Shakunatz Wrote:I did well in the reading part (I think)...partly because I kept simulating old １級, the 1st and the 3rd section, in 90 minutes instead of 110...and partly because I read a lot of books.
I'd like to share this twitter reading contest.
Thanks to that, I read lots of books and I somehow get used to the texts. That's probably why I felt that the reading part was not that hard to me.

Thanks so much for recommending this reading contest! Really great motivator and enjoyable too. Getting through a lot of manga that had been sitting around for months and also making decent progress with a book of short stories and a novel

Which textbook should I buy to practice listening for 2kyuu? I already listen to podcast but I want to get used to the kind of audio it comes out in the test.

Thanks!

I recommend the new Kanzen Master listening books. I havent used the 2kyuu one, but the 1kyuu one is great. Couldn`t hurt to get both.

julianjalapeno Wrote:I recommend the new Kanzen Master listening books. I havent used the 2kyuu one, but the 1kyuu one is great. Couldn`t hurt to get both.

How is it great? Also, what're the benefits to using that listening book as opposed to, say, listening to a bunch of native TV, conversation, podcasts, movies, etc.? I can see how the book may familiarize you to the format of the test's audio prompts, but is there something else to note?

I already listen to podcasts and watch dramas. I just want to get used to the test format and test myself in several ways. I agree that listening to native media is much better (and way funnier).

Thanks for the sugestion, I'll buy both anyway, I want to start studying for 1kyuu after the test (even though I'm not sure I'll be able to take it here in Portugal in 2012...)

Do you know when the new kanzen master grammar books come out?

It's out (the grammar book). Saw the entire Kanzen series (new format) at the bookstore recently.

I can only find the 1kyuu one, I already have quite a good grasp on 2kyuu grammar, but I love the kanzen master series to practice :p

CarolinaCG Wrote:I can only find the 1kyuu one, I already have quite a good grasp on 2kyuu grammar, but I love the kanzen master series to practice :p

Oh, yeah, sorry... I only noticed the 1kyuu ones now that I think of it

@kodorakun
Its good in that it breaks down the types of skills you need for each type of question. For example, the section where you have to choose the correct reply in a short dialogue has problems where you focus on inflection, as well as common but easy to misinterpret sentence endings (negative forms that actually mean positive, etc.).

I dont think it replaces having a live, native speaker to practice with or being in an environment where youre surrounded by the language, but its a good way to focus on what you need for this specific test.

@CarolinaCG
The grammar books are already out, as well as the revised vocab book which is leagues better than the old purple one. Pretty sure I saw the N2 ones as well.

Thanks for the input julian. So you like the vocab book? Actually, my thinking was that between reading as much native material as possible, and listening/speaking/immersing in Japanese environments, the only KM book I could see being really worthwhile is the vocab one.

I feel like even at the 1kyuu level all one really recognizes is that we are lost in this MASSIVE ocean of unknown vocabulary -- there's ALWAYS another word you had no idea about... So, if the vocab book really does do a good job at selecting the most common words and expressions, maybe prioritizing the study of that list would be worthwhile... I dunno. I still prefer the idea of reading content that is personally interesting and selecting words from therein, but that may be test suicide.

Yea I feel the same way.

Even though this new KM book seems to be among the best, that still isnt enough. There were words on the last test not in any JLPT book (逸材, for example). Reading lots of native material and hoping that the 25 words in the vocab section are ones you know is about all you can do.

My strategy now (since I think I failed the test and will need to retake it) is reading novels of my choosing and supplementing that with native study books for college entrance exams. JLPT prep books just do not cut it at this level.

@Carolina: for N2, 3-A makes a really good mock test that really gets the listening portion of the test right... at least as well as a mock test can. It runs about 900 yen. It came pretty close to the same difficulty of the summer 2011 N2.

If nothing else, it would be good practice.

ISBN: 978-4-88319-557-2

rich_f Wrote:@Carolina: for N2, 3-A makes a really good mock test that really gets the listening portion of the test right... at least as well as a mock test can. It runs about 900 yen. It came pretty close to the same difficulty of the summer 2011 N2.

If nothing else, it would be good practice.

ISBN: 978-4-88319-557-2

Thanks! I was limited to buying it from BK1, but luckily today the european store I buy from updated their new products section and there it was! I will be so nervous when I try this book, I don't know how it's going to feel having my current skills, easy? Hard? Oh my...

I bought it along with unicom 1kyuu (because it has audio) and somatome 1 kyuu (because I like it) grammar books. All these sentences will go to anki starting in December (I already bouht them because the unicom book is not produced anymore and only had a few in stock).

I don't buy vocab books because I use jlpt lists and read the news and articles and add the vocab to anki.

So, I found a n2 mock test online, and damn, it's hard! Most of the questions have words that have similar meanings, how are we supposed to know which word to use? What should I do to practice that? I'm gonna add all the words I don't know from the mock tests (Itextbooks I bought).

I'm getting worried... I have 4 months though. I'm finishing the the grammar (adding the last N2 grammar points from donna toki), I started reading a lot (ramdom texts and the somatome reading book), as for vocab, I already added all vocab lists until 2kyuu (only have new 400 unseen cards and already started addind 1kyuu vocab, so I'm almost finished with 2kyuu vocab).

I'm going to start focusing in mock tests and test oriented materials.

The books arrived today, I'm going to get them tomorrow and will start right away with the mock tests. If necessary I'll buy more mock tests textbooks.

I'm sorry, its just that I'm starting to panic. I seriously need to pass N2 this year...

Carolina,
Why not take J-CAT?
http://www.j-cat.org/

takes only 90 minutes!
We could compare scores too!
here-> http://forum.koohii.com/showthread.php?tid=6742

Yes, of course I'll do it! tomorrow or so

then register today already, it takes time.

Is the 2011 application for the JLPT out yet?

julianjalapeno Wrote:

ta12121 Wrote:I'm planning on adding all the JLPT questions into my srs and study them for the long-term. I want to start now, so once December comes, I'll have all the "necessary" knowledge.

Have you done any past 1kyuu test papers yet? I`m curious how you would score since you`ve said a number of times that you can understand `around 90%` of what you read and hear. If that is indeed the case you probably dont really need to study anymore and would probably get about 95% on the JLPT since its multiple choice.

Personally I feel like I`m in the 60-70% range of comprehension. Studying for the N1 has helped my reading a lot, but I`m far from being able to understand 90%+ of a Mishima novel.

Actually I'd still study, it's because preparing for the test is half the battle and having the knowledge is the other half. As for not studying anymore, that won't happen. There is still plenty I have to learn and will learn. My ultimate goal if native-level Japanese (compared to a university student is my goal). So, I'll keep going and maintaining until I reach those goals.

erlog Wrote:Is the 2011 application for the JLPT out yet?

for me I have to registrar between Sept-Oct 2011 for the December JLPT test.

Here in portugal the registration starts august 22.

erlog Wrote:Is the 2011 application for the JLPT out yet?

The pack is out to buy in bookshops in Japan, don't think you can submit it yet though.

caivano Wrote:

erlog Wrote:Is the 2011 application for the JLPT out yet?

The pack is out to buy in bookshops in Japan, don't think you can submit it yet though.

Can you give me the ISBN or an Amazon.co.jp link? I'm not familiar with any big retail book shops in my area yet so I'd much rather just order it from Amazon right now.

I searched for 日本語能力試験 last night and all I got was drill books, and I tried to narrow it down by then putting in 申込書. But, no luck. I should probably buy those drill books anyway.

Ah, it's 願書. I see old ones on Amazon, but not 第二回 for 2011 yet. I want to thumb through those drill books, and it seems like any place that bothers to stock drill books would probably also stock applications.

@erlog: Post a link when you find one for the 願書 for this December's JLPT in Japan on amazon.co.jp. I'll be in Japan this Fall, studying, so I might as well take it while I'm there.

ISBN 9784893588036
http://bookweb.kinokuniya.co.jp/htm/4893588036.html

Amazon doesn't seem to have it yet. A lot of bookshops have the test though, the one where I saw it doesn't stock Japanese learning books but still had it