I've been studying for 2級 since September and I finished the Unicom kanji and vocab book, as well as Kanzen Master. There are still words I don't know showing up on practice tests I'm doing, but I think I manage most things.

I scored abt 73% on the 2005 test. I think I will pass, but I need to close some gaps in reading comprehension to ease my troubled mind on Sunday.

Does anyone have any short-term, strategy oriented advice? I have done the long term stuff already, but for example some people recommend reading the questions first - I can't see how this works because the questions are almost all "what's a way to restate this point or what does this word mean?" which requires you to read the darn thing to know what the question is even asking in the first place.

One site recommends to do the grammar section first and then the reading passages in reverse: http://nihongoperapera.com/jlpt/2kyuu.html

For those of you who have passed the upper ranks of the JLPT, what was your strategy? How did you or didn't you manage? This seems to be the single most common problem area for us - so let's pool advice or strategies!

Aside: I suspect it has something to do with the mundane, meandering, and pointless nature of the topics, and a disproportianate quantity of moralistic Japanesey essays criticizing this and that in the name of 和. Can you tell I'm frustrated?!

coverup Wrote:One site recommends to do the grammar section first and then the reading passages in reverse: http://nihongoperapera.com/jlpt/2kyuu.html

I used exactly that strategy, and I'd recommend it.
I passed JLPT2 with 60.3% in July this year - talk about a close call! I'm certain I would have failed if I hadn't followed it.

coverup Wrote:For those of you who have passed the upper ranks of the JLPT, what was your strategy? How did you or didn't you manage? This seems to be the single most common problem area for us - so let's pool advice or strategies!

Only other advice is to try to do plenty of past exams (or read lots of news articles).

I pulled out a squeaker on 1kyu in July (passed 2kyu 2 years ago).

For both, the Kanzen Master reading book helped a lot, as it breaks down the types of reading problems that are on the test and gives you tips on how to go about solving each one (what to look for, etc).


I'll second (third?) working the section backwards. I tend to be stronger at grammar, so I buzzed through those problems first. Then I worked the reading comprehension backwards as well... starting with the shorter problems and working my way up to the long one in the front... as for me, these tend to be easier to figure out (especially if the long passage is on a topic I know nothing about). I also skip anything I'm taking too much time on, mark it, and come back to it at the end (basic test taking stuff)

As for each individual reading question - I usually at least skim the questions first, so that I have some idea of what I'm looking for as I'm reading along. Once I start reading, I underline anything that seems important and I also circle any words that come up rather often... and try to (if I can do it quickly), draw arrows back to what sore/are/etc. are pointing to - if I can't get it specifically without a lot of trouble, I just skip it. If I come across something that was mentioned in a question - I'll mark it... (if I can go ahead and answer the question, then I do so). But basically I mark the crap out of everything... which may not work for everyone, but it helps me a lot....

And yeah... the articles are boring and generally not of any interest to me ... I rather enjoy reading the newspaper and novels and things in Japanese... but they pick the most boring things for that reading section

Certainly doing the grammar first is good advice.

The nihongoperapera advice is a little mistaken on the value of grammar questions; grammar questions are worth 2 points and reading questions 5 points.

For the reading section the way I've been doing it is half of the time working from the first (longer) questions, and then half of the time working backwards until time runs out, then just answer anything for the remaining questions. Usually I haven't had time to answer more than 80% of the reading section.

shneen Wrote:And yeah... the articles are boring and generally not of any interest to me ... I rather enjoy reading the newspaper and novels and things in Japanese... but they pick the most boring things for that reading section

Maybe it's too easy if it's interesting.. my reading speed is about twice as fast for things that are fun.

That's why I will try to trick my brain into thinking "Wow, they chose some really interesting articles this year".

I'm just here to say that I think you have a cool dp cover-up. So retro~

Personally I preferred doing the reading section before the grammar, because I found it easier to speed up during the grammar section if I was running low on time (by not stopping to think so much about the questions I didn't know the answer to immediately), whereas I think it's harder to suddenly go faster during the reading questions. (Also if you're guessing questions then it's better to guess five 2-pointers than two 5-pointers). But opinion seems to be divided here, so I guess you have to try both strategies on some past papers and see which you like better...

pm215, I see your point about which ones are statistically better to guess.

I think it depends on the time it takes per point. For example (based on my observations) say it takes 20 minutes to do 30 grammar questions, then grammar is worth 3 points per minute. If it takes 20 minutes to answer 6 reading questions, then the reading is worth 1.5 points per minute. In this situation time allocated to answering grammar is more valuable than reading, assuming ofcourse that you have the same success rate at both types of questions. If you're stronger at one type of question then that should be prioritized.

vosimura Wrote:assuming of course that you have the same success rate at both types of questions. If you're stronger at one type of question then that should be prioritized.

Good point. I guess I'm a bit biased because I was consistently better at the reading section than the grammar (95+% for reading vs an average more like mid-80s% for grammar, looking back at these JLPT2 practice results).

My display pic is the excellent late 70s pop superduo ピンク・レディー. I've gotten into collecting old Japanese records, and their "best of" album is pop perfection.

Just took another practice test and got 75% of the questions correct for grammar and reading combined. I don't know how to score it for the particular year I took, but I think I can live with that. My scores for listening and kanji garbage should be high enough to give me some breathing room for my weak points.

After testing it out, I will concur that for those who can answer grammar questions at a rate of a couple per minute or more, doing the grammar first and then reading section backwards is the way to go! I finished all reading and grammar questions on the 2006 exam with ten minutes to spare for checking answers.

But who knows how Sunday's gonna go... they say the tests have been getting harder and harder. Can't wait to check with the rest of you who are taking the test in Japan this weekend.

coverup Wrote:My display pic is the excellent late 70s pop superduo ピンク・レディー. I've gotten into collecting old Japanese records, and their "best of" album is pop perfection.

I hope you haven't been studying the wrong 完全マスター by mistake :-)

coverup Wrote:Can't wait to check with the rest of you who are taking the test in Japan this weekend.

Just make sure to that post that discussion as soon as your test finishes (with a detailed analysis of all questions and answers of course)

Now if you'll excuse me I'm off to confirm the time difference between the UK and Japan

Rooboy Wrote:

coverup Wrote:Can't wait to check with the rest of you who are taking the test in Japan this weekend.

Just make sure to that post that discussion as soon as your test finishes (with a detailed analysis of all questions and answers of course)

Now if you'll excuse me I'm off to confirm the time difference between the UK and Japan

Hmm... The perfect crime.

Will do!

@pm215: haha, that was awesome. I read both - but only one of them could dance like that for me