JLPT 2022 thread(Results out now!)

I love their grammar books and can recommend them to anybody who wants to study Japanese at that level, no matter whether they intend to take the test or not. Admittedly they are very dense, but if that doesn’t scare you away, then I think you can get a lot out of them.
For the reading book, it’s very helpful for test-takers because it explains in detail how each type of question works and so on, and what kinds of texts to expect. But if you just want to read books, I don’t think it will help you much. I’ve never even tried the listening book…

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Shinkanzen Master N2 Listening is dunk.

They’re geared towards JLPT, but SKM listening has tons of low level comprehension exercises which to be proved extremely valuable for general understanding.

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Well to be fair, by comparison, characters in Japanese gacha games are a bit more modest than the ones in Korean games :wink: Japan: “More oppai!” Korea: “You think we can make the string bikinis a bit stringier?”

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@NicoleIsEnough I assume the reading one also have texts? To then practice the questions? Probably not riveting material, but would still be useful wide reading practice (as in touching on topics I don’t normally read), I assume. How does the grammar compare to something like the dictionaries of Japanese grammar?

@WeebPotato Sound like I definitely want the listening. I really need to practice that. Trying to talk to people when you can’t really comprehend what they are saying is kinda a moot point in my experience so far. :sweat_smile:

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I am going for N3 at Atlanta, USA on Dec 4. So, if any WKians are at Atlanta, I would be happy to meet them.

For people who have already attempted the JLPT exams, do we get a new locker/place to store a laptop bag at the exam center?

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I think in this sense YMMV. I have no problems understanding actual everyday spoken Japanese, but anime/game Japanese or keigo-loaded JLPT recordings are a different matter. JLPT will prepare you for the latter and incidentally for the former.

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(Nobody asked for an opinion piece, but I like writing them anyways… sorry :'D)
I think if you really need these books just depends on what your goal is. Personally I see them as shortcuts to passing the JLPT, which isn’t a bad thing, but if you don’t need the certificate right now you also don’t really need the books. Someone doing bad on the listening section compared to the reading section likely just means they’ve spent comparatively little time practicing their listening.
Doing the SKM N2 listening practice book sounds painful, I’d rather listen to things I enjoy. Do it a bunch and you’ll get good, same as with reading :3
(Great thing about listening practice is you can probably fit at least an hour into your day just from dead time like cooking, exercising, grocery shopping, commuting, …)

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Oh yeah sorry, I was not very clear on that, I meant that they have sample texts (with practice questions and answers) for all the question types so that you can see what texts to expect in the exam.

Not sure in which way you would like to compare them, so I’m sending you a few pictures instead (this is the N3 edition - from N2 on there is no English):

SKM Grammar N3

These are the main pages with the grammar explanations:

After that there are a few shorter chapters who focus on other aspects of the grammar, compare related points etc:

There are quizzes after each grammar section (just for that respective section) and at the end of the book there are some quizzes across all grammar points. In general I feel that those quizzes are harder than the actual JLPT, so they are a good prep for the test at least.

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Thanks for the good answers on SKM. I really appreciate it! @GrumpyPanda @sycamore @NicoleIsEnough @WeebPotato

I’m trying to make an informed choice whether to buy and if buying which ones, and all the answers helps with that. Not entirely sure what I’m gonna pick currently. I’m not entirely sure I will go for JLPT yet. I might be going next year, or I might not be. I’m on the fence.

If I decide to go, I should probably aim for N2, because I’m currently somewhere late N3ish in some aspects… but maybe not in others. Need to practice more listening for one. :sweat_smile:

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I mean, if Japanese knew how to actually say what they mean in a single, concise sentence wouldn’t that completely kill their anime and drama industries, which rely heavily on people not communicating clearly or in a timely manner as a plot device?

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Not to forget that half of the grammar points would simply implode :rofl:

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I’m taking the N4 exam in Atlanta!

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You should have gotten the vocabulary one too, it’s amazing!

Haha I guess motivation to learn Japanese can be carrot or stick … just gotta work out which one is JLPT and which one is gacha games :smile: But then maybe “Why not both?” :joy:

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I have! I took N5 last year in UCD. It was obviously a bit different than it might be this year since we all had massively staggered arrival times because of Covid (N1 arrived earliest for registration, N5 was last and they’d call us inside by our groups one by one) and mask wearing was mandatory, though I imagine that’s lifted this year. There also happened to be Covid boosters being given in a building nearby on campus at the time, so a lot of confused older people kept coming over to those of us waiting outside the building asking if that’s where the vaccine boosters were. Imagine going in for a vaccine booster and accidentally sitting a Japanese exam somehow haha.

The numbers were way smaller last year and I was in quite a small room for N5, think there was only about 30 of us in total. I obviously didn’t have much to compare to, but it was grand and seemed relatively well run. It was my first time on UCD campus but the UCD admin gave quite good directions on where to go for registration etc.

Are you travelling to Dublin specifically for the exam?

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Finally got my test voucher in the mail, and this time the test location is so far from me! :sob: In previous years it was always within 20 minutes by train but this year I gotta go almost an hour by train! :sob: And it’s over ¥600 one way, I’m already too broke for that! xD: I mean I’m gonna do it, I’m just gonna be a little mad about it. :sweat_smile:

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Woah, crazy! From where to where do you need to travel?

Why did they change the test location? Is it because not enough people signed up for your level?

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It’s technically in the same prefecture, Kanagawa, but this time they’ve got me going to Minato Mirai, whereas previously they had me going to Fuchinobe, nice and local! ><
But I also just noticed my test site last year (Minami Osawa), was also about 45 minutes away. I thought it was a bit closer than that! :sweat_smile: So I guess about an hour is…okay. :neutral_face:
I mean, it could be worse, but… :sob: RIP my wallet.

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I need to drive 6h by train and stay in a hotel just to take the JLPT -.-…

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If someone told me to go to 港未来 I wouldn’t complain I guess :sweat_smile: . But then again, I don’t live in Japan.

No chance to turn it into a short sight-seeing trip?

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