Ugh. I’m partway through one of the mock tests (took a break for the listening as I’m anticipating a call around now).
I’d heard there was lots of reading for N2, think I’d failed to anticipate there’s a reasonable amount for N3 too! It felt doable but more rushed than I liked. I’ll mark it when I’ve done it all…l
So I did one of the official practice JLPT books. I haven’t fully read through the marking bit at the back - can I essentially convert my mark in each section to being out of 60 and work out my mark that way?
It was better than I thought in some ways - I think I passed each section, with the lowest mark on the listening but I was expecting that. While I felt a bit lost during the test my guesses appear to have been correct more often than not!
Unfortunately not - basically your mark depends on which questions you got right (they are weighted) and also depends on the results of your fellow test-takers on that day, and some other factors, so it’s nothing anybody can reproduce for sure. But I guess if you follow the suggested marking method in Wanikani July JLPT Community Event (aka Joint Mock JLPT on July 4th, home thread) (section: The Test → How do we calculate results?) then you can get to a good approximation, I think.
Yep weighted questions makes sense - I wondered about that. I guess this one would be fairly standardised as an average test since it’s the one published by the Japan Foundation. I’ll take a look at that thread, keen for extra resources though I have minimal study time.
I mainly took the test to get a rough idea of what to expect on the day, but also to see where I should focus my efforts. I think focussing on listening is probably the way forward, though all sections were fairly even.
All you people doing better on the reading than the listening section might as well be foreign life forms to me 
… and some of you should teach me how to get good at reading 
I think it’s due to several reasons that I find it easier - first being my complete lack of listening practice until recently. And I’ve been working my way through the book clubs over time - but I’m still a relatively slow reader.
I think the main thing for me is I’m a visual learner, and I find it much easier when I’m looking at something rather than just listening. That very much goes for English as well.
The only method I know is … drumroll … to read 
Interestingly, that also helps with kanji, vocab and grammar. And the latter two also help with listening, so → win-win-win! 
Haha, yeah, I wasn’t exactly expecting any new insights 
Personally my listening was just way ahead by the time I seriously got into reading, and while I can usually manage to fit in multiple hours of listening throughout the day, I can’t exactly make room for similar amounts of reading. So it’s going to be a while before the two get caught up 
Hard to imagine, but I tried this method and it has been working for me so far.
Alternatively, playing gacha games with lots of dialogues. The motivation is right there.
I also realized, that reading works, but it is so hard to stay with it.
some months ago I read two light novels back to back but then it just flickered out and now I try to get into the third volume and it is so hard because most words I learned from the other two books I already forgot.
the jlpt is getting nearer and I start to get nervous.
two weeks or something ago I even had a test nightmare, where i went into the test, but all my pencils broke and my sharpener didn’t work and it was so weird… never had that kind of dream before 
I always dream of everything going wrong before an exam 
You can actually sleep before exams? Lucky you… 
Fair enough
If I had a bit more money, I would definitely try! 
Come to think of it, I don’t even know if we’re allowed to hang around after the test, in previous years we were told to go straight from the station to the test site and then back immediately after the test finished.
Yeah, it’s comparatively not that bad. Just an annoyance since I know it has been closer before so why isn’t it this time. But I’m definitely glad I don’t have to like, go to another country to take it.
Savage! In Vienna they didn’t even care if you arrive or not.
If you’re not there, you’re just not there.
“Do more!” Is my default advice ATM.
Cool. Apologies for the delay in my reply.
Do you use Discord? We can connect on the discord and meet up after the exam if you wish.
Hey where do I find the time when the exam is? I’d really like to buy my train tickets, but I don’t even know if it’s at like 8am or at 7pm. The main site of the embassy doesn’t seem to say anything about the time, I’ve checked multiple times.
I got a letter from my host institution with the time and place, so I’d say check with them if you haven’t gotten that info yet.
Only a week til N4! I am not feeling confident as I failed the first practice test (I have the book of practice tests) and my experience from N5 was that the practice tests were much easier. Going to do the second today after reading through the answers and blitzing vocabulary. Listening is my weak point so I can only hope to scrape the minimum points if I’m lucky.
I also put the wrong date of birth when applying (out by one day) and when they sent the voucher they asked if there were any corrections then said they couldn’t correct it because I provided the wrong date. I guess I was rushing through the form because it sells out so quickly. I really hope this isn’t going to be a problem on the day.