My view on it is that, sure, passing or failing these test don’t really make a difference as to how well my Japanese learning is going, but as someone doing exclusively self-learning they seem useful to check my progress. Sort of like I’m getting an “outside perspective” or status check on how well my learning has been going. Plus, having a hard deadline of a test date is helpful for sticking to a study schedule, for me anyway.
I’m pretty excited to take it myself, if I pass the N4 as I hope to I’ll really feel like I’ve made progress! This is all from the perspective of someone fairly new to serious study though, so I’m sure for more advanced learners and people more confident in their abilities the tests seem less useful.
Dang, I sure hope that’s not the case. I had heard they did summer test previously but had suspended those due to covid, if I have that right I’m hoping they come back for 2023. I’m hoping to take the test in the Washington D.C. location at Georgetown, wonder when they’ll release their 2023 schedule.
I’m hoping to take the N3 next year, but I’m not decided yet on whether to push myself hard to aim for July, or hold off until December to give myself a better chance.
I think aiming for July would mean really knuckling down and studying for me to have a chance, and I’ve kind of enjoyed the last few months of focusing more on reading manga and having fun conversations with my tutors rather than doing lots of the more “serious” stuff like flashcards and grammar drills.
At the moment I’m thinking I’ll see how I feel once its getting close to registration time
I know the feeling, sometimes when I don’t have time to see a single episode because I am studying makes me start doubting the very purpose of having taken up Japanese in the first place…
I really want to avoid the prepping for the test and would like to just take the tests when they happen. I have been reading real books and listening to native material every day for the last year, and would like to just do it because I could.
I failed the N2 twice in 2021. My hope is I can keep doing what I am doing and pass doing that alone. I am in the process of revisiting beginner level materials to better solidify what I know and don’t know at this point, but I want to avoid buying anything outside of maybe the reading comprehension prep books. Reading was my lowest score both times and in the case of the 2nd time, it is the only score that kept me from getting certified.
December I am still unsure about, depending on my result in July I would like to try N1 too.
I just took the N5 yesterday, and I’m planning to take the N4 in December. I’ve already made a list of things to do better this time, including:
Finish the relevant Genki book months in advance, not weeks in advance
Practice listening to more varied speakers, especially that nasally newscaster accent that turns Gs into Ns
Finally sign up for Bunpro
Are you me? That was probably the best thing about taking the test; it gave me a fixed deadline and a kick in the pants. Whether I pass or fail, it was worth signing up.
I passed the N3 in summer this year and then got a bit burned out and pretty much stopped studying. I still kept up with my WK reviews but the number of lessons went down.
I plan to pick things up again in the new year. Hopefully finish WK by March or April and then focus on grammar and reading and go for N2 in December 2023.
Attempted N3 a day ago. Planning for N2 next December. It depends on my grammar prep. I want to read a lot more and be in a decent place next August. Then I can take a call on attempting the N2. Or I might just take the test for fun and see how soul crushing it is
Me 2 years ago xD I went really hard on the N3 (Passed btw, so hopefully you do to), but I gave up on WK shortly after. I was in the Speed Runner mindset, so if I could offer advice it would be just keep reviewing but don’t do lessons for a while until you have the drive to push forward again. Don’t give up completely like I did!
I took the N3 just two days ago and I felt pretty confident in it so I wanna go straight into study for the N2 while I’ve got the momentum. If I don’t make it for the summer I definitely want to try for winter. I live in Japan and the test center is in the big city an hr or two away from me so it’s not a big hassle to go there.
I’ve bought a book from maruzen to study N2, and I think I want to actually go through the N3 saotome books that I got from a friend before I hop into the Saotome books for N2 because the N3 ones were filled with many words I just did not know so I want to make sure my base is solid before building higher. I also have senpais who will study with me so I will be more diligent and ask them to join me and then actually study instead of 3 hrs in depth video game talks.
I want to start reading japanese books. I want to join the book clubs but when I went to check out the local bookstore for one of the books 夜カフェ the employee gave me a strange look as they brought me to the younger side of the store and it embarrassed me but I need to just read things and not care if they are aimed for younger kids because I for sure can’t just jump into adult fiction… (Unless yall have reccommendations? ) I also need to start listening to podcasts and other things in Japanese. My basic knowledge of daily conversation worked well enough for N3 but when it came to keigo I definitely had a harder time and especially with how fast it was too. I’ll browse for Japanese podcast reccommendations in the community because I believe I saw something around once.
I know I want to continue being employed in Japan after my stint as a JET ALT is over and if I can get N2 then I know I will be safe for future endeavors. The sooner I pass the sooner I can relax haha. Let’s do our best!!!
planning on N3 in summer in leicester (don’t wanna trek all the way to london again if i don’t have to) but it’ll probably depend on the results from N4
I never really got into light novels so I’m not too worried about that ahaha. I am just very easily embarrassed and stand out a lot in my small town so I was already drawing a lot of stares. I just need to buy books online without feeding Bezos様 in Japan and haven’t looked that hard into it yet
Hey, fellow JET here! You didn’t happen to be taking the exam at the Kobe location, did you? I was N4, so we wouldn’t have been the same room anyway, but I haven’t seen anyone else on wanikani saying they were in Kobe so I’m curious.
I feel you on trying to read Japanese, though. I want to work my way through some of the manga I’ve bought, but it’s so hard not to go cross-eyed at the slang sometimes
Edit: Definitely didn’t forget the actual topic of the thread! I’d love to take the N3 in July, because I was debating between N3 and N4 for this year but didn’t feel like my kanji/vocabulary would be up to snuff. I felt pretty good coming out of the N4 on Sunday, but I don’t know if my rate of study will put me where I want to be by July…I might just have to sign up and see if I get there in time or not.
Howdy! Unfortunately I’m up in the north in Miyagi so we didn’t pass each other. The Miyagi test site is Tohoku University and N3, N4, and N5 were all lined up in different towers so if you were up here I could’ve seen ya!
I bought a ton of manga to start reading but it feels more like a chore and then I over think it like, well what’s the point if I can’t get ever bit of nuance down and get the funny jokes right away. Like I love reading manga so much but I also fly through them, and the idea of taking more than an hour to get through half a book because I have to check and put words into anki or another notecard application or look up meanings makes it very unappealing to me ahaha.
I don’t know how old you are, but for me I am just old enough I can start buying stuff with the assumption its for my kids or something. Just play it off like that when you go to BookOff or where ever and no one will be the wiser.
I’m 25 so I could possibly have a kid but not one old enough to read the teen novels yet although I could play it off as a gift now that it’s Christmas time… I’ll definitely use that idea to help the ol anxiety brain. Thanks for the tip!!
I’ve been waiting for this thread After passing N4 a few years back and falling off the japanese studying horse, then back on again, I’m gonna give N3 a go in the summer.
This time I have more of a routine outside WK, I spend an hour a week chatting to my teacher, I’m working my way through the TRY! textbook, I listen to podcasts regularly, read manga, watch stuff without subs, chat to people on twitter.
I also want to do a lot more practice tests because I feel that’s a skill in itself!
I’m starting manga just because of the interest factor. Most of the ones I have right now are thing I’ve read in English already or things by authors I know I like. Trying to force myself to read something for practice when it’s not a story I’m interested in will absolutely tank my desire to do so, unfortunately, even if it might make for better actual study. So 名探偵コナン, BLEACH, SpyxFamily, etc. it shall be!
Hello! I’m an exchange student here in Nagano, and I’m staying until the end of July this summer!
I just finished Genki 1, and did well on a JLPT N5 sample test. Do you think I can pass the N3 this summer? In that case I need to work through Genki 2 and another book on a higher level. Does anyone have any experience with the Quartet books, and would the first volume be enough for N3? Or are there better books out there?
I know the feeling, sometimes when I don’t have time to see a single episode because I am studying makes me start doubting the very purpose of having taken up Japanese in the first place… 
) I also need to start listening to podcasts and other things in Japanese. My basic knowledge of daily conversation worked well enough for N3 but when it came to keigo I definitely had a harder time and especially with how fast it was too. I’ll browse for Japanese podcast reccommendations in the community because I believe I saw something around once.
so I’m curious.
After passing N4 a few years back and falling off the japanese studying horse, then back on again, I’m gonna give N3 a go in the summer.