JLPT December 2025

Japanese
#162

I’m signed up for N4 in Dec (San Francisco) and am pretty sure I bit off more than I can chew, and I will likely not pass.

  • In March of this year I started studying flirting with Japanese studies (absolutely zero exposure before that, just a life change that all of a sudden sparked a new interest).
  • In May I “got serious” and started WK and was doing very good at leveling up every 8 days… until Sept when I paused (at level 15).
  • In June I started Bunpro grammar but was not staying as consistent with my progress as I was with WK
  • In September I realized I sucked at staying on top of both WK and BP, and my grammar was not even close to N4 level yet, so I basically stopped doing WK and started doing BP only.
  • As of today I have 80 grammar lessons remaining in BP N4. I should finish those mid-Nov, leaving me 3 weeks to cram.

I did finally find time to take an N5 practice exam (thanks Bunpro!) and I did barely pass it (76%). But I guessed on more Qs than I’d have liked to, and the listening sections completely tripped me up since I admittedly have no experience with that yet. I imagine I would not pass an N4 practice exam yet and am not even going to try yet.

If it was possible, I’d downgrade my N4 registration to N5. At this point, I’m not sure whether I should ghost the exam day (since I’m a perfectionist and hate failing) or just go for the experience. The latter seems like the right choice, but I’m having a hard time convincing myself…

Either way I’ll probably sign up for N3 in 2026, since I clearly don’t learn from my mistakes. :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes: The main point of registering for these exams was to motivate me to study harder, and that has worked well so far.

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#163

Could go both ways, though… my practice tests were all 140 - 150, the real thing was 175 :sweat_smile:

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#164

Can you get your money back or is that a lost cause? If it’s a lost cause, I’d take it no matter what. Worst case scenario, like you said, you gain experience. Best case, you do better than you think you will. This sort of test is a challenge and I do absolutely believe that having practice gives you good experience. I wouldn’t tell someone to sign up to take it if they know they’ll fail, but if you’re already signed up and it’s paid for and you can’t get a refund, might as well.

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#165

From what I remember the registration site for my location clearly stated that you can’t switch levels after registration, or get a refund for dropping out. That’s unfortunate, but I’d say still go for it. The chances of you passing are super low but maybe you’ll get lucky (even if, if you’re like me, you probably won’t be satisfied with such a grade) and if you don’t it’s still good practice for next time. It’ll be my first JLPT too (N4 as well) and from what I’ve gathered everybody’s saying that the testing conditions are pretty hard on their own, it’s probably good to experience them as soon as possible.

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#166

Does anyone know if soas have sent out emails for London yet? Can’t find anything in my inbox and am panicking. I’ve a screenshot of my purchase and they took my money, but no idea if there were follow-up emails that I’ve inadvertently deleted, or simply they’ve not sent anything out yet.

#167

Just had an email saying the test vouchers are on their way next week, phew!

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#168

Taking the N5 in December! I’m definitely scared but all of ya’ll’s advice is solid!

I’m not quite at the passing level yet, 28/67 on the first JLPT practice test (18/43 Grammar/Vocab & 10/24 Listening) , but hopefully by taking all the practice exams before December I can be ready! Wishing all ya’ll luck!

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#169

Solid advice, and yeah no refunds or changes are possible, which is completely understandable given how limited the seats were.

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#170

I’m genuinely interested in the perspective on why someone would want to take the N5 or the N4?
N2 is the baseline for work right? And N1 is the final boss test?

I can see N3 as maybe a warm up/ readiness check for the N2 test. But what do you get out of the N4/N5?

Is there an advantage besides positive affirmation or bench-marking progress? Is it something I should want?

#171

People do it to benchmark progress.

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#172

I personally put N5 on my CV. It’s not going to help for jobs that want a high level of Japanese speaking (e.g. jobs in Japan or working extensively for Japanese clients as part of your daily job). But as a little something extra to put on the CV, I have definitely been given opportunities as a result of it that I wouldn’t have gotten otherwise. Most people not in the Japanese learning community have no idea what JLPT levels mean so they just see I’ve got a language qualification and are impressed. So from my experience it has been worth it

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#173

I am not seeking employment or residency in Japan. I have no real reason to take the JLPT (any level) other than (a) to motivate me to study harder and (b) to brag, maybe. But holding a fluent conversation with a native someday is really a far better way to achieve (b). I’m taking L4 first just mostly in service of (a) since that’s (almost) where I am now.

Or as it was put more succinctly above: to benchmark progress.

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#174

Conversely, why do you think N5~3 exist? Why not offer only N2 and N1 if they’re the only tests that matter?

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#175

I skipped N5 but I needed N4 for sure. I’ve also taken n3.

There are various reasons to take the easier exams, but here are some i can personally think of:

  • motivation to meet a more manageable goal (gunning straight for n3 will take a lot longer but cutting it up into level chunks and meeting goalposts like n5 and n4 will help). This is a huge factor for me- especially because the test is not that cheap. I kind of feel like “well I paid 7500 yen, gotta buckle down and study”
  • getting used to the test format and environment. Taking n3 was a lot less of a shock because I took n4. I was able to relax more easily.
  • because you’re a completionist. Some people like to collect them all.
  • because they function as SMART goals- a fixed test with fixed parameters that only happens once or twice a year is basically a perfect goal management system.
  • because people progress at different rates and achieving n5 or n4 is a huge milestone for them that they want to confirm and acknowledge

Im sure there’s many more tho

2 Likes
#176

I initially didn’t sign up for the N2 in december and then they released more places i signed up, after I realised I’d done quite well in N3. I still don’t know if I can pass N2, but it will be very close even if I do.

#177

Thanks for asking! I thought the reasons they existed were to act as a checkbox for foreigners during immigration and college admissions. But it became popular to instead use them to benchmark progress in the early stages of study, and to make people feel accomplished

But I’ve always thought: The tests are an intrusive, expensive way to get that affirmation. With many better alternatives available.

From my perspective an N5 practice test is better than the real N5. It’s cheaper, I can take it on my own learning schedule and in pajamas, I don’t have to commute to some far off testing facility, and the certification of the practice test and real test opens the same number of doors.

I thought once the certification carried more weight, at high levels, then maybe it’s worth the fee and effort of the real deal.

Before reading other people’s perspectives, I didn’t see any value. But I do now.

#178

A practice test won’t tell you the same thing as the real test though since the real tests are graded with an algorithm that’s supposed to judge your actual ability more accurately than a raw score :slight_smile:

(Though I guess to be fair people find the value of that debatable)

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#179

Personally i’m taking the N5 to qualify for a language school in Japan.
There are other ways to prove I have 150 hours of Japanese language studying, but the N5 is the cheapest and easiest way to do so.

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#180

Immigration and colleges require JLPT certifications? I had no idea. Does everyone know about this? I tend to be oblivious to normal knowledge.

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#181

N1 and N2 get you points in the point system used for fast-tracking permanent residency, and I think most/all Japanese universities want either N1 or N2 if you’ll be taking classes in Japanese.

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