desmar84,
Based on practice tests I would say:

N5: Too Easy) Genki  1 = N5

N4: Normal difficulty) Vocabulary and kanji will definitely NOT be an issue and the grammar really isn't that hard. For me the hardest thing about that level was conjugating verbs and adjectives.

N3: Doable, But Difficult) I don't think vocabulary or kanji will be an issue, but listening may give you a hard time if you don't get enough practice. (It's something you can't just cram :\)

I would recommend level N4. I don't think it's worth it to study for a test and then fail it because you rushed yourself. Start listening now, and take a practice test (remember old JLPT 3) a month. There is one free online practice test for the new format but that's all you get.

I think it's best to study in this order:
*When studying watch a Disney movie in Japanese or some music music. It doesn't matter really as long as it's somewhat interesting.

1) Kanji, you only have to know 300 kanji! You should become familiar with the meanings, then onyomi (Skip the kunyomi for now). You don't have to memorize all the readings, just one for each kanji. This really helped me make my Japanese connect.

2) Niche expressions, here is a list of expressions that will probably be on the test.
http://www.jlptstudy.com/N5/index.html
http://www.jlptstudy.com/N4/index.html
(You have to understand the expressions from he previous level too. )

3) Vocabulary, you seem to be on the right track. After familiarizing yourself with those kanji it should be really simple. After finishing KO try to write down the words from the list you don't know and add them to your deck. Smartfm works well too.

After all that, all you have left is grammar. I personally used Tae kim with Genki1-2. I think they complimented each other nicely. I found this link, it may help later on.
http://www.e-japanese.jp/grammar3.htm

Good luck!

Last edited by gyuujuice (2010 August 29, 11:38 pm)

You're welcome! ^__^

1)
Listening comprehension is strange, you just have to keep pursuing it and learn new words. (It's my theory that the more words you learn the more you your brain will be able to make sense of the sounds so increasing vocabulary has helped me quite a bit.)

2)
LOTS, Here is the official practice tests (NJLPT not the old ones)
http://www.jflalc.org/?act=tpt&id=25
(N4 MP3)

Something I just found by google:
http://japanese.human.metro-u.ac.jp/mic … index.html

3)
I think it USED to be that way but you need a 60% in the listening section as well as the other sections. For N5 and N4 there are 3 sections I believe: Listening, Kanji and vocab, grammar. (I'm not sure for this level but I know you need 60% in each of those areas.)

Looking at the test now, yep the listening part is definitely the most difficult. They are so tricksy. :s

Yup, passed N3. Not by much mind.

edit: actually I passed easily with the new scoring system

Last edited by caivano (2010 September 05, 10:14 pm)

wondering if more production cards (N3 level) would be a good idea. Do you put an english word or a japanese hiragana word in the question field?

lanval wrote:

wondering if more production cards (N3 level) would be a good idea. Do you put an english word or a japanese hiragana word in the question field?

Specifically for JLPT, the test is all reading and listening so production cards are kinda unnecessary. But if you want to produce Japanese (speaking and writing), then I've found they help.

lanval wrote:

Well at Yamasa I' ll need speaking and writing ;P
Besides I feel like with reproduction only, it takes a long time until I recognize the words fast AND the meaning pops up straight away. Just takes a lot more time to write...
So, Eng- Jap. or Jap-Jap?

Use recognition cards to study for the JLPT and production cards to study for the things you need to know in language school.

chochajin wrote:

I wanna do some old JLPT2kyuu tests, can I use the new grading system (N2) on them? Will that work? Anybody has a link to the new grading system for me?

I already passed 2kyuu mock tests 1,5 years ago. I wanted to take N2 in July this year, but missed the application deadline, so I'm finally going to take it this December (although I already started studying for N1 a while ago). If I pass I might try N1 in July (1st try XD probably fail) next year.

You can't really apply the new scale to old tests. You can find the new scale on the front of the JLPT website.

I think it's safe to say that if you can pass the old version of the test you will get roughly the same score on the new version. There isn't really a huge difference in the formats.

Last edited by Womacks23 (2010 September 06, 8:53 am)

where abouts does core 2000 put you on the new jlpt system?

Finally, a whole bunch of study books have come out for N3, the new mystery level. I bought the 日本語総まとめ vocab and grammar books from Ask publishing, and will see how I get on with those.

I'm interested: has anyone had a look at or started using any of these new N3 exercise books or study guides yet?

Can anybody give me tips on how to get better with the reading section in general and the one for N2 in particular?
I do have the Kanzen Master 2kyuu reading book and I think it helps, but I also realized that I still need lots of practice. I think the reading section is my weakest section right now.

Not only do I fail to solve the problems in time (my biggest problem), but I also get only slightly over 50% correct. That's not enough at all.

I know that most people here always just suggest to do a lot of reading, but I'm looking for more specific tips than just that.

Thanks a lot in advance

pm215, thank you very much for your suggestions!
In the Kanzen Master book is a "placement" test in the beginning and I finished it with a total of mere 54% !!
論説文 being the type of text that I struggled most with (got only 16%!!), followed by 説明文　(57%).
They suggest to start with the text type you struggled most, but also say if you have low scores in all sections to start with the short text sessions at the beginning of the book. I decided to do the latter.

Actually I'm not sure what the problem is. I'm really strict on the time they suggest for each problem (usually only 3-5 min.) and if I almost run out of time, I just quickly answer it. Maybe I shouldn't do that for now?
Grammar shouldn't be a problem at this point as I focused on that the last few months. Not sure about vocab.

Any other suggestions?

If I wanna test if my vocab is good enough, do you have any suggestions other than actually doing a mock test?

The new passing levels are posted here:
http://www.jlpt.jp/e/guideline/results.html

55% to pass N1 (100/180), 50% to pass N2 (90/180), and 52.8% to pass N3 (95/180), apparently, and you only need to get 19/60 right per section.

Damn if I know what it means.

@chochajin Are you reading Japanese newspapers, specifically the editorial pages? Since that seems to be what you're having problems with, maybe reading some more will help you get more comfortable with the format/style of them, and pick up some of the vocab you're missing.

If the vocab on the usual pages is a little too much, try the Mainichi kids' section:
http://mainichi.jp/life/edu/maishou/index.html

It's geared more to 6th graders.  Copy the text, remove everything in (), then read the text to see if you can understand it. (Tip from Tofugu, actually.)

I passed N2! 76% which im stoked about cos I was unsure if I would pass or not.

Man it's crazy reading the pass criteria... only 50%?? And the sectional pass is only ~33%? I'm definitely going to sign up for N1 and i'm thinking I might even be able to pass it.