Hello, this Saturday I will have to take the SATII Japanese. I'm freaking out about it. I'm cramming my way for the test but it's almost impossible when you have no idea what level it is. My weakest area is listening and I want to boost my vocabulary. Exactly one month later I'm going to take the JLPTN2. I want to prepare for both tests at the same time if at all possible.

I'm good at kanji -- actually I don't really think about it. I "study" kanji through vocabulary, which I need to double! For me, studying vocabulary is hard. I'm just not sure how to do this. My friend bought me 3 vocabulary textbooks though. (カタカナ語彙トレーニング、日本語能力試験1○2語彙、and 語彙力ぐんぐん1日10分)

I have both 完全マスター文法 and どんな時. I think I will skip the later becasue I allready started 完全マスター and it covers only JLPT2. I'm not even halfway yet!

And for listening I bought, 毎日聞き取り50日(二冊) and 生の日本語. They are simple in text but the later forces you to study Japanese in all sorts of environments which is good practice for me.

I have the practice tests (3) for the old JLPT. I haven't taken them yet. I guess I should start today. (1st,15th and 30th of November?)

I'm taking this to add to my college portfolio and to help me get out of a few classes. I am also considering educational pursuits in Japan. But most importantly, I was born with a speech disorder and I have never been to confident in myself in anything. I was thinking taking this test would show me that my Japanese skills are good and I should continue. I'm bracing myself for dissapointment -- :C

My questions)
What/how should I study?
What are some great materials?

--
牛juice

As I have no clue what the SATII is, I can't help you there. Is it like the AP exams, where you get college credit, or is it a college entrance exam? What sort of beast is it?

If it's like the AP exams, I'd just study for it like the JLPT, provided there aren't any guidelines for it. If there are guidelines, then I'd study to those.

Just like you're doing for the JLPT, right?

Here's a random Vietnamese site I found that has online versions of the old JLPT tests from 1991-2006. I think it's old L1-L3.

Might be useful. Might not. Use a timer to make it feel like the Real Thing.

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

I love this book:
ドリル＆ドリル日本語能力試験N2文法 by UNICOM ISBN: 978-4-89689-476-9

It's just nothing but N2 grammar drills and practice N2 test stuff. Lots of ★ problems, too, like 75 of them. (The ones where you have to re-order the sentences... hate those.) The answers in the back have explanations as to *why* each answer is correct, which is one of the smartest things I've ever seen in one of these books. In English, too, to save time. (Usually.)

You may have to order it from Japan. I did. BK1.jp now offers FedEx for about the same cost as EMS, slightly cheaper if you order more crap.

It's a mixture of JLPT and the AP exams. Although there are many contradictions from thsoe who have taken the test it seems that it is around N3 level. (Other than having roomaji for grammar...but then N3 kanji for reading. WTF is the point of this? lol)

I'm taking both for both college entrance and credit. ^0^

Cool! I'll definitely use those!

That books sounds awesome, but I'm unable to find a website that both has it in stock and ships to America. But I did find what seems to be the updated version for that book.

http://shop.alc.co.jp/spg/v/-/-/-/7010027

http://shop.alc.co.jp/spg/v/-/-/-/7010034

I wonder if these are any good? I can always buy them and find out.

Thank you for your advice!