r/jlpt

Hello everyone!

I tried learning Japanese over the past few months, but I wasn't very consistent. I also struggled with a few things, especially Kanji, so I've decided to start from scratch and build a stronger foundation.

i want to prepare again from scratch

Could you guys recommend some good YouTube channels for JLPT N5/N4? I've heard that you don't really need a paid course for these levels, but if there's any affordable or paid course that genuinely helped you, I'd love to hear your recommendations as well.

Thanks in advance! I'd really appreciate your suggestions.

Hello, I live in JP and have been for a couple of years now. Studied the language for about 4yrs now and took the N4 a while back and passed. Signed up for the N3 this July (Sunday) and have been taking (private)classes online 4 times a week. I know that’s not a lot but it’s expensive and I had to get into my MD in a uni here as well so that’s what I could do.
The problem is, I’ve been taking the classes and have taken 3 mocks from bunpro and have barely passed my grammar section and vocabulary. My teacher says i should be fine but I just saw a comment in another post that said bunpro is easier than the real thing and now I don’t know if I should even show up to the test or not… I’m honestly terrified, even though I don’t NEED it I would feel very happy and comfortable having the N3 during the time I take for my MD but idk if all I’m going to do is panic during the test and fail anyways. My listening is above 90% and vocab is passable… i appreciate everyone’s advice on what to do now

I registered for the JLPT N4 exam this coming July 5. Since I'm self-studying and haven't attended a Japanese language school, I chose the N4 course in the Migi JLPT app and studied with it for about six months.

And I didn't even study N5 first. I jumped straight into N4.

Recently, I realized that much of the grammar and vocabulary it teaches seems closer to N3 than N4. My brain was fried because I thought I was preparing for N4 the whole time.

What's even stranger is that when I switched to the N5 course, it felt more like N4. When I selected N4, it seemed to jump to N3.

Has anyone else noticed this, or am I missing something? Its july 1 today I still have time to grind for my July 5 exam, but I wish I had realized this sooner. 😭

Is it Coffee? Green Tea? Water? Energy drink? B12 drink? Sports drink? Yogurt drink? Other?

On Bunpro, I usually score around an 80-85% for N3. So I thought this would be fine to pass even with a buffer, but then I tried the Miigi app N3 questions and it’s much harder. Anyone else experience this? Now not so sure where I will fall. Though the free N3 practice test from the official site looks closer to Bunpro’s level. But I’m just worried that Bunpro has me feeling comfy and the real test will be harder. First time taking the JLPT. Anyone think the same? Or is Migii a better performance indicator?

So actually my question is not on the listening part entirely but on a very specific subpart of this section of the test. Note that I will be talking here about the N1 exam and since it is my first JLPT I have no idea if the other levels also contain the same subpart that I will be talking about here.

So basically, if I judge from the mock test I did on Bunpro and Todaii, there is a part in the listening section where the possible answers are not already written on the test. Instead, you have choice A B C D and you have to listen to the person speak after what you will be let known that answer A is such, answer B is such etc,... And in this part you have one exercise that I find particularly difficult where you basically have someone who says a sentence and you need to pick the sentence that would be an appropriate reply. Sometimes, the answers are quite obvious cause some replies would not make any sense or would be politeness mistake (for example using 謙譲語 for the other person while you should actually use 尊敬語). But I sometimes observed questions whose correct answer is a complete mystery to me. For example, first person would say something like "Recently I have been sick so I can't focus on work. That's really annoying" and I could select an answer that goes "Oh, you should see a doctor" or an answer that goes "Yeah that's really annoying". How am I supposed to know which one is correct ???

Of course this is just an example but I have met several questions where the answer would be similarly very ambiguous. How do you guys deal with such questions ?

Good luck to everyone taking the JLPT this Sunday but especially to my fellow Aussies, who will be one of the first (timezone-wise) to take the exam!

How are we all feeling? This is my first ever JLPT so personally I am sweating buckets 🙃 really hope it all goes smoothly.

みんな、頑張ってね!

Hi, I need some advice. Unfortunately, I couldn't prepare properly for the JLPT N5 because my Class 12 studies and other commitments took up much more time than I expected. I kept postponing my Japanese revision, and now I've realized I'm not as prepared as I wanted to be.

At the moment, I know around 200 vocabulary words, about 50 kanji, and only a few grammar points. My biggest weakness is the listening section—I find it difficult to understand the audio, and I'm worried I might not pass because of it.

There are only 3 days left before the exam. Could you please guide me on what I should focus on during these last 3 days to maximize my chances of passing? Any tips or a crash-study plan would really help. Thank you!

im doing n5

Total

38 / 67

56.7%

this was the result

i also did a test on nihon*ez it said i got 109.5/180

pls be real am i passing or failing? my grammar sucks man any tips on improving?

Hey everyone,
I just finished grading my first full JLPT N1 mock test (took it on June 27th) and ended up with a total score of 102/180. Since the passing threshold for N1 is 100 points, I am cutting it incredibly close.

Here is the breakdown of my scaled scores based on my correct answers:

Language Knowledge (Vocabulary/Grammar): 29/45 correct \rightarrow Approx. 38 points
Reading: 11/25 correct \rightarrow Approx. 26 points
Listening: 25/35 correct \rightarrow Approx. 42 points
Total: 102 points

My Analysis & Thoughts:

1. Listening seems to be my strongest suit right now (42 points), which I'm happy about, but I know JLPT scaling can be unpredictable.

2. Reading is definitely my bottleneck. Getting only 11 out of 25 correct (26 points) is dangerous. If I get a slightly harder text on the actual exam, I risk failing either the sectional cutoff (19 points) or dropping below the overall 100-point mark. I struggled heavily with time management and comprehension speed.

3. Grammar/Vocab is decent (38 points), but there are still quite a few careless mistakes and gaps in my kanji/vocabulary retention.
   With the actual exam coming up so soon, I'm feeling a bit anxious about this razor-thin margin.

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.

I used to be the anki-crazy type, couldn't imagine myself without using Anki and all. However, around 3 weeks ago, I actually started reading light novels. I finished 2 in 2 weeks, with no anki at all. Now, when I try to review with Anki again, it doesn't feel fulfilling anymore. I also read from Todaii every now and then so there's more variation, but I like the continuity of a light novel, and the fact that I don't have to stare at a screen to do it so I've been spending more time with my light novels.

So my question is: did anyone here pass N1 with light novels and occasional news articles as your ONLY practice + no mock tests at all?

more context: I've already gone through the Vocabulary and Kanji Sou Matome textbooks with quizlet (and anki, at least until I stopped)

I'm mainly concerned if the light novel terms are also likely to appear in the exam.

Hey guys, I am appearing for JLPT N2 this time.

I appeared for some mock exams and I have been having 40-50% accuracy in the listening section. No matter how hard I try, I am failing to get more accuracy and marks (can't even get quick responses right).

So far I have attempted 6 mock exams, and the issue remains the same. Language knowledge and reading section seem to be lil satisfactory. I failed a mock exam due to low accuracy in listening section 😭.

If anyone has any tips they can share so that I improve my listening even a little bit please help me, I am trying to practice as much as possible but I don't know till what extent I will be able to improve.

I am really stressed out atm because the exam is in like 4 days, please help!

All the responses are highly appreciated.
Thanks!

hi! i'll be taking the N3 this month. i took a mock test on a book i've purchased months ago, but i followed the 'supposed' pointing system of the JLPT. i passed with the points i gathered with this system:

語彙　文法 ： 1 pt each

読解 ：

問題4 ： 3 pts each

問題5-7 ： 4 pts each

聴解：

問題1-5：2 pts each

is this accurate, though? thanks!

So I am preparing for jlpt n5 exam I have a general question on the official site in reading section furigana is provided, I know that furigana will not be provided for vocabulary section, but I want to know whether will it be provided for the reading section or not?

Hello !

I am going to take the N3 this Sunday and was wondering how the listening section is organised.

Precisely, before each question, do you get a few seconds to read out the answers (when there are written answers to choose from), or are you expected to do so while listening ?

The mock tests I've been taking have not all been the same so I would like to know.

Thank you !

Same

Does anyone know of good websites for essays and other sorts of writing that appear on the exam? I heard Asahi from a teacher but don’t really want to subscribe to a daily newspaper.

Also, I tried a light novel (Honzuki…) and couldn’t get into the story at all. Any recommendations on fiction books for this level that are maybe more grounded in everyday life?

I have only 4 days left to prepare for the JLPT N2 exam.

Please share the most important grammar, vocabulary, kanji, reading, and listening topics that are frequently tested. Any last-minute tips would be greatly appreciated.

Hi just wanted to share: in the listening section you may encounter audio/technical issues that the proctors don’t notice (eg: the CD player skips a track). If that happens PLEASE raise your hand and alert the proctors right away! Otherwise you risk losing crucial marks that could mean the difference between a pass and a fail.

When I took the test last time, our CD player missed out some stuff and we all got really worried, but nobody raised their hand in time. By the time we spoke to the proctors about it, they’d already collected the papers and everyone had left; there was nothing they could do.

Please don’t hesitate to tell them if something went wrong during the listening test and they missed it! They will replay the audio for you!