I am taking JLPT 1 on Sunday, 3 days from now. I've been studying Japanese for a long time, but the kanji and some of the grammar tend to slip away from me. I passed a mock exam back in January, after finishing RTK 1, but only by a slim margin. I let RTK go for a few months while I focused on an academic project, but I've continued to speak and read Japanese regularly. I passed another mock exam this week, but again, only by a very slim margin.

What can I do in the next three days to be more certain of passing? My listening and reading were better on this week's test, but my kanji score went down considerably since the January test. I've reviewed almost 500 kanji so far this week (out of the 2000+ expired kanji I had), but my pass rate is hovering around 30-40 percent, though with a lot of very near misses or a strong sense of recognition upon seeing the answer.

I borrowed 『どんなときどう使う日本語表現文型500』 for 1 & 2 級 and 『パターンで学ぶ日本語能力試験1級文字・語彙問題集』 from a friend today, but I haven't used them yet. The mock exams were from Unicom.

I'd be glad to hear suggestions and any thoughts you might have on the accuracy of the mock exams. I humbly apologize for the title of the thread. I couldn't help myself.

KristinHolly Wrote:I humbly apologize for the title of the thread. I couldn't help myself.

Hehe, awesome title!

As for suggestions for quickly boosting your kanji score- since you have only a short time left, you could try only reviewing kanji that are on the RtK Lite list. That way you are at least reviewing the kanji that are most likely to be useful to you, and the ones that are more likely to show up.

Quiz yourself on sites like Read the Kanji? Not sure what you can do in three day except cram.

Where are these mock exams?


PS I know someone who can hook you up with 10.000 vocab words in 3 days. Wink wink.

Troll! No way you can pass JLPT1 in 3 days! j/k

I would just study what you were weak on in the mock exams, while keeping up your more general routine in a slightly more laid back way (to make room for studying the stuff you're weak on, but at the same time to prevent letting what you're familiar with get shoved aside as you cram).

kazelee Wrote:Where are these mock exams?

The mock exams I used were from 『あなたの弱点がわかる!日本語能力試験1級模式ｘ２』 by Unicom.
There are grammar explanations, so I'm going through those now for the questions I missed. I'll probably take Nestor's advice and go back through the rest of the missed questions as well.

And I plan to do as many reviews as I can stand. I'm using the "review failed" script for the first time and am pleasantly surprised to find that things are going so much better after having seen them once. I know it may be a short-term effect, but I'll take what I can get.

PS -- thanks for the ideas and encouragement!

Well, you shouldn't have let RtK go, that could be a clear reason why you're having problems with kanji now.

One thing is clear, 3 days is WAY too short to have any real use of SRS. You could use Ankis cram mode, but it probably won't make enough of a difference. JLPT1 is at such a high level that it can't really be crammed for, you just have to be good enough. Like Nest0r, I can only recommend you to keep working on what you had problems with on the mock tests.

Don't cram, it's probably too late. Go and wing it. And by some stroke of luck you may pass. If not, sign up for next year's test and start studying earlier.

Read that grammar book cover to cover. Your vocab should be alright, you say your reading comprehension is alright, and the listening section is mostly about being comfortable with speech at native speed.

The thing that can really kill you on the JLPT is grammar. Usually the questions are structured so that the right answer has the same meaning as one of the wrong answers with the only thing separating them being either a mechanical issue of how that grammar point is connected to a sentence or an issue of context. So learn which verb forms or constructions the grammar points take, as well as what context they're usually used.

Now it's better to get a lot of rest during those 3 days. Review but in moderation.

Just got home from the JLPT. I don't think anything was worse than in practice, and the grammar section was considerably easier after looking at the grammar book. So I'm about 90% sure I passed, and that's very nice. I am kicking myself for not looking at a book like that years ago, but I will try to be less stubborn in the future. I think I had the idea that it would be like cheating if I studied with materials that explained exactly what questions and answers might appear on the exam.

I didn't use the other book much but did skim through the lists of characters that look alike and sound the same (like Heisig's "pure groups"). I also reviewed over 1400 cards this week; obviously not a great idea to let all of my cards expire but even the ones I didn't get to feel fresher in my mind now that I'm back in review mode. Hurray!

Congrats to you and everyone else who went out and took the JLPT yesterday!

Good for you!

I just got a little postcard in the mail today saying I passed with 80%. I am so happy to have it over with. Thanks to everyone for the RTK website and stories and suggestions -- that really helped.

Awesome! Congratulations!