I’ve been studying N3 with Bunpro and some JLPT review books, and sometimes I’ll look up words from N3 readings and decks on Jisho (the extension is just handy :P). But words that on Bunpro are considered N3 are N2/1 on JIsho (勤務, for example).
I get that studying a bit extra to be safe is good, and that JLPT vocab can be tricky to exactly place due to them no longer releasing tests, etc, but what do you guys think? Are there other resources that you think are accurate?
Thanks!
There’s no official list of vocabulary by JLPT level, so none of them are really going to be accurate in a “if you learn all these, you will know every word on the test” sense. No matter what resource you use, there will likely be words you don’t know on the test unless you’re pretty “over-leveled” for the particular level you’re taking. I think the goal is to build up a big enough vocabulary base that you do recognize most of the words, and can hopefully have some idea of the meaning of the ones you haven’t specifically studied from the context, kanji, etc. I wouldn’t really worry about trying not to study “higher-level” vocab because at the end of the day, the distinction is arbitrary no matter the resource you use.
One more thing to note is that even when there were official lists published before the level restructure, there was no level “equivalent” to the current N3, and even then, the actual tests had plenty of vocabulary that weren’t on the official lists.
I took the tests originally prior to the restructure, and I recall not having official lists at that point, either. People made them based on previous exams and what had shown up, if I recall correctly, so I don’t think that is new.
Otherwise, this is accurate and the fact that there are no official lists is why they vary by where you look. You’ll often find grammar listed at different levels in different places, too.