I keep failing N4 and need advice

Japanese
#1

I would like some advice from the community on how to study and improve.

I just got my N4 results and I got 87, the pass is 90.
This is my 3rd time taking the N4 test, I keep just missing the passing grade. Always around 80+

Should I just attempt the N3 in December?

It’s a little frustrating as I just keep getting stuck on basic grammar and listening and honestly need a better study plan.

Kanji:
My kanji level is strong, I spent far too much time on Wanikani over the years, stopped at level 40 to refocus. I still do remaining reviews everyday.

Grammar/Vocabulary:
I am working my way through Bunpro over the last year or 2 (Grammar and Vocab). Nearly finished N4 grammar.
My wife indicated to me that perhaps my vocabulary is weak, due to listening comprehension being challenging, so I am working my way through N5 vocab with goal of catching up and syncing it with the N4 grammar.

Reading:
I try to read - I live in Japan so it’s around me - instructions, leaflets, daily things, but it’s still slow and I don’t practice enough, I know this needs to be fixed if I want to improve (I need some advise here) I don’t watch anime or even read many books in English so I find transferring that over to Japanese is difficult for me. I wasted a Satori subscription with barely any reading even though I liked the way it taught things, it didn’t stick.

Speaking:
One area that has improved to my surprise is speaking, I moved to Japan 4 months ago, my wife’s family and friends have all indicated to me that my speaking level has really improved, from the ‘nihongo jouzu’ years ago to actually being able to have conversations together. Honestly not sure how but somehow I am making that work. There is times where I don’t understand something but we either translate it or work out another way to understand.

Does anyone have any advise on how to improve and build an effective study plan?

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#2

It sounds like your vocab and maybe grammar comprehension is holding you back? What was the breakdown of your N4 score?

If I was you I’d lean into reading and/or watching content more. It might take some effort to find the right resources but there will be something you’ll enjoy out there. The good thing is you live in Japan so you’re spoilt for choice.

I find that learning vocab in context with content I enjoy is the best way to progress. I retain more rather than just learning a list of arbitrary vocab from a list. No knock on Bunpro vocab, I just don’t use it.

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#3

That does sound very frustrating given your situation. Since it seems that reading and listening are your biggest struggles, lots of input aside from review can be helpful. Studying vocabulary and grammar are nice as a foundation and gauge to determine progress, but context is needed for them to stick. Fortunately you live in Japan, so you have more opportunities than most. You need to engage in sources you find interesting.

You mention that you don’t watch anime? I think anime is a great source for listening just due to being so abundant. Typically I watch with Japanese subtitles, or at least no subtitles. Hianime.to is a great website I’ve been using for some time. As always, there are other content out there as well.

For reading, dedicate some time to read a book or article that you find interesting. The important part here is to just build comprehension. I’m sure there is a Bookoff that you can browse for any used books. If searching seems difficult, Bunpro has some stories that you can read. Not the most interesting, but perfect for any skill level. I like to listen first, then read before looking up the translation. Something like NHKeasyweb is excellent for beginners if you want to read some news.

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#4

It sounds like you need to improve on your reading and grammar. People here can give better grammar specific advice than I can (it is my biggest weakness in every language), but reading wise have you done any JLPT N4 specific reading preparation? Shin Kanzen Masuta N4 Reading was incredibly helpful to me I was studying for the N4. Something just clicked for me one day when I was reading through it. I also used NHK Easy Web but you do want to actually study for the test specifically.

I would also suggest going through general N4 prep books in general. Again you want to actually study for the test. As an aside, it is not at all surprising that your speaking has improved. You moved to Japan and are using Japanese on a regular basis, hearing it, and are actually studying. I would be concerned if it didn’t improve.

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#5

Thanks for the advise, N4 score breakdown was:

Language knowledge (Vocab/Grammar) Reading: 59/120
Listening: 28/60
Vocab: A
Grammar: B
Reading: B

Agree on the context, I have found that I recall certain words/grammar from TV like commercials/shows. I thought at least pushing through the vocab content will at least expose me to it initially. Perhaps just diving into some content and trying to build my reading speed and comprehension.
I really struggle with basic grammar sometimes, I just don’t get it, I think I need to re-focus on that too.

#9

This person is just asking for general advice. Accusatory language is not helpful nor nice

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#11

Absolutely do not “just attempt the N3” as the jump between N4 and N3 is quite wide (especially in the categories you seem to be struggling with the most). You already know your weaknesses so I feel like you already know what needs to be done. Seeing as you’re already immersed and having conversations with actual Japanese people, you probably need to focus on JLPT-specific listening and reading. If you have the funds to support it, I highly recommend Migii JLPT. If not, buy yourself a book of N4 JLPT practice tests and grind out a number of timed sections, or watch Youtube videos specifically aimed at N4 test takers. Until you’re consistently passing practice sections on your own, don’t sign up for the official test again. You got this man!

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#12

We communicate mostly in English, we do use Japanese for many things, but most serious conversation is in English. Her family can’t speak English so it’s much easier to try practicing with them as we can’t fall back to English when needed.

I spend a lot of my study on SRS - Wanikani and Bunpro (1 hour or so per day) I try to go through textbooks like Genki but it’s hard to keep it consistent with my schedule.

Sad to hear you thought it was unserious, it’s not a troll post, I know my studying is poor that’s why I am asking for some insights into how others do it.

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#13

Thank you! That’s the kind of advise I need, I use the JLPT as a milestone to focus on, the daily things I am doing just aren’t enough to reach the level I am aiming for.
My wife said that I need to understand the JLPT test itself and what the questions are actually asking for (for example instead of reading the whole comprehension, just finding the answer and moving on)

I’ll check out Migii JLPT, I do have the practice N4 books and that helped this time, especially with timing but my score just isn’t improving.

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#14

Thanks, for some reason grammar just doesn’t stick with me yet. Somehow when speaking it just comes out and people understand me, but reading and writing I just can’t seem to get it.
The Cure dolly series helped a lot but I haven’t had that click moment yet.

I have heard of Shin Kanzen Masuta, but have not looked into it before, i’ll check it out, glad to hear you got that ‘aha’ moment from it!

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#15

Have you considered other issues influencing your test taking? I heard the JLPT tests are quite long and stressful, so many people report their abilities go down during the test. It wouldn’t also be uncommon to have test anxiety, especially if you already failed before. These issues can’t be helped by just learning more, but there are other strategies to work with those. So it’s important to take an honest look if it’s maybe those issues that hold you back.

I’m not sure if you get info on which specific items you failed, of not, I would suggest some mockup tests to actually see on what and why you are actually failing. For every question you get weong, ask yourself why? Which grammar was wrong, which vocab did you lack, etc. And then work specifically on your weak points until they become easy.

Maybe you notice that it’s not actually your japanese level but your overall test taking strategies? Maybe you have trouble parsing the question or with multiple choice type of question and find it hard go decide in these cases? This os also something you can train and you will find ample tutorials on how to approach multiple choice questions online.

In any case your initial strategy is the same: finding out what holds you back probably by redoing a few mock exercises. Finding out what’s your problem and learning how to overcome this is something you can do on your own, but can take a while depending on how much experience you have in learning overall. A qualified tutor could help but make sure to find one that specialises in analyzing your weak points and helping you build strategies, probably hard to find a good one.

This is something you can overcome, so don’t give up. Test taking troubles are common and don’t neccessarily reflect on your overall abilities so don’t blame yourself.

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#16

Thanks for the advise, we watch TV shows and I really enjoy the Gaki No Tsukai/Wednesday Downtown shows, although that’s maybe not the most easy Japanese to follow along with.
I’ll see what else I can find to keep building the comprehension.

I think I’ll have to focus on the reading and just find something interesting, even start increasing my NHKeasyweb exposure to get that reading speed up and comprehension.

#17

Thank you, this is a really thoughtful response.
The JLPT test itself is definitely part of the challenge. The last few times I did it were in Canada, the most recent was in Japan and I have to say it is so much more strict. The test time is dragged out multiple hours due to so many security checks, going over the rules etc that I was half asleep. It would be slightly easier to do it all within the same interval.

However that is still really no excuse for not getting a decent grade, I still simply did not grasp some of the grammar or listening as well as I should.
My wife has said to me that I need to understand what the test is actually asking, and avoid analysis paralysis with multiple choice or longer reading comprehensions.

Really good advise on identifying the weaknesses and focusing on that, I think I am just ignoring that and plowing ahead with more new grammar, vocab etc in the hopes that I will pick the old things up eventually which may be the anchor holding me down.

I understand JLPT is not the perfect indicator for Japanese comprehension, but I do feel I should be able to grasp more than I am. I’ll get there eventually, just glad I reached out to the community to see how I can improve instead of spinning my wheels.

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#18

My wife failed the driving exam multiple times. But whenever she was driving with me (our country has “learner’s licenses” to practice with family & friends), she was probably the safest and most overly correct driver I’ve witnessed in my life.

The reports on her driving exam failures said she did a lot of things wrong that I’ve never seen her do wrong.

She was probably just very nervous about the exam. Eventually she got the license and she’s been an amazing driver ever since.

What I want to say is: given your exposure to the language in daily life, study times, wk level, everything: could it be that your problem is the JLPT test, or tests in general, rather than the language itself?

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#19

I think its very common to get stuck in the n4-n3 area, It’s nothing to hang your head over.

Generally I would say that its important to objectively judge yourself and separate your possible issues into one of two categories. Lets say you do some listening practice and you’re unable to understand a fairly easy n4-n3 sentence, when you find out the correct answer is your response.

  1. Oh, I don’t know/comprehend __ grammar or __vocab
    Or is it
  2. Oh, I knew that, I just couldn’t think of it in the moment.

Being able to objectively judge that is critical, as if its the first one, I would encourage you to continue doing lessons and reviews, but sadly you may have to go back deep into the trenches again, rereading the actual lesson, re-watching videos on the topics, like Cure Dolly as you mention etc. Additionally for vocab (especially verbs) understanding their core logic, not just their copy paste english “definitions” is a big boost, I think under the vocab section bunpro does a decent job with their “summary” part they’ve added in.

However if its the latter, and you do comprehend it once you’re provided the correct answer, just weren’t able to come to it alone, then I would suggest taking note of words you aren’t picking out audibly and trying to make a mental note of them or make up fake scenarios in your head that requires you to craft Japanese sentences that would need said words. You said speaking is what you’re most comfortable with so I think this is best.

I have no idea why some people are responding the way they are to you, you’re doing nothing wrong at all asking for general advice. It’s definitely tough as we don’t have specific examples to draw from, but its obviously also a tough ask for you to just provide us perfect context of your entire situation as well, but that isn’t your fault.

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#20

Hi there Katzenjammer,

May I ask why you want to pass N4? Is it to get the certificate for something or just to gauge your own learning? Because studying for a test is completely different from learning to engage with real language better. Why do you want to learn Japanese?

Might it be that you spend a lot of time on tools that teach you language in a sort of clean artificial environment instead of getting a intuitive feel for the language by focusing on immersion? It’s quite hard to learn how vocab is really used in Bunpro for instance. And hearing grammar spoken is completely different from reading it or studying its structure. Wanikani also won’t teach you how to read whole sentences.

I really like using these tools but that’s just because I like the dopamine from getting reviews right and checking of new grammar points etc. But I know I would learn Japanese way better by watching Japanese media without subtitles at my level and the same for reading things I enjoy that are not too hard. You have the bonus of being completely surrounded by Japanese. Why not try to pick up and write down what interests you when you encounter it? If you want more tools though, maybe you can use Comprehensive Input Japanese, Umi or Language Reactor to help with natural language intuition.

I hope I’m not completely of the mark. Good luck with your language journey!

P.S. If I ever need inherent motivation and inspiration to learn a language I always come back to this video. It’s the best video on how to learn a new language I’ve ever seen: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uWQYqcFX8JE

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#21

You know what, I’m going to watch that video right now!

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#22

One thing I havnt seen floating around here either, are you doing the practice tests that exist? Because my ability to speak and communicate is doing just fine and I can hold conversations, but the JLPT is just… different. I intend to take them more as “proof” of ability for the future whether I continue living in Japan or move back to my home country(and possibly teach Japanese who knows).

But the tests are different from conversation and your day to day. I know on youtube they have a lot of JLPT Specific listening questions. Try doing one or two a day until that material is just… easy.

Also, I know that the voice can be wonky, if I come across someone with a thick Inaka accent, I have the HARDEST time understanding them because they slur and use hella slang and what have you. So getting use to that voice via Youtube is another great step and many of those practice books will have audio you can listen to. Do it while on the car, while on the train, while you walk or workout ect. Recently Ive been watching Doraemon at the gym and something about that bloodflowing helps my comprehension.

Otherwise yea, the practice tests with reading too. I know the N4 I took had a lot of “Mary wants to work but has classes on these days and wants to make a minimum of x dollars. Which days can she work” type questions. Like, that isnt japanese, thats a fucking IQ test.

Anyway, Tl;dr the JLPT isnt Japanese, its language math with more steps. I would honestly just buy a few practice books and go through them. Japan times has a few good ones and there are a few others I have, that if I remember I can come back and drop the name.

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#23

For aural practice, I really like cijapanese.com. Before I knew what comprehensible input was, I often watched Japanese TV shows with Japanese subtitles or none at all. But that takes Herculean patience and is probably suboptimal.

For reading, I know this sounds weird, but the easiest things to read as practice are technical text on a subject you know well. I’m a math professor, and Japanese math books allow me to read at an ideal cruising speed. I still have to use a dictionary but not so often that it’s jarring.

I’ve never been to Japan or taken the JLPT, but that’s what’s been working for me. Good luck!

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#24

If you are living in Japan, have you tried finding some community classes in your area?
They are often very cheap and volunteer-run. They are typically geared towards beginners, but even if your level is beyond them, they are a great way to cement basic grammar points.

SRS should be a supplement to study, not your main tool, if you want to pass JLPT imo. You don’t have much time from what you’ve said, so SRS must be the easiest to slot into your routine. Self study with textbooks is also tedious, so I understand the difficult position you are in. In my experience, that’s why a community class is a great option. You don’t need to do homework, and you are also motivated by the social and feedback aspects of the class.
These classes are also typically entirely in Japanese so your listening comprehension will improve.
I have been living in Japan for 2 years and passed N3 after 1.5 years here, and I attribute it mostly to community classes and KUMON. I wouldn’t recommend KUMON though if you’re very busy, as it’s basically a homework programme.
Good luck!

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