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Seeking Advice Regarding N3 Preparation (DEC 13)

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ravemirror New member

From: 米国 Registered: 2013-08-19 Posts: 3

Hello everyone,

I’ve been facing a bit of a dilemma, well more of a brick wall. I feel as though I am at a bit of a loss as to how I should proceed forward in order to pass the N3. I’ve seen a few resources presented in this forum regarding the N3, specifically Nukemarines thread, though I was a bit confused at some of the verbiage used. I believe my biggest problem is of course Kanji, so I went ahead and purchased Remembering the Kanji Vol 1 6th edition, with hopes of memorizing as many as I can before this December’s JLPT.

Furthermore I am using “Basic Kanji Vol 1” in order to acquire a majority of the proper readings associated to Kanji. I am also using “ A Dictionary of Basic Japanese grammar” and “A Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar.” With all this said, I still feel like I am not doing enough. Especially regarding Anki, how can I improve my study performance by utilizing Anki? What decks should I download? To be honest ,I found Vocabulary preparatory decks for N5 through N3 though should I just utilize this?

I stumbled also across this website http://www.tanos.co.uk/jlpt/ that breaks down the JLPT, I went ahead and only downloaded a few decks that I mentioned before from it.

A little about my background, I lived in Japan for half a year while attending a language school. When I returned after the language study abroad I didn’t really keep up my Japanese so know I feel a bit rushed since next year I have to go back for the Uni in Japan.
So my main question is: Am I making the right approach? How can I improve myself by utilizing Anki?

Break down:

Grammar:
A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar
A Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar

(I read, and re-read then go off and practice with my friends and girlfriend)

Vocab:
JLPT N5-N3 Decks derived from http://www.tanos.co.uk/jlpt/
I write down any words I don't understand while having a conversation with someone, I've noticed this has vastly increased my vocabulary though I feel like a majority of it is useless for the exam.

(I simply go through them, try to get the stroke order down of the kanji as well and memorize to the best of my abilities and utilize them in conversation)

Kanji:
RTK
Basic Kanji Vol 1

Conversation/Listening:
Japanese music
Movies, I feel as though if I watch movies or dramas I am wasting time so I rather not do that...though perhaps I'm making a mistake there.
Friends, I have plenty of Japanese friends thanks to living abroad
My Japanese girlfriend.

(I've been told I speak like a girl, but hey, It's better than nothing,)

I have practically every day/ all day until the 23rd of next month to study Japanese…

Also, I eventually have to speak to my girlfriends parents, so it's another reason why I need to push myself harder .

Last edited by ravemirror (2013 August 19, 8:41 pm)

EratiK Member

From: Paris Registered: 2010-07-15 Posts: 874

If you want to prep for the N3 you should use books for the N3, like Sou Matome or Kanzen Master.

Last edited by EratiK (2013 August 19, 8:52 pm)

tashippy Member

From: New York Registered: 2011-06-18 Posts: 566

The listening section of the test doesn't feel at all like natural situations. You should try to acquire a sample test, or perhaps the material suggested by EratiK has listening samples, so you can get used to the context-reduced format of the listening section. When I took the JLPT they had a stereo in the front of the room that was too loud so it had too much gain. It's not like a language lab where there are headphones.

Last edited by tashippy (2013 August 19, 8:57 pm)

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ravemirror New member

From: 米国 Registered: 2013-08-19 Posts: 3

tashippy wrote:
The listening section of the test doesn't feel at all like natural situations. You should try to acquire a sample test, or perhaps the material suggested by EratiK has listening samples, so you can get used to the context-reduced format of the listening section. When I took the JLPT they had a stereo in the front of the room that was too loud so it had too much gain. It's not like a language lab where there are headphones.

Since I have an abundance of Japanese books, and for the sake of not buying more than I need. Which books would you behoove me to purchase? I feel that I will most likely acquire the Listening and Vocabulary books, though, would it be beneficiary for me to get the Kanji as well since I recently purchased RTK. Or should I simply utilize them all (Two grammar books, Rtk, Basic Kanji, and the ones listed above.)

With that said, what Anki sets should I use to further my chances of passing?

tashippy Member

From: New York Registered: 2011-06-18 Posts: 566

email me maybe I can help you out.

ravemirror New member

From: 米国 Registered: 2013-08-19 Posts: 3

Email sent~

RawToast お巡りさん

From: UK Registered: 2012-09-03 Posts: 431 Website

I noticed the only thing you mentioned reading in your post were:

Grammar:
A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar
A Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar

(I read, and re-read then go off and practice with my friends and girlfriend)

Try acquiring some graded readers, simple books, or NHK News Easy (with Rikaisama extension for Firefox). You should be able to read a couple of news reports from NHK News Easy and add any words you want to your Anki decks using Rikaisama. I'd turn on the frequency count so you can avoid adding very rare terms.

If you're looking for something less formal to read, I remember that many people place Yotsubato & Doraemon around N3 level (might have been old level 3.) Yotsubato is full of furigana, so kanji is less of a problem.

Grammar:

The DoBJG and DoIJG are solid resources and should cover most of N3 (and some N2 points). Personally, I would take some grammar/sentence decks from ankiweb to provide more practice. In your case, I would recommend AGAINST getting a DoBGJ/DoIGJ deck as you have already studied them. You could fly through a Genki 1/2 sentence deck (nice practice up to N4 level) there should be N3 decks around with sentences taken from workbooks, etc.

Kanji:

For your Kanji issues, if N3 is your goal I'd just focus on N3 level Kanji (~650) and whatever remains from RTK Lite (~1100 in total, but most will be covered by any N3 lists).

Listening:

You could try the "Listen and Learn" deck on ankiweb. It has less than 100 cards, but each one contains a short conversation of around 100 words. Some are quite tricky (the two directions cards are like the evil brethren of JLPT questions) and would be good practice for the listening part of the test.

And something for November:

* Do the practice tests on the JLPT site (N5 to N3, they are short.) The lower level tests should help you get into the test format (especially listening)
* Do a full practice test (get them from JLPT Bootcamp)
* Use N3 books to practice/revise any gaps you found from the tests.

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