Hi all. I've almost finished both the UNICOM 2Kyu Vocab book, and the KANZEN Grammar 2 Kyu book, and was wondering what people think the best strategy for using the last month before the JLPT is.

I'm considering just blitzing the past papers, interspersed with the copious vocab and grammar questions posted here - http://jlpt.mobi/datumcenter/jlpt/PDF/ (although I'm not sure if they are just pdf's of the test questions, repeated)

Otherwise, I'm not sure what resources are best - although maybe I'll find out what I need to do when I take more past papers. Anyway I just thought I'd post and see what other people's plans are for the remaining time before the test.

Don't forget listening.
http://jlpt.mobi/datumcenter/jlpt/listenmp3/

Thanks - the trouble with this website is that you can't see the pictures in the listening section.

http://www.ngoilaibennhau.net/jatest/index_4.php

Thats great - thanks! It only goes to 2006 but still really useful.

In the final weeks leading up to the exam I did all of the past JLPT exams that I could find, then when I finished I took them all again. Same with the textbooks, as soon as I finished, I reread and did every practice problem again. I recommend going through the Kanzen grammar book at least twice, if not three times.

The vocab on the test can be tricky with lots of stuff that isn`t in the Unicom book so if it isn`t too late, get another 2kyuu vocab book or even an 1kyuu book. Idiomatic phrases (like 頭にくる) and suffix/prefix compounds (like 全学生) are also important.

For the past tests, you`ll find a noticeable difference in difficulty as the years go on (I think 2005 is notorious for having the hardest reading section). I would aim for 75-80% overall. If you can get over 70% for each section, I think you`ll be in good shape.

Good advice julian. Blitzing the past papers and practice questions seems like the best thing to do. It will get reading speed up, improving listening comprehension, and more than anything built / check how much I actually know. I figure the JLPT is basically a combination of raw knowledge and educated guessing. If you know enough you'll get X%, and if you know enough and take a smart approach you'll get X + a bit more.

Anyway, I was wondering - does anyone have a PDF of the June 2010 N2 test? As its the only one of the new tests in existence it would be great to practice - if anyone has it and is willing to share I'd be most grateful - please PM me (or just reply here)

I followed Tobberoths advice and just unsuspend each grammar point from JLPT2 I can find in Dictionary of ... Japanese Grammar series deck. So far its been going well, not that many sentences to go through, only a few new words and I get a better "feeling" for each point rather than some bare definition.

I check the ones that I couldn't find so that later I can drill them outside of Anki. I'll probably plow 2-3 times through the book just before the test.

I'm worried about listening comprehension, I score very bad on them (like 4-5 on 12) despite generally getting the gist of each conversation. I stumble on those little details that make some answers a trap or I just fail to take notes (don't have that habit yet) during a longer/more detailed conversation and later have to resort to guessing which month was it. This coupled with a couple of "I effin don't have a clue whats going on" questions drag my ratio dangerously close to a default fail.

I know exactly what you mean. I more or less always get a rough idea, narrowing it down to 2 answers, but seem to often pick the wrong one.

I just got 44% on a listening practice - would this be enough on the new test? Assuming I make up the mark elsewhere I guess, I at least won't fail outright for getting too low on the listening.

thurd: May I ask how you search for JLPT2 grammar points in the deck? Is there a smarter way to do it rather than typing phrases into the search bar?

stevesayskanpai Wrote:I know exactly what you mean. I more or less always get a rough idea, narrowing it down to 2 answers, but seem to often pick the wrong one.

I just got 44% on a listening practice - would this be enough on the new test? Assuming I make up the mark elsewhere I guess, I at least won't fail outright for getting too low on the listening.

33% was minimum on last N2 so you have to be above that. But even so it would be quite hard to get a minimum here and make up for it elsewhere.

Lindley Wrote:thurd: May I ask how you search for JLPT2 grammar points in the deck? Is there a smarter way to do it rather than typing phrases into the search bar?

No smart way. I get a new point, look for it in both books (Beginner+Intermediate) then I look at the first example sentence. Type the point exactly as it is in first example sentence in search and look for it. Then I delete everything but the "core" of said grammar point (if it has conjugations, versions or whatever), now since I have them sorted by date created I get all example sentences lined up one by one and ready to be unsuspended.
It still takes ages to do that, especially since not every point is covered in books (in index) but you can clearly find some uses thanks to search. Then I just make a decision if its easy (most of them are from advanced and sentences there are like mini novels) and clear enough to be of any value to me.

Btw today I finally got the confirmation letter for N2, I was getting worried since I cannot attend the test without it.

Quote:No smart way

I see. Thanks for the detailed explanation!

I'm almost done with KM2-- I've been adding about 4-5 sentences from either it or other grammar books on each grammar point into my Anki deck, and reviewing like hell. After that, I'll start doing the exercises for a couple of those "get ready for the JLPT in 8 weeks" books in double-time, since I should already know the grammar points, and do a bunch of mock tests with drill books, until my eyes bleed.

I guess I should also do some listening and reading drills as well. And add more vocab, too.

And panic.

Can't panic enough.

Haha, absolutely. Panic is an essential element.

Did a few practice questions today - got 60% on the vocab paper, but understand my mistakes now. Did one reading question and got 4/7 on that. It's certainly going to be close - I'm not going to pass comfortably!