Getting ready for JLPT N2 and just life stuff journey

[zerohbeat]

“What if your life has to drastically change in 5 or 6 months?”

Well that is basically what I have to deal with right now … and somehow pass the JLPT N2. There is no drama or anything like that lol.

In short, I am in my late 30s, after university, I contributed to build a company with my co-workers and its time to let it go and do other things (ie find a new money making opportunity (aka a job) lol). Its all good. We all have been making decisions for the last few years to reach this point.

I just thought maybe it would be interesting to read along with my Japanese learning journey.

Hopefully this is a weekly thing. Partially to get me to study more as I have been cruising a bit too much and secondly, it will be interesting to read… In the past there have been some really cool journeys by other members.

There are 97 days or so before the exam!!!

Scary, right? But I feel like I have enough time. I passed the JLPT N3 in December 2022. I do study every day, its just that I think, I should do a bit more haha.

What I hoped to do before the Exam in December 2025

Before the exam, I hope that I will:

• Read at least 10 light novels
• Read at least 10 manga volumes
• Go through 3 books and do practice questions. I have the Kanzen Master books and a few others.
• Get my sleep in order
• Clean my to do list for Anki - Currently 1545 words / kanji to add. Its not that bad - there are lots of duplicates
• Get my morning routine back on track. I used to study in the morning but then I stopped…

What I actually did before the Exam in December 2025

• Read 1, not 10 light novels
• Read 2, not 10 manga volumes
• Did not got any practice books this time. Wanted to go through 3
• Got my sleep in order
• Did not clean my Anki List - Currently 1545 words / kanji to add. Its not that bad - there are lots of duplicates
• Got my morning routine back on track. I study a bit every morning.

Anyhow, thanks for reading!

Edit

[Minh_Nguyen]

Your story is somewhat similar to mine. Although just a bit different that I ve just passed N3 in this July and ofcourse will attempt N2 in December. You can do it. Just keep your schedule.

[maurice620]

You’ve got this! Sometimes periods of drastic change and upheaval lend themselves really well to locking into your goals that might have been ‘side quests’ at one point. You’ll do great!

[zerohbeat]

@Minh_Nguyen
Congrats for passing N3 and good luck to you too for N2 in December!

@maurice620 mauirce
Thank you very much! Yeah I agree, drastic change periods can lead to unexpectedly great results.

90 days left until the exam…

This week was good for the most part. I actually did study a bit more. I did reviews on Bunpro on Saturday! Normally, I forget to do my reviews on Bunpro on Satuday…. (I am sorry lol) .

The main objectives for the week were somewhat met:

• I did more reviews per day: Ankidroid, Renshuu and of course Bunpro .
• I cut down my “doom scrolling time” or just looking at the phone / computer and not doing much. I read a bit one light novel instead one of those times.
• Tried to get my sleep in order. On the average I went to bed at 4am before… last week was 2am.
• I read a bit, mainly it was the reading section on Bunpro. I had it all complete before but now there are new passages so I spent some time on that.

A few important things happened today… I had to say when I will move out of my place … In general my deadline is January 2026 time… Maybe I could extend for a month or two but I rather not annoy people.

The second thing was the dinner that I had today. We went to a teppanyaki place, it was great and very tasty. Me and my co-workers had a relaxed chat about the next few months and what it all could look like. After the dinner, I felt like I have made the right decisions and have given myself some buffers / emergency plans if needed.

Thanks for reading!

[JDong]

Best of luck, I enjoy these kinds of posts as well. I’ve slowed down quite a bit on reading but I’m trying to get back into it in prep for the JLPT. I just started 水属性の魔法使い and have been slowly chipping away at a few others. Do you have any books in mind you plan on reading? Out of curiosity how do you get your listening practice?

[burgerkingler]

Good luck!! Fellow N2 hopeful here. Your post is inspiring

[zerohbeat]

@burgerkingler Thank you very much!
Good luck on the exam too!

[zerohbeat]

Thanks a lot! Good luck to you too for the JLPT! 水属性の魔法使い looks really interesting.

For books, I have somehow started 3 light novels… I am towards 30% in each one… Mushoku Tensei Volume 5, 治癒魔法の間違った使い方 Volume 9 ( The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic ) and Date A Live Encore 2 …
I will try to finish them first.

I really neglect listening, these are some of the ways:

• Playing games in Japanese. I stopped for a while as I just wanted to enjoy the game/s. Trying to get back into it now… I started Metaphor
• Listen to Japanese songs at work.
• Watch anime / tv series raw lol . I would switch to dub / subtitles from time to time to double check
• Listening JLPT practice tests on YouTube.
• Soko Ani Podcast . Its about anime / light novels そこあに
• YuYu on YouTube . YUYUの日本語Podcast - YouTube
• Japanese with Tappei and Noriko Podcast
• Also I call a Japanese friend from time to time and we chat for a while lol ( in English and Japanese)

Yeah, I think those are the main ones.

[zerohbeat]

83 Days until the JLPT exam

This week went well for the most part thought I did fumble a little bit. The weekend was really busy with work and family tasks. Overall progress:

• Slept more.
• Read more than a page every day. My goal for next week is to finish a book.
• Did reviews in the mornings and a few times in the evenings. I cleared my reviews on Bunpro every day.

Before continuing, probably it will be good to give some context. I work as a programmer / ecommerce manager / accountant / photographer / videographer / social media manager / in sales . I programmed the tools for our company and contribute all around.

“When are you going to Japan?”

This is a very common question from some friends… Lets entertain some possibilities for the future.

• Start my own company. These days, I am not so sure. I was able to secure a short contract this year as a data migration engineer as an experiment to see if I can do it (answer – yes, I can). Yup, I worked in two places simultaneously – they both knew about each other, it was all good. The contract place was really fun even thought after finishing 1 job, I had to rush and start the other (hence why my sleep pattern got really messed up at the end and now needs fixing haha)
• Don’t go to Japan, just find a job or find a place in a Japanese company. Don’t really mind this really as long at I can travel around from time to time and the work is interesting / challenging / fun.
• Long term Japanese language school in Japan. As an idea it seems great, in reality I am not so sure. This was a thought that I lightly entertained a few years ago…
• Get myself to Japan and just go for it (find a job, find a place to live etc… ). High risk with a chance for success?..
• Take a break from everything and travel a bit.

I don’t know what the answer will be in a few months time… For now I am keeping all options open. Thanks for reading!

[zerohbeat]

Around 76 days left or so until the JLPT exam…

This week was a strange one… things will be quite hectic for a while, thankfully I was able to reach some of my main goals:

• Fixed my sleep patterns… I now go to bed during normal times lol (1am to 2am) and get 6 to 8 hours of sleep. I definitely feel much better these days and with more energy.
• I walked / hiked / did exercise more consistently . As they say: A healthy body = healthy mind . I even studied a bit in a café shop before work!

Overall, I probably spend 30 to 40 minutes a day doing something Japanese related. Eg doing my reviews, reading, listening etc… For a while it was probably 10 minutes a day (max…)

Anyhow, really need to start reading more. I hoped that I would read more this past week but I got distracted with friends / games.

[zerohbeat]

59 Days until the exam…
I got super sick … Thankfully, it does not happen often and currently recovering…
Will be a bit frustrating for the next few weeks as there is too much going on… This year, in general has been very strange and unexpected haha.
I am glad I started this journal as otherwise I may have slowed down studying Japanese even more. Will see how things are next Monday…

On positive note, stared watching Lycoris Recoil raw and its quite fun. Really like it. Also, every day, I have done my reviews so that is good too.

[zerohbeat]

55 days or so left before the JLPT exam.

First, I want to say: Sorry. I genuinely thought that I could study seriously and have 3 or 4 hours a day given to Japanese, read a lot and show lots of progress. Yet here were are. In previous years around this time, I could commit the time to Japanese + the weekends too. Currently: 15 minutes in the morning and a few minutes some evenings…

I want to take the JLPT and pass it… yet yeah… lol

I was talking to a friend about how things are going and when I told him that I applied for the JLPT his response was: laughed and told me that I should not have done that. At that point, I think that part of me already knew that, I just ignored it stubbornly. Haha

I will still show up for the exam.

This week, I started and finished Natsume Book of Friends Volume 17, 夏目友人帳 17.

This is probably my favourite ongoing manga series, its definitely one of my favourite series. Really like the anime too. This volume was very interesting as a few characters had a chapter/s dedicated to them and their past. Its hard to describe this series and what makes it soo good. Part of it is the characters and their relationships and in part is the vibe of the series.

I also started Metaphor in Japanese.
I always wanted to play Persona in Japanese lol. Only about 2 hours in. Surprisingly, its not that bad, I thought I will struggle a bit. There are some words that I did not know before lol like 砦 (とりで、fort; fortress; stronghold; fortification). The game is very Persona like lol.

[homa]

Lovely

Edit: though it was a new thread and replied my impression of the first initial post

[zerohbeat]

48 days of so left until the JLPT exam…

Halfway through manga Volume 18 on Natsume Book of Friends in Japanese. Probably the most consistently enjoyable and solid manga series that I have read. Even though its very fantastical in a way, its also a very relatable too. Partly how the main character moved around while growing up and his grandmother’s relationship. Initially, I saw a bit of the anime adaptation during university. I just remember how relaxed I became after lol …
Also played another 2 hours of Metaphor. Considering these weeks are quite stressful at work, playing the game a bit most nights has been very relaxing.

I pushed back a lot of stuff as it was a bit too much… It does not change the overall plan, more like I gave myself a bit of breathing room…

[zerohbeat]

18 days or so left until the exam

Somehow exactly 30 days disappeared… There was not much happening regarding studying so not sure what to write lol

What I did, I finished reading all of the Bunpro Reading Passages for N3 and N2… I read some of the essays before, now it looks like this:

Played a bit more of Metaphor too and I quit. Partially as maybe I overdid it this year with Persona 3 Reload and I tried for a bit Expedition 33…

Its actually been a bit too much lol… Travelling for work and just in general. Also had to book tickets and hotels / apartments from now till July… At least I know now how some parts of my life will go. Unfortunately this takes time and I mainly spent my evening / days trying to figure out the trips.

I am quite sure now how the next 10 months could look like, work wise. I sneaked in some holidays during work trips hehe. Its been a very long time since I had to book things soo early.