u/NoApartment7243

Wanted to use this subreddit one more time before the lockdown.

First time doing JLPT after properly studying for over a year (I've known the kanas for over a decade though), I've only really done 3 proper practice tests which probably isn't enough. Tried my first one a month ago and 2 more yesterday and today. Fully confident with passing vocab and grammar obv, the listening is more of a worry since I'm proportionately way worse at that section. Notably worrying because like no matter how good you are at reading a language you're basically useless right?

Still though I think the biggest red flag in my results is that I've seen basically no improvement in scores, 3 marks higher than my first exam is basically the same leeway you'd expect from silly mistakes or unpredictably specific curveballs that can't be prepped for.

I've also been made aware that Bunpro's tests are notably easier than the real deal, so that's something that's got me a bit concerned about how I'll fare on the actual test day.

Bunpro Practice Test 1:

Vocab: 19/21, Grammar&Reading: 16/22, Listening: 15/24

Total: 74.6%

Bunpro Practice Test 2:

Vocab: 19/21, Grammar&Reading: 17/22, Listening: 16/24

Total: 77.6%

Bunpro Practice Test 3:

Vocab: 19/21, Grammar&Reading: 17/22, Listening: 17/24

Total: 79.1%

Vocab I can basically almost 100% sans a few careless mistakes.

Grammar is mostly good until it comes to very particular usage of rules, then it's 50/50.

Listening I feel like I'm screwed especially because I'm the type of person that spaces out without realising and end up missing what was said in the audio (there were lots of cases where marks I got right were due to chance guesses when I wasn't certain of the answer).

Tldr I wanna know what people here think of my JLPT prospects - I feel like I can pass N5 with a good mark but don't want to count on my own confidence too much. N4 or N5 was my new years resolution, and I do want to make it all the way to N2 or N1 in the next couple of years too, so it's very important to me that I can be confident in the actual abilities I trained for this exam instead of just scraping a passing mark on any sections.

So I'm booked in for the first stage of JLPT this summer, for vocabulary I started going through the Kaishi 1.5K deck in January and intended to finish the whole thing at least a month before the exam. But, due to lots of unforeseen circumstances surrounding daily life, I've fallen really behind and am only 600 words in. To catch up to the pace I intended atp I'd probably have to do speed up to around 150 words a week, but I preferably really need to focus on balancing immersion and grammar as well.

I've read elsewhere that the deck can confidently carry you up to N4 so presumably I didn't ACTUALLY need to aim to finish the whole deck in the first place, but seeing as it's arranged by frequency order I was wondering, what point through the 1.5K do people here think is generally think is enough to confidently pass N5?

p.s. for additional context I'm level 21 on WaniKani (taking a break from new items to focus on my JLPT study routine) and have been able to blaze through portions of the deck due to being familiar with the vocab or kanji, and since I have access to the Wk dictionary I've been borrowing mnemonics from further levels for Kaishi kanji I haven't encountered yet.

So I'm booked in for the first stage of JLPT this summer, for vocabulary I started going through the Kaishi 1.5K deck in January and intended to finish the whole thing at least a month before the exam. But, due to lots of unforeseen circumstances surrounding daily life, I've fallen really behind and am only 600 words in. To catch up to the pace I intended atp I'd probably have to do speed up to around 150 words a week, but I preferably really need to focus on balancing immersion and grammar as well.

I've read elsewhere that the deck can confidently carry you up to N4 so presumably I didn't ACTUALLY need to aim to finish the whole deck in the first place, but seeing as it's arranged by frequency order I was wondering, what point through the 1.5K do people here think is generally think is enough to confidently pass N5?

p.s. for additional context I'm level 21 on WaniKani (taking a break from new items to focus on my JLPT study routine) and have been able to blaze through portions of the deck due to being familiar with the vocab or kanji, and since I have access to the Wk dictionary I've been borrowing mnemonics from further levels for Kaishi kanji I haven't encountered yet.