JLPT December 2023

Japanese
#223

Not much you can do besides keep up the studying until the test and just hard focus those problem areas. What trips me up a lot on reading and grammar is usually trying to figure out readings for kanji and going too in depth with the analysis. During the actual test, I’d recommend going through those problem areas once quickly, then doubling back afterwards to see if you can spot anything new or take a bit more time to think. That way you’ll be able to answer every question where even a random guess is 25% chance to be correct. Plus, you’ll likely be making educated guesses anyways so it’s more like 50-60%.

And btw, those aren’t bad scores for a practice exam. Keep in mind that N2 is only the two sections instead of three, so you can still pass even if you bomb the reading portion iirc. That being said, probably best to practice it more before the test anyways :）

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#224

No, it’s the grammar section that you can bomb and still pass (which is really fortunate, because I’m guaranteed to bomb the grammar section).

The three sections are vocab + grammar, reading, and listening. You need to get at least 19/60 on each of those three, and at least 90/180 overall.

Also, I’m not sure why figuring out the readings of kanji would trip you up on the reading and grammar sections, because the kanji readings only matter for a subset of the vocabulary questions and not at all on the other sections. Besides, kanji are the easy part of the test.

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#225

Maybe you already know but the Shinkanzen reading practice book has explanations for all the answers in the back. The grammar book doesn’t, although I could be misremembering here, but the grammar explanations are on like the page before. The reading one is especially good as you can immediately see why your answer was wrong and why the correct one is correct. Everything is in Japanese as well which may help with your stamina issues (if that is the right term). 頑張って！

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#226

I think it’s grammar where the explanations would be most helpful, since I’m practically random guessing there. But then again, I’m unlikely to have the time to even attempt the grammar section on the actual exam anyway.

As for building up stamina, it seems to me like the best way to do that is to just take as many exams as possible in preparation. Which is exactly what I am doing. The problem is that they take a lot of time and effort, so I can only do one per weekend.

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#227

Definitely get where you’re coming from. I did a couple of mock exams at the weekend, and whilst I didn’t go for doing grammar and reading combined, putting yourself under time pressure is a totally different experience.

#228

13 Days until JLPT, Just finished all of the N2 Grammar points

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#229

Oops my bad! Forgot that the grading is different, I was just going off the test sections for N2/N1. Thanks for correcting me though!

Also the readings trip me up because 1) I suck at kanji and 2) it’s very similar to English tests where people tend to get stuck trying to figure out how to read a weird name. Even though I know the meaning of the kanji I sometimes find myself trying to force a reading out of habit.

#230

Thank you for your advice @AshuRage @rachiewru @Devenu @MollieCat @bunnypro. I think I’ll let the weather decide for me. If it’s too cold on December 3, I’ll pass. If not, I might take the exam. :joy:

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#231

I misread this and just for a moment thought this was a secret way to pass the exam … just hope for a really cold day :joy:

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#232

How is everyone studying for the higher JLPT levels? (N2, N1)

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#233

At this point, just finishing off Shinkanzen Master listening and reading books and doing practice tests.

As well as keeping up with Bunpro reviews, of course :grin:

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#234

I’ve definitely reached that point of ‘pass or fail I just want to stop studying for this exam’

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#235

I’ve been doing anki vocab, bunpro, and shinkanzen reading practice for N2. Recently took a practice exam and found out my listening needs some work (who could’ve guessed) so I’m hitting the gas on that as well. Overall, I’m feeling good though

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#236

That’s about where I am now. I’m tired of studying but I’m afraid stop this soon. I made a deal with myself that if I keep going until the Friday before then I’ll take off the month of December from studying and pick up again in January.

If there is something that I don’t know by the 1st, then I’m fine with missing that on the test.

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#237

I’m cramming vocabulary. I’m definitely an Anki warrior at this point. I’ve also been reading コンビニ人間 with almost no problems this time due to said vocab cramming. Next week I’ll start to re-focus on grammar I get consistently wrong and grammar I consistently get mixed up because it looks similar (ところで、ところが、どころか, etc. )

I still don’t feel like I’ll pass though just because the reading questions, not the passage itself, trip me up quite a bit.

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#238

For N2, the problem I have is, like most people, doing the reading within the time limit.

When I tried a practice paper, I got timed out and had to guess on the page-long text and multiple-text questions.
So I tried another practice paper but being stricter on time and, while I did try and read every text more quickly, rushing meant I understood less and ended up getting fewer questions right overall.

It’s pretty hard to come up with a decent strategy, but for now I’m thinking I’ll just be prepared to guess on the page-long text and multiple-text questions.

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#239

Also, what is it with exam practice books not giving you a time limit for their mock tests. Yeah I know that grammar and reading is lumped into together, but you could at least give an indication of the necessary time. Of course I can figure it out myself, but this last book I studied from, gave a time limit for each reading practice question throughout the book which was really helpful, but then on the mock exam section at the end, threw up it’s hands and said, ‘no idea’. I gave myself just under half the time as I know I’ll need a bit extra on the grammar half.

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#240

I just finished all the N2 grammar points today, so I think grammar should be fine for the test. During the last week we have I’m gonna try to cram more vocabulary and kanji and hopefully that’ll be enough for test time!

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#241

頑張ってね！

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#242

Quick question: For the listening part of the exam (N3), the audio is only played once right?

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