I’m sure you can find time to do 1 hour within the next month or two 
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Lets hope so!! Lol
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I missed N4 by 4 points last year. I was just too slow, and I know if I’d had 5 more minutes I’d have passed it, since I had to guess 4 or 5 grammar questions without reading them. That’s why I joined BunPro, and did all the N4/N5 grammar, and soon to be finished all the vocab. I’m determined to pass this year, since I’m nowhere close to ready for N3.
I was actually happy with my listening score of 28 on the N4, since it was the same score I had on the N5 listening when I passed the year earlier, meaning that even my 40+ year old ears/brain were capable of improving with practice.
If I pass, I suspect I’ll sit out next year because at my rate of studying, it’ll probably take me at least 2 years to reach N3. Picking up listening is such a slow painful process for me.
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If you’re level 31 Wanikani and that far along in grammar, you’ll kick yourself for taking N5 because it will be far too easy. You’ve got N4 in the bag! I say this having passed N5 in 2021, N4 in 2023, N3 in 2024 and taken N2 last week (which I defo failed but still). Trust. Have a look at some N5 and N4 papers and compare and I hope you’ll agree. I passed N3 on a lower WaniKani level than you so you will be absolutely solid for N4 I’m sure of it. Just brush up on the extra skills required like listening.
Of course if you want to play it safe go for N5. But I once saw a girl on LinkedIn who had ‘passed N5 with 100%’ as her bio. And I just remember thinking, that just means you took the exam that was too easy for you cause you wanted to play it safe. An N4 scraped pass is worth more than 100% N5.
You got this!
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Was originally planning on N1 but parenting a toddler is taking way too much out of me for such a lofty goal right now 🫠 Decided N2 is less pressure but I definitely still need to practice a lot for the test itself since it covers a lot of topics I basically never read, my listening needs work, and I’ve never taken the JLPT before.
My 新完全マスター N2 set is staring at me menacingly – I’ll be getting started once summer vacation is over! Good luck everyone! You can learn a lot in 6 months if you put your mind to it!
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I recently took N4 exam this July. Now I am preparing for N2.
I know that N2 is a hard exam. And having roughly 150 days to prepare is not enough. But I’d like to aim high and try my best. Failing JLPT wouldn’t be the end of the world. I can always try another time!
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I also really hope I won’t do JLPT in december. I did N4 in july but I absolutely don’t know how to feel about it. I think I got the vocab part and maybe the listening, but I already know that I made some grave mistake in the reading part. 
So yeah, I still hope I somehow passed and will try to attempt N3 next year december. Otherwise I have to redo the N4 in december…
as someone who’s taken the jlpt four times and passed n2 last december, i can tell you: this is a recipe for disaster. the reading section is designed to hurt you — it’s the make-or-break part of the exam, and way harder than regular reading. the texts are full of traps and dead ends.
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I mean, I’m aware of that, that’s why I’m preparing for it starting now. I read a lot but I don’t typically read about drier topics like politics – hence why I bought test books to fill the gap. And while I haven’t taken the JLPT before, I think you would be quite remiss in assuming I have no experience taking advanced tests in general.
What would you have me do, take the N3 which I’m very positive is under my current comprehension level? Or try for a test that I have some confidence about passing? That’s why I decided not to take N1.
Ultimately it doesn’t matter to my personal life if I pass or not, so while I know you’re trying to be considerate, I don’t think the way you said this was the right way to do so. Thanks.
(bunny)pro tip for JLPT reading: you could practice reading about politics if you want, but make sure to practice reading about philosophy 
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Gotcha, bunny-sensei 
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While I’m far from N2, I’m curious about this.
Do you mean Japanese philosophers, philosophical concepts related to Japanese beliefs, or philosophy in general (including the Western concepts)?
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wasn’t trying to discourage you, just speaking from experience. first time i took the jlpt, i thought i was n3-ready, switched to n4 at the last minute — and barely passed. just sharing in case it helps someone avoid the same frustration. if high risk high reward is your thing, then best of luck — hope it works out well.
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I understand that, and I’m sorry you had a hard time, but you can tell the other people who have said very similar things that they’re all “headed for disaster”. You don’t know anything about me or my background to come to that conclusion. There’s advice and there’s being needlessly negative, so I think I’ll go back to lurking from now on.
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There are usually texts in the exam about highly abstract things, like random internal monologues about the nature of existence / what the “ego” is / whether we can ever truly understand another person’s feelings, etc. Just examples of possible texts that might conceivably appear on any given paper.
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https://vhs-stuttgart.de/sprachen-vhs-interkulturell/pruefungen/
applications for the stuttgart testing site are open as of today. they usually close within a week, so if you want to take your shot this year, now’s the time.
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Digitalisierung Deutschland… Why is it only possible by paper mail? 
Or is it always like this? I don’t remember having to do it by post when I took the test in Barcelona
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No, it’s not always paper, for example Leiden has a modern electronic registration system that is reliably completely overloaded and broken every year 
And just for the record, I’m not bitter at all about not being able to register this year
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Skipping N5 and going straight for N4, If I stick to my plan it should be alright. My current limitations are vocabulary and listening speed.
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Taking N4 for the first time - still tackling N5 grammar at this point but I’m somewhat confident I’ll be able to tackle all needed knowledge before December
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