Curious how Bunpro determines what grammar points should be considered what level? For example I see それても is classified as N2, but looking at the tag on jisho.org it’s listed as N3 (and here I am thinking it’s more like N4…?)
Obviously there is no truly authoritative source, but I’m curious how Bunpro makes the call
I assume you mean それとも.
I believe they chose the levels based on where most other resources place that same point. It should mean that that point is very unlikely to show up on a test below that level but the way the JLPT is produced is a massive mystery so there are no official lists. Safest bet is to master Japanese and then sit the test 笑 but it probably isn’t necessary by that point…
In general JLPT level does not necessarily correspond to frequency or ease of understanding, especially if you only use the language in one domain. Of course things do tend to get rarer in daily life the further up you go but the JLPT still only consists of normal Japanese.
I really fat-finger way too much when typing in Japanese…but yes, thanks, I meant それとも。
It seems like the situation is that there are various online sources attributing this grammar point or that vocab word to one JLPT level or another. Just wondering, how are these decisions actually being made. Like, I wonder if people sitting the tests, trying to memorize content, and then reporting back to content creators? Because that’s the only way you can really say your content is accurately pegged to the correct JLPT level (although I’m pretty sure doing that is a breach of the agreement you sign when you take the test).
Hi @Curnan2 ! For most of the levels, we go with what most resources have things listed as. There is no official resource, and things can change from year to year in the actual exams.
There do seem to be staples though that always appear in the same level. N3 and N2 are probably the most unpredictable though, with over 50 grammar points being ranked differently based on the reference text book/website.
We are not opposed to changing things, and have a pretty comprehensive list on hand of what level things are often ranked at. However, some of the best resources don’t even have level rankings, and behave mostly as dictionaries. Example くらべてわかる日本語表現文型辞典. After we finish our grammar explanations for N1 content, we have a little bit of a content shuffle planned, but this is mainly only for the 10 or so grammar points that we’ve identified to be in the wrong level for various reasons. Our grading system may not be perfect, but we do keep a watch on as many resources as possible and try to arrange the points as best as we can.
This is unlikely to be the case. Most of the info is gathered from past tests, which is publicly available. Language is not a math test, there really is only a limited number of combinations for the way in which something will or can appear. If you are using Bunpro as you main resource, my advice would be to first complete everything in your target level, then go back over the most recent 2 or 3 exams at that same level and see if anything differed.
Ninja edit: Btw you’re exactly right about それとも. That’s one of the points we’ve got tagged to be reshuffled.