So, as stated in the title, I’ve finally decided to buckle down and take the N5. I had casually studied Japanese for several years and realized I wasn’t getting anywhere. So over the past year I’ve been working hard, and I think I’m getting close to ready. That being said, I’m still kind of nervous, so any studying tips, things to expect, resources?
7 Likes
Are you doing it in Japan? That adds a certain level of, not so much difficulty as stress. All the instructions are going to be in Japanese, no English. Which is fine, you’ll figure it out, but I’d try to remove as much uncertainty as possible by doing practice listening exams on YouTube in the format you can expect. Even visit the site before test day so “getting lost” isn’t a worry. That way you can focus all of your anxiety on the content 
The other thing I would suggest is that my experience, and most people I’ve seen comment confirm, the listening section is… humbling. Don’t expect to get 100%, don’t panic if you don’t feel like you’re doing well. DO practice ahead of time, but don’t think you won’t pass if you don’t ace every practice. As long as you’re getting some decent fraction right, you’re probably ok.
Other than wanikani, I would look up on the internet and brute-force memorize (if necessary) a N5 vocabulary list and peruse the N5 grammar points (not necessarily doing the SRS unless you want to, there’s probably not time to finish N5 before the exam) on bunpro. That should be enough to crush the sections other than listening, which gives you more room to be terrible at listening.
Hope that helps, Good luck!
6 Likes
Thank you so much. I’m taking it in America, which should make things easier. I also didn’t know there were practice listening videos on youtube, but now I’ll definitely use them. Thank you so much for your advice!
2 Likes
It’s not going to help your preparation, but I wanted to mention that when I took the N5 a number of years ago (I forget how long ago it was - maybe six years ago), at the end of the exam I was feeling extremely dejected as I was certain that I had failed the test.
When the results were finally published it turned out that I had actually passed the test, and while my score was not a ‘top score’, it was also nowhere near a failing score.
Scoring of the JLPT is a bit opaque. In addition, some of the questions on the test are evidently used by the test creators to evaluate their suitability for use in a subsequent test, but those do not count toward your score.
So it’s entirely possible to think that you did horribly when in fact you passed the test.
The opposite can also be true - when I took the N4 test I was fairly sure that I had passed it, only to discover that had I missed the passing grade by 3 points.
So, YMMV. The more that you can do timed practice tests ahead of the real one, the better off you should be.
Good luck with your studies and with the test…
7 Likes
Yeah I dug into the scoring method some years ago. It’s definitely not a “solid N5-level people should be able to answer all these questions” type of test. It’s more of a “here’s a set of varying-level questions, a N5 should be able to get 70% of them.” The ones they think are “too hard” are weighted such that getting them right can add to your score, but not hurt you too much. The “too easy” questions can hurt you quite a bit. It’s not strictly “x points per question”. And then trial runs might change the weightings even further.
The takeaway is, not only is 100% not expected in the “everyone makes a mistake once in a while” sense, but also in the “this test is intentionally too hard for a (just) N5 to get 100%”. So don’t panic when you see or hear some questions and think “what? I have no idea” - just guess, go on the the next question, and keep doing your best. Don’t get rattled, it’s normal.
5 Likes
Oh and always guess, don’t leave any blank
3 Likes
I found this website to be pretty useful, if you haven’t seen it already. It explains more about the structure of the test and points to official resources:-
2 Likes
I recommend guessing 4. It’s always 4.
4 Likes
I’ve taken the N5 and passed it even though my listening skills were a bit subpar, my suggestion is to get better and faster at reading, speed is quite important in the JLPT and if you find yourself out of time you’re essentially forced to guess.
Also try to find some practice listening audios, the listening per-se is not hard but it has its own quirks so it’s better to get used to it before taking the test.
Kanji and vocabulary are the easiest part, especially for the N5, so just make sure to study and memorize them and you’re good!
3 Likes
Thank you so much, this seems very helpful.
Thanks! Honestly, that does help. It’s just ‘do your best and don’t worry about the outcome’ then, ne?
1 Like
I don’t have any tips sorry (I’m not even close to being able to take the N5) but just wanted to say best of luck! 
1 Like
Thank you!
I’ll be sure to do so. Thank you!
1 Like
That’s very good to know. Thank you!