Honest Japanese learning advice (JLPT, immersion, etc)

Japanese
#1

Hello everyone,

I apologize if the community is flooded with posts asking for JLPT advice and study tips. I am writing my own because I feel completely stuck, and after looking through existing threads, I couldn’t quite find answers that match my specific situation.

I recently received my JLPT N2 results and unfortunately did not pass. My score was 81/180, with the following breakdown:

  • Language Knowledge (Vocabulary/Grammar): 17/60 (Sectional failure)
  • Reading: 22/60
  • Listening: 45/60

While it is tempting to vent or criticize the exam format and myself, the reality is I didn’t get enough points and that I simply need to improve.

The frustrating part is that the last 4 to 5 months marked the most intensive period of Japanese study in my life. I dedicated almost all of my free time to the language—reading native material, listening to podcasts, reviewing vocabulary, doing Anki daily, and working through the Shin Kanzen Master series. Seeing an 81/180 after putting in that level of effort has been incredibly disappointing.

This outcome has made me heavily question my study methods. I used to do Anki every morning, but I am now doubting whether flashcards are truly effective for me. Similarly, I worked through the N2 Shin Kanzen Master grammar and reading books as thoroughly as possible, but during the actual exam, I felt they didn’t translate well to the test questions.

I genuinely love Japanese and want to keep getting better, but I am at a total loss as to how to pivot. The standard methods highly recommended by the community don’t seem to be working for me. While I am sure I made some underlying progress, it clearly wasn’t enough to bridge the gap or fulfill my expectation.

Has anyone else hit a wall like this with traditional study methods? Or in Japanese in general? Any insights or alternative approaches would be greatly appreciated.

I have had a blast learning with this community so I felt could probably learn something by asking this.

Thank you.

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#2

Is there any way you can practice actually having conversations? If you’re pre-N2, you shouldn’t have an issue stringing a sentence together.

Try talking to people online, on things like omegle, or if you really can’t find anyone, talk to AI in Japanese and ask it to fix your grammar.

Personally, I find that the main way i remember words is by actually using them, and it has the benefit of increasing your speaking/listening ability at the same time. Though admittedly I live in Japan so it’s a bit easier.

If you have memorised all of these words but never actually use them, then it might be harder to recall them during test situations.

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#3

First of all, huge congrats on the great listening score. Don’t change that part of your studying at all.

You may just be aiming too high for reading and grammar. Is N2 your first attempt at the JLPT? Do you feel that you have a solid understanding of N3 level materials? Have you tried to assess yourself against some N3 level practice exams?

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#4

Hello and thank you for your response—it means a lot.

I agree that the best way to improve reading is simply to read more, and you are likely correct about my approach to the grammar and reading sections. I started with grammar because I knew it would form the foundation for everything else. Since I am not great at memorizing raw grammar rules, I focused on learning three example sentences per grammar point on Bunpro, while using the Shin Kanzen Master grammar book as a reference. For reading, I mostly drilled the Shin Kanzen Master exercises as much as possible and read NHK News Web Easy in my free time.

When I first moved to Japan in 2024, I took the JLPT N3 in July. I did not pass, but my score was right on the cusp of a passing grade. Because I was attending a language school and felt I had almost passed—and understood most of the material—I decided to push forward toward the N2, which was my goal for the following year.

I have now taken the N2 twice. My first score was 68/180, and my most recent score from July 2026 was 81/180. To some extent, I agree with your point. I very well could just be N3 material right now, and nowhere near the N2 level like I think I am. I might be completely oblivious to that gap. However, since achieving N3 doesn’t really align with my ultimate goals it makes me wonder if I should actually persue it.

#5

You seem to be doing a lot of varied learning which from my point of view is good, the one thing I didn’t see mentioned is specific N2 sample tests. I am not aware if the Shin Kanzen books have sample questions.

If you have the recommended vocab count for N2 learned (7000+ I believe) and have learned all grammar up to N2, then atleast with actual sample tests you can get clear feedback when you grade yourself on what you are lacking. For vocab and grammar sections its a pretty straightfoward ‘do you know it’ or not, but for reading sections it may be worth going through each reading questions sentence by sentence and ask yourself ‘does this make sense?’, maybe bring it to a Japanese tutor or search online if your interpretation of the readings are accurate- this specifically helped me a lot for the reading sections a lot.

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#6

You’re going to want to be pushing yourself beyond NHK Easy articles as soon as possible. They’re not anywhere near the N2 level.

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#7

I totally agree. I have been trying to read mangas like Dan Dan Dan, Haikyu, or even games like ダンガンロンパシリーズ but its slower than id like.
News im a tad worreid I wont understand… My problem lately is having plenty of sentences that i can understand each word or most of them but have no idea what the sentence is trying to say and that links back to grammar etc too…

Feeling like a lost cause.

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#8

I don’t know if my advice is relavant to you, since I only passed N4 and studying for N3 now. But what really helped me is to do 4 self study example sentences on every grammar point for that level + a month before doing mock exams on youtube and keeping “diary” of every mistake I made and review that everyday.

Don’t give up, you are so close!

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#9

Well, to me this is at least a solid indication that you are improving, even if it may be at a pace that isn’t quite what you’d hoped.

I imagine a lot of us here understand that frustration - lord knows I have hit plateaus sometimes that make me want to scream, even though I know they’re temporary (and sometimes may even just be due to a bad day). It’s hard when you’re putting in a lot of work and feeling like it’s going nowhere.

But! You HAVE gotten somewhere with it, since you very nearly passed the N2! Try to take a deep breath and remember that when you get frustrated, even if it’s hard.

As for changing up your study habits - your listening score is really solid (better than mine was!), so clearly you’re doing something that works there. And in relation to that, you must have understood a solid amount of the grammar and vocabulary being used in the listening section, even if it wasn’t reflected in your reading or vocabulary scores.

Do you mind if I ask - when you were actually taking the test, what felt most difficult? Did you manage to finish all the reading sections comfortably, or did you have to rush? Obviously it’s not helpful to play the game of “oh well it’s the test’s fault” but it is helpful to think about the process of taking the test, because test taking is a separate skill from Japanese itself. If something specific gave you issues, you might be able to practice that for future attempts.

Personally, I’m also in the boat of my vocabulary being my lowest score - lower than my listening, which is what I expected to be last - and I’ve recently realized that it’s probably holding back improvements in both my reading and listening. To help with this, I’m trying to dig into more native material (I’m not really worrying about whether it’s JLPT/test/learner focused, because the bottom line is that I want more exposure to vocabulary, which can come from all sorts of sources). I’ve also picked up a vocabulary-drilling book aimed at the N2, and I’ve asked my teacher through a local community class if we can focus on vocabulary once we finish the textbook we’re currently working through. Maybe you can find similar ways to practice weak points?

Since the JLPT results don’t tell you exactly what you got wrong, what about filling out something like this to help you narrow things down? You could probably take practice tests for the same purpose, I just used this book myself before the test and liked how it gave a little breakdown/comparison between the different possible answers.

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#10

Have you tried the N2 mock exams on Bunpro itself? How have you done?

Maybe you can try those, and self-check your answers to see what you got wrong, why you got it wrong and use those to diagnose where things went awry in the actual test.

Once that is done, then you should a clearer direction on where to direct your study.

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#11

I can really rate migii practice questions for drilling grammar. I studied all the material but found I was making some basic mistakes with the grammar rules when it came to test questions and that sit really helped me drill and improve the concepts I was getting wrong because it does a good job of explaining why.

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#12

Thanks for taking the time to answer—I really appreciate the feedback regardless of the level N5–N1 !

It’s pretty clear I need to start writing my own example sentences, both for the grammar points I keep missing and for the new ones I’m learning. Just learning a rule, writing two quick sentences I already understand, and moving on definitely isn’t cutting it anymore.

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#13

migii is good yeah. i found it harder than real exam, did you too?

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#14

Thank you for the kind words. It helps a ton.

While taking the test I started with the reading then vocab and grammar. Id say what i was always nervous about grammar and reading. However i was able to finish reading and the vocab but had very little time for the grammar section. I was left with about 10-15 questions in a span of like 8 minutes. I remember for my last 5 questions I just wrote 2, 2, 2, 2 ,2… Not so happy about the timing. I practiced a ton of Bunpros exams the month before and was gutted during that first section knowing i didnt manage my time well. (Id still say i am AWFUL at grammar and the section of trying to implement it into a paragraph or sentences)

** I’m trying to dig into more native material (I’m not really worrying about whether it’s JLPT/test/learner focused, because the bottom line is that I want more exposure to vocabulary, which can come from all sorts of sources)**

This I need to do. I want to use your motivation to help me as well. I will first analyze the points i have that i feel weak and talk them over with someone to get a better understanding of where i am going wrong.

WIth that all being said if you have any more questions feel free. I am happy to try and dissect what im doing wrong.

I really appreciate your message and time to write all of this. Thank you for helping me.

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#15

Hello @celedorph I appreciate your time to answer my post. Actually, I took all of bunpros N2 exams and while i quite liked them I somewhat felt they were easier than the actual exam… I could definitely take them again im sure since i was never actually passing them. I think the highest score was lik 68% if 70% was passing.

Thought reading this back I dont know how i can conclude that the exams were easier if i couldnt even pass those lol. Either way i think its a great idea to go back over them.

#16

I will look into this. Thank you a ton. :laughing:

#17

Thank you for the kind words. It helps a ton.

Well, then you know one thing you can focus on is reading speed! I’ve heard lots of people say that the sheer amount of reading on the N2 and the speed that you need to get through it has tripped them up, so you’re definitely not alone in that. (I managed to get through my questions without having to guess anything, but I was still pressed for time during the last few questions.)

I think continuing to spend time with native materials - whatever they may be - matches up nicely with working on reading speed, and hopefully it’ll help expose you to more vocabulary too.

I took one of the bunpro N2 exams before the real one in July, and it’s definitely a bit easier - which seemed to be the broad consensus on the forums when I took a look back then, too. But it’s still good practice for the format of questions, and for teaching yourself to sit and focus for the length of time required.

This isn’t a resource I’d seen before either, so I’ll probably take a look at it too!

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#18

It might sound abit unrational, but why don’t try N3 to get a nice solid score, boost morale and get a lasting sense of achievement before getting back no N2? Given it will take less preparation time, you could still work on N2 parts.

#19

How many vocab cards do you really have and how many hours have you really spent reading in total? It’s not very clear.

Since you passed N3, If you read a bunch of LNs and VNs and look up everything you don’t know, you will pass N2 without question. Eventually N1 too, but it naturally takes a lot more reading than N2.