Hi Everyone,
First, I’d like to thank everyone who has taken the time to answer my questions so far. I really appreciate it!
We’re just one week away from the JLPT (N2 for me), and I’m reaching out for any advice or tips, particularly for the grammar sections of the N2 or strategies for remembering grammar in general.
Recently, I took a full mock exam at a language school that closely mimicked the JLPT. Initially, I thought I wouldn’t even come close to passing, but after getting the results back, I realized I was only a question or two away. My estimated score was around 110, so I feel like passing is within reach if I can tighten up a few things.
My biggest areas for improvement are 語彙と文法 (vocabulary and grammar) and 読解 (reading comprehension). Since grammar can help with reading, I’m focusing on it for now. My main concern is that I struggle to remember grammar—there are so many small nuances and variations, and they just don’t seem to stick.
For the next week of cramming, do you have any tips for effectively remembering grammar points? I write down grammar in my notebook every day, but I’m terrible at retaining the meanings and forms. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance for your help, and good luck to everyone on the exam. Keep up the hard work—let’s do our best!
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If you have the time, it might be beneficial to spend some time each day doing a little bit of writing using the grammar forms you’re learning?
If you can do this daily and get to the point where you can reproduce the sentences then hopefully that should give you a big increase in recognition when you see them in new contexts.
Best of luck next week!
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Personally I see it the other way around. It’s reading lots that really helps with grammar. You won’t really fully understand most grammar points, especially the very nuanced ones, unless you’ve seen them being used in context over and over again, slowly building an intuition for that nuance.
Anecdotally, I didn’t do much isolated grammar study after ~N4, but I did well on the grammar sections of the N2 and the N1.
As such, were this several months away from the test I’d recommend a bunch of reading (and listening) practice. One week? Compared to the amount of study you have done until now that just isn’t a lot of time. I’m not sure even cramming is going to make a huge difference.
I’d think the best thing you can do right now is not stress too much and make sure you’re well rested on test day.
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Hello!!
So exciting to take the JLPT!
I’m also taking N2 next week and was just online looking for last minute cramming resources haha.
I like to use flashcards and was making some for grammar but it was getting time consuming so I looked online to see if I could find flashcards online.
I found JLPT sensei had flashcards which seemed helpful so I printed and cut them out and I plan to go over them and find which ones I need the most practice with and keep studying those for the next week.
If wanikani had direct message I would send them to you, but you can subscribe to their patreon for $5 and download their N2 materials. It seems like one of the more cost efficient resources I’ve found.
I also thought it was nice to practice questions on this website.
Best wishes!!
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Thank you.
Appreciate the answer.
I have been slowly making it through some manga everyday that is more slice of life and doing practice test. I just find it incredibly hard to remember meanings for some of the grammar when I rarely ever see it even in my readings.
I do agree with you. If it was 3-4 months away, I’d just be reading. Now, though I feel my reading is ok but I still find myself stumped with grammar sections or fill-in-the-blank sections for paragraphs in the JLPT. Like I understand what the sentence is saying but when they add a grammar point I’m confused on what changes.
Thank you very much. Even if its like 5-10 a day If I can do that and just write non stop I do agree my recognition will go up. Even if for now its just remembering the meaning and usage rather than internally knowing it in and out.
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Thank you so much. I will use these and see how I fair. I appreciate your kindness and good luck this coming Sunday.
I hope you pass.
Best wishes
I found this video to be very helpful for last-minute grammar brush-up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUk38cYzGYo
(日本語の森 JLPT N2 in one hour)
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