I finally decided to take the JLPT, and after looking at what I have learned so far I plan to start with N2. However, since I have never done the test before/learn better from the book, I have been looking into a good set of JLPT books to cover what I need to know. I plan to shoot for taking it in December (assuming I can get a regular study plan going), and I am looking for advice about what prep materials to get.

After doing a little research I think that either Sou Matome or Kanzen Master looked promising, but I am having trouble deciding. 
I am leaning slightly more towards Sou Matome as it looks like something that I can do a little of each day until I finish/the test date (which I think I might prefer), but it also seems like Kanzen Master is a bit better at fully preparing you for the test (although more dense), and I obviously would like to be as prepared for the test as I can.

Will I be fine with the Sou Matome series, should I go for Kanzen Master, or just do something else entirely?

I don't know what your current level is, but I started studying for JLPT N2 around this time last year in preparation for the December test using Anki for vocab and the Shin Kanzen Master series for grammar, reading, and listening books and I feel like it was very good preparation for the actual test (passed first try). I've never used the Sou Matome books but others have success with them. I don't think you can go wrong with either, but I've heard that the Shin Kanzen Master books are harder than Sou Matome if that makes any difference. Someone else who has experience with both could probably give you a better comparison. However, there's nothing about the Shin Kanzen Master series that you shouldn't be able to do it little by little. The chapters aren't very long. So, you have +1 for the Shin Kanzen Master series from me at least.

No matter what you choose, make sure you start practicing your reading speed and listening skills as much as possible because study books can't really help you all too much there. I'd also be useful if you could get your hands on a book with practice tests and become familiar with the test format (with time constraints) before December. Since it'll be your first time taking a JLPT test, you REALLY need to get comfortable with the format of the questions and the time constraints. The format of the test is pretty much fixed and always in the same order, so not having to read the instructions and such saves a bit time time. Also consider taking the official JLPT N2 practice test sometime soon-ish with time constraints to see how well you do and then try taking it (or another practice test) closer to the time of the test so you can gauge progress and figure out what you need to work on.

Kanzen Master (never did try the new N2 version) helped me pass N2 on the first try. I browsed through images of the Sou Matome books online, and I remember being surprised by all the furigana. I think the content looked easier too, but it's been a while. I know someone who passed N2 using Sou Matome though, so I could be wrong. Try to find images of the content of both, and compare them.

I might try the Kanzen Master then. Finding good images of Sou Matome was a bit harder to find, but from what I saw of Kanzen Master it didn't look too bad, and I have several months to get used to it, and it's all self study anyway so I don't have to worry about "failing something" for a class or something like that. Plus it looks a bit cheaper on Amazon, which is always a plus.


If anyone else has different advice one way or the other feel free to chime in, I won't order them for a few days at least, but for now I'll head down the Kanzen Master route.

*As for which books to get, do I get all 5 or, or just stick with Listening, Grammar, and Reading Comprehension.
I have another book I can use for N2 kanji, but in terms of vocabulary, while I do use Anki I'm only 40% or so through the deck (not sure where exactly that is, just did a quick look at the statistics, although I suspect I messed up the recommended way to do the deck at some point). I'd prefer to not get something unnecessary, but I'll definitely get it if it's thought to be helpful.

I personally didn't like the vocabulary book since it just seems to inefficient to learn nothing but a bunch of vocabulary from a book to me (any series, not just Shin Kanzen Master). I used a custom JLPT N2 Anki deck (based on the tanos vocab list, which seems to be based on the words from the Kanzen Master series) that was more than enough for me. And for the same reason, I skipped the kanji book since I don't see the point if you are studying your vocab enough. There aren't a lot of questions on the JLPT that require you to differentiate between kanji or ask for readings, but I didn't find them to be too much of a struggle because I drilled the vocab a lot and/or felt confident based on context.

(2016-03-11, 11:58 pm)mc962 Wrote: I might try the Kanzen Master then. Finding good images of Sou Matome was a bit harder to find, but from what I saw of Kanzen Master it didn't look too bad, and I have several months to get used to it, and it's all self study anyway so I don't have to worry about "failing something" for a class or something like that. Plus it looks a bit cheaper on Amazon, which is always a plus.

I'm not sure whether it's legal to share the link, but if you search "sou matome n1 bumpou" you can preview the book in one of the first few links

Quote:*As for which books to get, do I get all 5 or, or just stick with Listening, Grammar, and Reading Comprehension.
I have another book I can use for N2 kanji, but in terms of vocabulary, while I do use Anki I'm only 40% or so through the deck (not sure where exactly that is, just did a quick look at the statistics, although I suspect I messed up the recommended way to do the deck at some point). I'd prefer to not get something unnecessary, but I'll definitely get it if it's thought to be helpful.

If you're having trouble deciding what book to get, I suggest you take the J-CAT and buy the appropriate books to work on your weaknesses.

Heard really good things about Kanzen Master for grammar. The sou matome books are pretty good for N3 but I can't really say about N2 though. Here are separate reviews about both series in 2 sites:

(So Matome) https://www.tofugu.com/reviews/nihongo-so-matome/

(New Kanzen Master) http://jlptbootcamp.com/2012/01/jlpt-n2-...2-grammar/

Hope this helps!

I have some Sou Matome books for 2級 and I like them. They do have furigana, which I think is fine when you are studying. There's some translations in there too, for vocab and grammar sentence examples. They have the learning material on one page and questions on the other. I find these books very approachable.

I had a brief look at the Shin Kanzen books and they look... much less approachable than Sou Matome. It doesn't look as fun, but I haven't tried them, maybe it's really good?

Hello all,

What level does one need before starting studying with the Kanzen Master book? Lately, I found enough motivation and free time to eventually do RTK, Tae Kim and am currently going through Nayr's Core5000 Anki deck.

For info, I took the N4 a few years back and failed miserably for a few points which made me give it up altogether.

The Kanzen Master books start at N3 and go up to N1, so they might not be useful for you right now. They assume you are at least studying for N3 or above.

I did the kanzen master 2kyuu books after I finished going through the Core 2k/6k deck & Tae Kim. I had to learn a good deal of the vocab at first, but it was doable. Don't know about Nayr's deck, but it might be similar.

(2016-03-13, 6:43 am)furokansai Wrote: Hello all,

What level does one need before starting studying with the Kanzen Master book? Lately, I found enough motivation and free time to eventually do RTK, Tae Kim and am currently going through Nayr's Core5000  Anki deck.

For info, I took the N4 a few years back and failed miserably for a few points which made me give it up altogether.

I recommend you do the J-CAT to see what's your level now then go from there.

Just got a delivery of Kanzen Master (Amazon Japan delivery times for international shipping are amazing), and from what I can see from some light skimming it looks good. It might take some extra studying to get used to the all-Japanese (and maybe in some cases to read the directions), but I need the extra push anyway.

Soumatome is good for just first getting into the grammar points, but Kanzen master is much more comprehensive. I still like to use Soumatome as a reference book for forming the grammar point correctly so in that way I use it more, but it doesn't have all the nuances and differences between grammar points that Kanzen master has.

If you really studied Kanzen master hard alone you should be able to pass N2 grammar... I'm not sure I would say the same for just using Soumatome alone.

I've been planning a rough little study schedule for Kanzen Master to follow so that I stay on track. For those who used it, about how much did you tend to do per week (like X number of chapters/pages/exercises)? I want to make sure I get through the books at reasonable pace, but without going so fast through it that I don't absorb the material very well (which has happened in the past for me for textbooks).