JLPT July 2026

Japanese
#287

Took N1, and got humbled by the reading section.

Vocab and grammar section started well enough, I even had a chuckle at some words that I had on SRS rotation but didn’t expect to ever need in my life.

But the reading section was taking me so long, that I’d probably need another hour added to the 110 minutes to do it properly. I’m not blaming test authors in the slightest though. Clearly I should’ve put more effort into preparation (and not spend last 3 months not reading anything at all).

Listening section went surprisingly smoothly.

Expecting an overall fail due to reading, or at most a borderline pass.

8 Likes
#288

I didn’t take it this time, but this is similar to my experience. I absolutely didn’t finish the reading section when I did it. I’m trying to work on my reading speeds. I’m a slow reader even in English, and I want time to really be able to think about it in Japanese, but really I have to just go through it quickly and just go with my impressions.

2 Likes
#289

Took the N3 in London. The kanji/vocab section went really well, grammar was… whatever, I always suck at grammar. Reading is usually my strong suit, but these texts were…long… I managed to finish all the questions with 20 seconds to spare, but I had to rush the medium and long passages, which I’m sure didn’t help my score. Listening was alright, although near the end I found myself losing focus. I hope I passed, but especially the grammar/reading section was much harder than the practice tests I did.

7 Likes
#290

Results will be online end of August (or thereabouts) if you created an passcode for it as part of your signup.

4 Likes
#291

As per @SilentRequiem above, that N3 listening section was incredibly tough! I feel good enough about the vocab and grammar sections, but I feel uneasy about the listening section. I’m not at all convinced I’ve passed it.

I feel a bit bad for the girl who was sat beside me. I think she ran into time trouble with the reading part, and all throughout the vocab and grammar sections she was erasing something fierce. Our table rocked so hard it could have triggered an earthquake warning. Thank goodness everyone’s phones were off.

6 Likes
#292

Took N3. If I fail, it will be because of listening. It’s definitely something I have to focus on more (I already knew it after taking N4 last year but I chose to ignore it because of my internal stubbornness :upside_down_face:)

4 Likes
#293

Glad to read I’m not the only one who got roughed up by the N3 listening section :frowning: I knew it was gonna be my weakness for sure, but here ? I’m not even sure I’ll get 20/60. They just spoke too fast man

Vocab and reading were alright at least, but man the listening…

8 Likes
#294

I took the N2, that reading section was too long. And the listening was harder than the 5-6 mock tests I did.
I didn’t too bad i think

1 Like
#295

Oh yeah, one of the biggest changes taking N3, coming from N4 half a year ago is
thank goodness the texts finally use proper kanji!

But also
Why was everything in the listening section written in all-kana?! It was so hard to read!

4 Likes
#296

Kana is an irredeemable evil

2 Likes
#297

Oh bois, you are going to be in lots of trouble if taking n2 or n1, even those vocab section will have some questions written in kana but not its proper kanjis. It is just how they test us.

6 Likes
#298

Oh my lord, that’s diabolical.

2 Likes
#299

I did the N3 listening too, and I think native Youtube videos and anime were a lot more comprensible than the tests!

Anyway, regardless of the outcome, time to march on to N2 in one year’s time :slight_smile:

6 Likes
#300

As usual, my JLPT listening practice tests went well and I thought my listening had improved, then the real thing goes:

1ばん：ajwfjawoifjawiofjawoifjawfoijwfw

2ばん： jfaiwofjawoifjwaifoajwfioawjfawofjaw

And you realize all your practice was a lie

14 Likes
#301

Btw, yo guy from Finland whom I met at the test center and who stayed at the same hotel as me: if you’re reading this, I hope your N1 test went well and have a great holiday!

4 Likes
#302

I took the N2 in Japan and the listening test starting time was delayed a whole hour because of the line for the women’s bathroom. . . . There were at least 250 people taking the test and maybe 20 bathroom stalls.

8 Likes
#303

JLPT highlighting the issue of bathroom inequality could be my villain origin story

9 Likes
#304

Feel this heavy. I did NOT spontaneously respond to the spontaneous questions.

1 Like
#305

It makes me so mad
I literally just 我慢した because there was no way

3 Likes
#306

and it happens EVERY time like

Maybe next time I just bring a plastic bag and hope for the best

2 Likes