I guess part of the frustration was the feeling after I reached N4/N3 level, I figured “Ok, I’m mid level now. So I should be able to understand most things now”. But I still couldn’t understand half of the children’s manga ドラえもん (because it’s heavy with casual language). I know others have had a similar thought.
So maybe they should make JLPT-for-adults and JLPT-for-kids. 
reading > studying
there is probably no way around it. There is more fun in reading as well : ]
Elegantly put! 
Just to add insult to injury, a lot of common slang expressions/contractions aren’t in the JLPT at all. I think after N2, reading most books is probably doable (depending on vocabulary). Manga can still be hard sometimes. Books tend to have a bit less hardcore slang than manga, which is good because if you read enough books, manga slang will start to make sense on it’s own, because you will have seen the full form so many times in proper books.
Books have no ‘visual’ context, so I think that’s why they use a lot less slang.
That sounds like really good advice.
@FredKore @Asher @MacFinch @Juppy
Asher is right, a lot of slang expressions do not appear in JLPT, or appear in higher levels. So you might hear some of them used by children. On the other hand there are some expressions that even ordinary adults rarely know.
Another thing is some concepts are taught earlier because they are so common and much later their origin is taught. This applies to ことがある、なければいけない and so on.
Most textbooks don’t teach contractions and casual expressions used in manga and light novels at all. To be honest, I thought about doing another manga/light novel path that teaches those, what do you, our beloved <3 users think about the idea?
It would be great to have path that is building rationally up on previous grammar and with respect to usefulness for normal learners (casual speech and slang first, Keigo and other poetry later).
I was thinking about writing a post with “Cure Dolly path” guide for newcomers. But I am low on time and energy (extracting grammar point from videos and adding annotation would take forever) . If you want do create yourself logical path and add common expressions from novel and manga that would be even better. And that could be great selling point for newcomers.
I already see those billboards saying “With BunPro you learn to read Japanese novels and manga, not to just pass exams!” 
I think it is a great idea but I think there are more groundbreaking features in the wishlist/suggestion thread that would attract more users to BP.
Adding a new path is probably a fringe feature that would have limited incremental marketability.
What I am trying to say is, I would love to see that path but I think prioritizing other endeavors may be better for the platform in the long run.
$$$$
I think this website desperately need their own grammar course. At the moment main function is to review what you learn somewhere else. It is great, but something is evidently lacking. That’s way I was thinking about “Cure Dolly path”.
From a user perspective I think it’s a good idea, as lots of people are learning specifically because they want to participate in Japanese pop culture media first hand.
From a website perspective, it’s an even better idea! It gives Bunpro something more unique. The more we can get people supporting the site due to covering unique but popular topics, the more the sote will grow. The more the site grows, the more staff can invest their time into perfecting the site. It’s a positive feedback loop.
Edit: I do agree with @Juppy though. Whatever will get the website more money in the short term will inevitably help more long term
I don’t know how small this site is, but I guest not too big. If that’s right Cure Dolly audience could make an impact. I think it would be not hard to persuade her to promote BunPro if there would be path more less based on her approach.
That would be amazing!
I love the idea and I would definitely use it if it were added!
I would loooove this. I’m in agreement with @Asher; there are a ton of people who learn Japanese purely for the pop culture, and it’s frustrating to learn, learn, learn, then pick up your favorite manga and realize you still have no idea what they’re saying. It would be a fun, unique patch for Bunpro, and you could ‘customize’ as well - only using example sentences from manga/light novels/V-tubers/whatever, for instance. That’s a lot of work for you guys, I know, but I wanted to throw in my support nonetheless.
Two things that come to mind as far as the content and the levels seeming strange:
The first is that the view of a language from outside is not necessarily the same as from within, because people in a native language casually use slang whereas they go through schooling to reach the point of consuming things like novels, so there’s a chance proficiency is viewed according to that style of content.
The second is that slang may be more transient than other parts of a language, and whoever designs the test may not want to account for the fact that one year someone added the equivalent of “gnarly dude” to one of the questions.
I see it a bit different. First important clue is that you will not meet such an animal as “grammar point” learning other languages. You learn actual grammar, vocab, and how it comes together in given language. In that third part you will learn common application of given grammar including useful expressions (like: verb事がある, or 方がいい).
Why it is different in Japanese? That is simple: JLPT is not design to help learners, it is design to help guestimate if given foreigner got enough Japanese to handle the job, and they wanted it to be cheap. You don’t learn polite language because Japanese people are crazy and will kill you when you choose wrong politeness lvl or it make sense from grammar point of view. You learn it because employers want their employee to speak politely to costumers. It was therefore not design to be study guide.
So what they did to maki this cheap and simple? They selected most important expression and vocabulary and are automatically testing you if you got it.
Then Japanese learning community was born. And what every student wants to have? A proof he/she knows Japanese. Japanese License let’s called it. So companies making text books started making books helping past JLPT. It is cheaper this way as well: you don’t have to research what material put first. And here we are: learning Japanese in the most strange way possible.
Here is video speaking about it in a little over dramatic tone ; )
I agree with most of this video, particularly the shortcomings of JLPT which really can’t be overstated. Forget the learners perspective, the outcome measurement don’t even function as intended; the self-assessment ‘proficiency’ and comparison to BJT is all over the map when compared JLPT (along with zero measurement on any output which is essential for anything labeling ‘proficiency’). There is even a new exam in Japan that is being used for employment purposes more recently since they are seeing JLPT more as an academic measurement.
Cure Dolly is not exactly neutral either, they have their flavor for teaching with a product. I would still consider N3 fundamental though, there is nothing in that scope that I would have considered a waste of time in terms of vocab and grammar. There is always the SRS vs. immersion ratio tough; it’s good to check this. I feel if you immerse too much too early, I feel it’s way too frustrating for many and misses alot of fundamentals which is not time effective. And then in the intermediate phases, SRS starts to have lower returns on investment of time where immersion could be much better served. Really depends what you want to do with the language as well (short and long term goals).
I would not go into argument she is bias because she got a book.She does what it take to not promote her channel. I heard her more often inviting to leaving than to subscribing (eg, “if you think peach accent is import the here is the door”). She just like do weird role playing i guess.But sure: her word is just word, not a gospel.
Whether it’s based on manga/light-novels, or based on a ‘more logical’ or ‘organic’ approach to learning grammar like Cure Dolly-sensei’s approach (I’m sure she would support the former also; e.g. she has one of her books and several of her videos teaching grammar based on using the stories of Alice in Wonderland as a backdrop/reference-point), I’m sure it would be valuable for us learners, and perhaps even set BunPro even further ahead of its competitors in terms of valuable features and content.
[Edit: Ah, I see I’m not the only one to connect this idea with Cure Dolly. Anyway, I haven’t read the thread yet. Just going to leave my comment as-is for now.]
Reference:
About learning Japanese in an ‘organic’ way, in conjunction with stories (note: includes promotion of her book, but it’s not obnoxious, IMO. The video is still relevant, even ignoring the parts about the book.):
Great minds work similar