So how many of you had one of these slide into your DMs recently?
HEY GUYS! I'm Loretta and welcome to my channel, KemushiChan!
I have a big announcement today!
About two months ago I took the JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test)
The JLPT is treated like the most official way to judge how good your Japanese is as a foreigner.
It's a certification for school and jobs. Many of you just got your results on the test
and many of you are signing up for the December round of this year
so today's video is all about the JLPT!
If you watch my Instagram stories you already have backstage access
to the day I took the test, what it looked like, and what my result actually was.
You can probably tell by the title, but this is my result!
I PASSED!!!
I passed the JLPT N1!
It took 15 years of my LIFE... but I finally passed!!
Seriously, dude! That took so much!
Congratulations to everyone who took the JLPT
this week is the last week to sign up
I know a lot of you are wondering if you should take it, too
so for that reason, today's video is ALL about the JLPT! (日本語能力試験)
How I passed the N1 level, and tips on how NOT to fail it!
So what is this JLPT and what should you expect when you take it?
It's completely multiple choice. There's NO writing and NO speaking!
You can take it in many major cities.
Last year alone over 1 million people applied to take the test
but somehow only 887,380 actually took it!
what happened to the other 139,781 who took it?!
There are five levels, with N5 being the lowest,
considered conversational, basic Japanese
all the way up through intermediate and then up to N2
which is considered basic business or professional level Japanese
and then N1 which is kind of like the pinnacle
You should be able to read a newspaper without any help, you know, get there any job etc with minimal difficulty.
Even or the N1 is considered the highest
you can tell a lot of people focused on preparing for with the N3
and actually taking the N2 level to get their certifications for job work, etc
If you want to pass the JLPT exam specifically
my first tip to you is to get a JLPT-specific book or resource.
This one is a grammar book...
a Kanji book...
So I used the Kanzen Master books
and also the Speed Master books
and the N1 kanji book, it looks like this.
I'll put all the links and the ISBN numbers below
Out of all of these books, I used these two the most.
Speed Master grammar book and the N1 Kanji book
Things like the Genki textbook, duolingo, iKnow and other cutesy apps I've recommended
They're great for supplementing your Japanese studies or to learn Japanese in general
but SPECIFICALLY for the JLPT, put all of those aside
and focus on JLPT resources and books.
[ DISCLAIMER! ]
You'll need the JLPT to prove your professional Japanese
But it doesn't really tell you anything else about how good your Japanese really is.
I remember 5 years ago, I was doing all this professional work
using prRrlfiCient BUSINESS Japanese
I could say crazy things like
"AND NOW FOR FINANCE NEWS!"
"Q4 SALES WERE UP 30%"
"BUT DUE TO INCREASED PERSONNEL COSTS"
"EXPECT A REPORTED NET LOSS FOR FY 2017".
I had taken this one job, I was N2 level "Business Japanese"
I was hired as a tour guide for these like elementary school level Japanese kids visiting Virginia
I was their tour guide and yet I couldn't remember the word for principal?
I was like: "This is your CHANCELLOR!"
"To THE RIGHT OF THE BUS"
THERE'S A TRADITIONAL...LAMP?!?!
What's the word for "outlet" I need to charge my PhOnNNeee
I was JLPT proficient but couldn't have a basic conversation with kids
It's one of those necessary evils that you have to just memorize for
SO! We do it anyway.
Moral of the story is you can use all of your other materials to get better at real Japanese later
But when studying for the JLPT, using any resource that's made specifically for the test itself.
My other tip to you is that it is very important to use practice tests.
There are also free examples online specifically on the official website.
If you look on the website, you can click sample questions.
Then there's one section at the bottom that has these cute sample questions.
You can gauge what level you should even try for
in this cutesy blue-green teal section.
The questions are close to the level
But I found that they were much harder than what you actually need to know for the test.
If you click on sample questions on the top
on the left side there's "New Japanese Language Proficiency Test Sample Questions"
If you click that then you can find sample workbooks, sample questions,
Actual tests and answer sheets, audio samples and scripts which are particularly valuable
So you can actually test yourself with the real format of the jlpt and test your answers in a realistic way.
I actually didn't study all that much for the N1 level because
the way that my school and my homework assignments are here in Japan
I do so much of the same level of Japanese all day, everyday anyway
But what I did do is the week before the exam
I read through this N1 kanji book and this grammar book.
The other Kanzen master books have explanations and they go into each grammar point
But I found it was a little bit too wordy.
Like I just needed a list of all of the kanji and grammar to expect
That's kind of like what these two books were.
I remember the day of the test, I read through this Kanji book
and one of the questions in the kanji section was pulled from this book
so I was really glad that I read through this book
but in general there were only six kanji questions in the entire test
So, I don't know if it's worth paying for an entire book for six questions.
Specifically, I think this book was my favorite, the N1 grammar book
because the test really heavily focuses on grammar, reading, sentence structure and listening.
What to expect on the day of the test:
All of the tests have gengo chishiki which goes over 文字 (characters) specifically kanji, vocabulary
This includes kanji, but it can also include onomatopoeia, 文法 (grammar)
For example, they break up a sentence into five different parts and scramble them out of order.
you have to put these five parts back into order and then the question will ask you
What should be number three in that order?
There is also a 読解(reading comprehension) section
On the N2/N1 levels there's a 1~1.5 page prompt for each question. I feel like there are six of these.
Be used to reading Japanese, so study reading passages,
but make sure you read the questions first.
And THEN! Everyone's favorite: 聴解(listening) section.
You are going to be completely surprised if you have never taken a JLPT before．
If you were to take an JLPT practice test you have to do it for listening.
It's so easy to trip on the format the first time
At first it's straightforward, they give you a minute to read through the questions.
then listen to the prompt, and answer based on what you heard.
then there's another set of questions where
it asks you to choose what sounds most natural.
Person 1 will say something like:
Takeshi-san, these documents aren't done properly.
What is the most appropriate way to respond to that?
A: Thank you! I'll keep doing it that way, then!
B: Oh really? OK I'll leave the rest to you then!
C: I see. I'll redo those again.
The answer's aren't even typed out, you have to just hear it all and circle the answer.
So It's really helpful to write out the letters A, B and C for each question,
and then mark out which ones you think may be wrong as you're listening.
Mark an X as soon as you know it's not one of the options
write a ? on it if you're not sure or circle it if you're sure.
You're probably going to be so frazzled that you forget what the other options even were
so make a LOT of notes!
and THEN it get's difficult!
When you turn to the final page, it is completely blank!
For these last few blank questions, it's always the same format.
so here's what you're going to do!
When you turn to a blank page, take your pencil
Write a big plus sign and divide the page into 4 sections.
Specifically on the N2/N1 levels, they're going to just...
TALK for a few minutes about four different things.
Maybe the names of four different mountains or the names of four different drinks
and you have no idea what the question is going to be
until they've given you a million different details for all four items.
So make lists, one for each of the four items.Write out their names
and then anytime they talk about one of the four things, make a note.
At the end the speaker will say like "I wanted something cheap...
but I prefer the one that's a little cuter
but on Tuesday my paycheck is coming in
So I'll want the expensive one!"
and person 2 goes: "Alright, we'll buy it on Wednesday then!"
DING! Which one did they buy?
And you're like...WHAT?!
They don't concretely name what they're referring to or what the questions is
By the time you figure that out, it's like BOOP! next question
This is where it's really easy to fail the test!
So if you see "問題" and a blank piece of paper.
write a tic-tac-toe, 4-quadrant board
fill in the answers and pray you took a practice test
because it's going to be difficult!
So that's where the test ends,
but I wanted to add in some very specific tips on how not to fail.
There are very easy ways to fail the test.
The first one is to take the test for the first time!
For the majority of people, on your first try.
You're probably not going to pass it.
You're just going to either run out of time
or be unsure and miss opportunities for the right answer.
If you're taking the N1 or for any level
It really helps to take the level below before you take your goal level
because it just gets you used to the format.
Make sure you take practice tests for the listening section.
Remember this guy? Your cell phone?
What you really need for this test is a wristwatch!
A non digital wristwatch that you can put down on your desk.
They tape over the clocks in the room so that you can't see them.
I don't know how you're supposed to deduce answers from the clock?
Make sure you have a wristwatch so that you can manage your own time.
The most basic but the most true
is don't. forget. a PENCIL!!!
Make sure you have a watch, a pencil
take practice listening tests
and don't let this be the first time you've taken it.
These are simple ways to fail and throw away all of your hard work.
Don't do that!
It's a lot of uncomfortable but very necessary memorizing.
But it's not that big a deal. If you're curious and you want to try it
if you have the money for it, just take it!
On the website there are fun statistics,
LIke last year, only 8.6% of people took the test for a job in Japan
That's a REALLY low number!
The largest majority, 35% of people who took the test
reported that they took it just to assess their own level.
Judging by the timing of this video, we only have a few days left!
The application deadline is actually September 26 at 5 p.m
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LINCOLN!!!
Don't wait until last minute because that might even be Japan time
Which is earlier than you think.
For those of you on the fence... just take it!!!
We all fail the first time, most of the time.
For those of you who didn't, we're going to have some words!
So hurry! Go! Sign up! Go NOoOWWww!
Don't forget to like, subscribe and hit the bell notification.
Thank you so much for watching today!
I'll leave the links to the books that I use below
But in the meantime i'll see you guys in the comments!