[Zgarbas]

Gingerninja Wrote:Wow you guys exaggerate.

I haven't even finished the core2k because it's boring as shit, let alone core6k and I passed N3.

You can know 2k+ words without doing core2k... But if your vocab is limited by the core series, like mine was when I took N4 (somewhere midst core 3k) then speaking from experience you'll encounter a bunch of terms you don't know .

It feels nice to know there's a bunch of people with the N3/N2 indecision . And that most of us are taking the N2 anyway.

welp, just registered to take N1... wish me luck guys^^

I registered for the N2 myself because why the hell not!? Good luck Hashiriya. Congrats on your 1,000th post also haha.

lol thanks! i just realized it after i posted it

Just registered for the N1 in DC. Georgetown runs an excellent JLPT.

Interesting Star-Trek-style font on the web app form. A little hard to read, but otherwise I gotta say I like the new registration process so far.

Have they gone to a computer-based registration process in Japan as well? I just remember last year having to run around with a bunch of little pieces of paper, photos, etc., and race to the post office to get everything done just so in time.

Just signed up for N1 and paid quite a lot for (70$ in CAD, which is Canadian dollars). Anyhow, I'll be preparing as much as I can before hand.

TheVinster Wrote:Congrats vileru. I've decided to just suck it up and go for N2 because why settle for less? And gaiaslastlaugh if you want to make it a competition maybe we'll both succeed better, haha.

Oh, hell. It's ON!!!

You'll probably dust me. I've been studying and practicing like a maniac, but only since May. (I have about two years of on-and-off study prior to that, though.) We'll see what seven months of intensive study can accomplish, I guess!

gaiaslastlaugh Wrote:

TheVinster Wrote:Congrats vileru. I've decided to just suck it up and go for N2 because why settle for less? And gaiaslastlaugh if you want to make it a competition maybe we'll both succeed better, haha.

Oh, hell. It's ON!!!

You'll probably dust me. I've been studying and practicing like a maniac, but only since May. (I have about two years of on-and-off study prior to that, though.) We'll see what seven months of intensive study can accomplish, I guess!

You think I'll dust you but I'm honestly in the same boat. I studied on-and-off for a a bit more than 2 years and never really took it seriously. I have only been just seriously studying for the past month and even then I've been lazy. Guess we'll see what happens! School starts tomorrow though and I have a math class so I hope it doesn't interfere too much. I hate math...

.

Arupan Wrote:Managed to pass N1 with flying colors.

Vocabulary/Grammar: 60/60
Reading: 39/60
Listening: 43/60

Total Score: 142/180

I explain my results like this:

Vocabulary/Grammar: Wrote my graduation thesis in Japanese, so I can construct/analyze Japanese sentences pretty accurately.

Reading: I do understand the texts but I don't seem to be able to grasp the logic behind the answers. I've always had such a problem since first grade (in my native language). Maybe it's because I excelled in math/physics/chemistry/IT/etc? Does anyone else have such a problem?

Listening: My listening comprehension is still lacking.

Mine is definitely the opposite. Not much problems with listening,reading or vocabulary but the grammar. So I'll be studying grammar for JLPT Level 2 and then 1 to prepare for N1 this December. I guess everyone has strengths and weaknesses.

Good job on the N1!

I didn't want to start another thread but does anyone know good online stores to buy a lot of JLPT prep books/kanzen master books for a decent price?. I want to get N2 and N1 books plus past N2+N1 tests.

Any help is appreciated

(Willing to put around 200-300$ into this)

[s0apgun]

So, I decided to not take the N3 and just wait until next December to do the N1. Good luck to everyone taking it this year.

honto.jp for books from Japan, Kinokuniya US for books in NA. Shipping costs make price comparisons tricky. Kino has a good deal for free shipping for orders over $100US. Their book prices are higher, but you're paying for the books to be shipped over from Japan in the first place. Honto.jp (formerly bk1) has great shipping options and book selection, but calculates your shipping costs only after it ships... which isn't useful if you're counting pennies.

rich_f Wrote:honto.jp for books from Japan, Kinokuniya US for books in NA. Shipping costs make price comparisons tricky. Kino has a good deal for free shipping for orders over $100US. Their book prices are higher, but you're paying for the books to be shipped over from Japan in the first place. Honto.jp (formerly bk1) has great shipping options and book selection, but calculates your shipping costs only after it ships... which isn't useful if you're counting pennies.

I forgot about this site http://shop.whiterabbitjapan.com/japanes...1.html?p=2

I'm having one problem though, there are so many books (which ones do I choose?). I'm aiming to collect a lot of JLPT N1+N2 books only.

I like the Kanzen Master series. That, and the Unicom ドリル＆ドリル series. KM is good for light teaching and practicing, and the Unicom Drill and Drill books are just stuffed full of practice test questions, with verbose explanations of the trickier questions in the back.

The KM books are by 3A, who also publish a lot of regular JP textbooks, like Minna no Nihongo. But that alone will probably take a chunk out of your budget, if not all of it.

If you don't have a thorough grammar dictionary (or 3 or 4), you might need one of those, too, to flesh out some of the sparser explanations. (But all review books are pretty much like that... light on explaining, that is.)

I think I should get 1 set for N1+N2/mock tests(if possible). Then get a grammar dictionary (to review basics and head up the ladder). That sounds reasonable (I have heard kanzen master series are really good, so I'll start with one I know)

Well, the 2 best options, considering you're on a budget, are the 日本語文法辞典, which is all in Japanese, but covers a lot of material, or the どんな時どんな使う日本語表現文法辞典, which also covers a lot of material, but has EN/KOR/CHN translations of the JP definitions. That said, the definitions are on the terse side, and you'll only get a few example sentences, with no translations. (Use ALC if you need that.) You can get either book for ~$30-$40.

The other series I'd recommend with reservations is the "A Dictionary of __ Japanese Grammar" series (Basic, Intermediate, Advanced.) You get much more detailed information, all in EN, but you'll have to drop probably in the neighborhood $120 to get all 3 books. Maybe more. Also, this series has a bad habit of *not* covering about half of the material on the JLPT. They really need to put out a supplementary volume or something. Also, it's hard to look up things in this series-- partly because it's all in romaji, partly because it's just hard to find things in it. The other two books are just a bit easier to search, IMO. Also, it has a nasty habit of saying it covers something, then you'll follow the index to find that it "covers" it by mentioning it only in passing, for example, the word you're searching for will show up in the definition of another word, or just a "similar to" kind of thing. Very frustrating.

Hm, the same good old books get mentioned, however, recently I fell in love with a book called くらべてわかる. It illustrates those subtle differences between different grammatical forms just so well and it's something I had been looking for so long. I think using this book your output becomes more correct

http://is.gd/Dba2wf

@Tori-kun: That's an interesting book. I like the explanations a lot. The ADOJG series does something similar in its Notes and Related Expressions, but I like the way this book does it, too. The more examples, the better IMO.

The main reason I mentioned the usual books is because ta12121 is on a fixed budget... and also, I haven't really been able to find anything else that was as good for the price. But this book you recommend looks promising. I may have to get a copy for myself.

Just got the notice in the mail today; managed to pass the N1 with a little breathing room (118/180), not stellar, but still I feel pretty good about it!

I for one love the Dictionaries of Japanese grammar that the Japan Times puts out. They are very very in depth about in which cases you can (and just as importantly can NOT) use each grammatical pattern. Plus they've got so many many example sentences for each term it makes your head hurt.

That being said, if I was strictly studying for the JLPT, I'd choose どんな時どう使う over the Japan Times books since its tailored explicitly for grammatical forms that appear on all levels of the test. But for depth the Grammar dictionaries win hands down.

@Admiral: Congrats!

I totally agree. The Japan Times books are great for depth, so for actually learning the language, they're *really* a godsend when I'm stuck on something. But for JLPT on a budget, it's a tough call.

@ta12121: Have a look a the grammar books you're getting for the N1/N2 first, and first figure out if you can go with those explanations, or if you need something more detailed. If so, then you might want to look at some of the 文法 dictionaries we've been discussing.

tl,dr: ADOJG: great depth, middling breadth (for JLPT). どんな時: shallow depth, great breadth.

[Zgarbas]

Sending in my papers for the N2 today. It's on!

(Damn the application forms are idiotic; why do I have to write my address 6 times if the results are going directly to my Uni anyway?)

Signed up for N3 today. I got about 150/180 on a practice test, so I believe my chances are good. I was thinking of doing N2, but considering that I have to find and start a job pretty soon I don't know if I'll be able to dedicate enough time to get to that level by December. Congrats to everyone who passed the previous tests, and to those who are preparing for the December ones - 頑張りましょう！

I ordered the N1 set (kanzen master) and just the grammar book for N2. I also picked up the grammar books (Japanese basic grammar,intermediate and advanced). Let the madness begin!

Zgarbas Wrote:Sending in my papers for the N2 today. It's on!

(Damn the application forms are idiotic; why do I have to write my address 6 times if the results are going directly to my Uni anyway?)

Ever heard of Adobe Acrobat X?