Went much better than expected
That vocab/kanji score thoughā¦ >67% correct (A) on grammar but still only 32/60 total
Now that I passed I can actually say this with confidence: Whoever started the āN1 content is super specificā thing was full of it. No textbook study since N4, my studies consisted mostly of reading 40 slice of life/fantasy novels while mining frequent words from them as well as listening to some audiobooks.
Didnāt read a single newspaper or essay nor watch the news in Japanese, ever. Just do what you enjoy and youāll get there
Failed N2 again lol. I got 86 (A in vocab, B in grammar) which sucks as itās so close. Tbh, I didnāt study for it properly as I donāt really enjoy learning Japanese that much anymore.
And once again, reading is my weaknesses despite reading everyday, and listening is my highest even tho I never ever study for it and just guessed half of the answers lmao.
Yep, I took the test independently. If you took it through a class or something, you may have to get your results through them. Iāve only heard of such situations though, Iāve only ever taken the test on my own.
Well, I passed n2! 128/180. I wasnāt super happy with the score when first seeing it, but then I remembered that I was consistently getting like 50% of questions right while studying, so that score is actually pretty decent!
My highest score was 45/60, for listening. Listening was the part I thought I did the worst onā¦
Is anyone who passed N2 planning on taking N1 this year?
I think I would like to take N1 someday, but probably not this year because that seems like a lot to prepareā¦
Grammar is my weak point, so youāre telling me by reading I can intuitively start to figure out what is correct? I just started going through Harry Potter so Iām hoping this is the breakthrough for me.
Not the person you asked, but reading anything you can get your hands on is super important for the grammar section (and of course the reading section as well)! The more times you puzzle your way through sentences using more complex grammar, the more youāll start to get a feel for it, because youāve seen these structures before.
I would say, though, that Harry Potter is a bit ambitious for a first novel, and Iāve heard that the translation isnāt all that great. (Plus, 3/5 people I know whoāve attempted reading novels in Japanese, including me, developed an absolute loathing for the first one they read because of how tedious it was to slog through, so if you like Harry Potter enough to want to make that your first novel, Iād maybe suggest starting elsewhere just in case lol.)
Personally when I was around N4/N3 level I just grabbed a novel aimed at like ~9-year-olds and started reading. You can always go harder if itās too easy, but it can be difficult to stop, step back, and admit that something is too difficult and choose something simpler.
Yes and no.
I do think reading/listening is going to help immensely with learning grammar. Seeing it used over and over again is what makes you really understand it, especially when there is similar grammar points with slight differences.
But while I didnāt do any textbook study, I did look up unknown grammar when I came across it, mostly through a quick check in monolingual dictionaries. So I canāt really say from experience that reading entirely on its own would have been enough. I do imagine it would be, but it would probably be a bit slower that way
Passed the N3 with a better score than I expected I canāt believe I aced reading, but my scores generally reflected what I felt about each section (reading was a breeze, grammar was toughā¦) overal just really happy.
Hey thanks for the advice. Really appreciate it and hope I see the benefits.
Iāve read a few mangas before, and Harry Potter was my first English novel over like 150 pages years and years ago. I am actually enjoying it and after extensively reading some pages, I go back and add some things to anki (hopefully I dont come to hate it though). Only at 57 of 464 but its going.
Kids books bore me (from my manga reading experience).
I donāt see something to feel ashamed about. Itās amazing that you studied hard, and Iām sure that on a broader scale than this one test, you actually learnt a lot from all that effort. Keep going, Iām rooting for you!
Ah I did not pass N2 79/180 overall and I really tanked the vocab + grammar section. It was going to be the most difficult one anyways but accidentally hugely messed up with time management and had to guess the entire kanji/vocab section
Kinda bummed right now, but got some really good studying done last year so just gotta continue that this year. Congrats to all who passed and we who didnāt pass fought well! Letās keep going ^^
That was too close for comfort with the cut-off being 95 points. From here on out, it will be N2 all the way until July for me. Might consider sentence mining and reading more stuff.
79/180 overall and I really tanked the vocab + grammar section. It was going to be the most difficult one anyways but accidentally hugely messed up with time management and had to guess the entire kanji/vocab section 
