at 1800円 before tax.

I'm going to be working through this, along with other things, over these last few weeks before the exam (only eight weeks left!), so I'll try to remember to write what I thought of this book, along with the other materials I've used, after I finish the finals I'll have a couple of days after taking the JLPT... What wonderful timing that was (at least one of the classes in this seven-week term is basically just playing around, since it was intended to be taken as an introductory seminar).

Progress report:
I took the first half of a mock exam last week (didn't have time to finish the listening portion; will do that tomorrow probably), and did quite a bit better than before on the grammar stuff, so apparently I've been making progress, but I still ran out of time, and still had quite a bit of difficulty on the reading comprehension portion. I really need to start reading essays and 社説 as practice, since I don't seem to be improving on these despite how comfortable I've gotten reading other things.
Based off my previous listening score, I'm only missing about twenty points to pass (on the mock exams, at least). I'll get most of that with the reading questions, assuming I can actually answer them all, for once.

I did quite a bit better on the grammar sections, but I still need to work on it more. Though I've studied most, if not all, of the grammar suggested for N1, I probably haven't studied all of the points suggested up until N1, so I'm sure there are some gaps I need to fill in somewhere. My grammar cards are pretty basic and don't require much time to review (though I have to enter them all by hand...), so it shouldn't take too much time away from other focuses.

It's going to be tough the next few weeks, but I think I can pull off a first time pass, despite being unable to pass N2 mock exams at the beginning of the year. Writing and conversation practice will be my focus after the JLPT; I'll still be reading, of course, but I'll be doing significantly less vocab and grammar study, just adding things that really bug me.

So I was looking around the forum for ideas for N1 reading practice material and someone in another thread mentioned Asahi's 天声人語. I then did a google search and stumbled upon this app (for Apple devices) which was released just yesterday: http://japan.cnet.com/news/service/35071825/

It seems to be a kind of role playing game where you listen to a bunch of characters reading a 天声人語 and then it gives you questions about the content. I haven't really looked at it thoroughly but it seems as if it could be useful as reading/listening practice.