I wish there was a July testing date in the US. I feel like I could be ready for the n5 by next July, but I’m not going to be there by this December, since the class I’m in will only be finishing up Genki chapter 7.
Do you feel super prepared with the extra few months of study time?
Is Genki your only Japanese learning source (other than WK), or do you have other experience with the language?
Taking one or more “mock N5 tests” would be a good exercise, if you haven’t already, not only to prepare you for the types of test questions you will face (as well as the exam time pressure), but also to get a general reading of your readiness.
(Yes, I too wish that they had both July and December tests in the US, but sadly that has not been the case. While I have passed the N5, I missed the N4 last December by 3 points, and have to wait a year to retake it - but I’m not ready yet for N3.)
I’m doing Genki I in a classroom setting (over zoom). That class is 10 weeks for each section, so next year I take two more sections to finish up Genki I. So it’s mostly Genki in the class, but a little bit of extra student interaction that I wouldn’t get studying it on my own. (The last session before the N5 would be I’ll be deciding between taking a Genki I review course or moving on to the classes covering Genki II).
In between sessions there’s 7 weeks off, so I started to use those to take what Japan Society calls a Conversational course, which is a 5 week class using Marugoto. I’m in my first of those classes now, which will cover half of Marugoto Starter A1. If all goes as planned I’ll take two more conversational courses before next December, so that’ll be the rest of A1 and half of Marugoto Elementary 1 (if it seems particularly useful I can try and do the other half of Elementary 1 using the online resources myself before the N5, but that class would be starting right after the test date). I’m working through the Genki workbook and the the Marugoto online materials alongside those classes, and I picked up Torii SRS to amp up my vocabulary a bit now that I’m at the level of WK where people seem to think you should start reading. Going to try to get through the N5 and N4 words on there that aren’t on WK. I also watch a lot of Japanese films but I don’t really count this as study since I’m not at the point of even dreaming of turning off English subtitles. I just find that hearing the occasional word and going I know that! helps to cement it in my brain, and if I’m going to watch a movie anyway it makes it feel almost productive lol.
I definitely want to pick up some N5 specific materials, though since I couldn’t take the test this year even if I wanted to I was figuring I’d start working on that next year. Japan Society offers an N4 prep course but nothing N5 specific.
What did you use for N5 prep, just online tests or was there a book you found particularly useful? What other kinds of things were you doing outside WK when you passed the N5?
I can’t offer much in the way of useful advice on that part, since I originally studied with a tutor and used Japanese for Busy People as a textbook, but that was many, many years ago - long ago I had taken and passed the lowest/beginner level of the JLPT before they restructured it into the current N5 - N1 levels - and so I tackled the N5 without having done any formal studying other than taking the official sample N5 test (and watching a whole lot of anime with English subtitles, along with some news and J-drama programming, some with and some without subtitles).
I have found that watching (and listening to) lots of anime definitely helped me with the listening comprehension portion of the N5 test - but the danger there is that if you miss (or misunderstand) a vocabulary word or two during the listening test, it can be hard to recover unless you can train yourself to make educated guesses if possible and just move on, rather than getting tripped up and losing your concentration on the audio.
I was ill-prepared for the N5 kanji, since I had not yet started WK, and my past kanji learning attempts had never gained any traction - now that I’m doing WK I’ve learned so much, and kanji is no longer going to be the stumbling block that it once was for me.
Listening definitely seems like the scariest part, and I will be focusing on improving that a lot before taking a test. I do think being in actual classes rather than studying on my own is helpful there as I get at least some listening regularly. I’m definitely often answering the sensei and other students based on guessing of half understood sentences lol. But glad to hear you felt anime watching helped! I do some anime but more live action stuff, films and some J-dramas. Hoping to find a few things I enjoy watching enough eventually to rewatch a few times to get to the point of turning off subtitles and just listening.
What did you use to study for the N4?
When I listen to anime, I try to do ‘active listening’, where not only do I compare what I hear in Japanese to the English subtitles, but when I hear words or phrases that I don’t recognize (especially if I hear them several times), I stop the playback (and typically rewind it and play it again) and look up the word, originally using google translate, but lately I’ve greatly preferred using the Shirabe Jisho app on the iPhone.
I also used an N4 vocabulary anki deck (created by the Nihongo Shark app development team), that was only partially useful for learning N4 kanji - I only started with WK last December or January, after having taken the N4 test with only so-so knowledge of the kanji. So not having had a formal study routine for last year’s N4 test was a mistake - I won’t make that mistake again this year.
My biggest weakness is probably grammar - and for that I have just started working with the Shin Kanzen Master N4 books, especially the grammar book - and just yesterday I also started self-study with the Genki 2 book and workbook, thinking that having several sources would be a good idea (I’ve just listened to most of the Genki 2 dialogs and vocabulary, using the OTO Navi audio app - and so far, I’ve understood most of the dialog and most of the vocabulary that I have encountered in the chapters from 13 through 20 - but that doesn’t mean that I won’t benefit from doing the Genki 2 readings and exercises).
I’ve liked the ToKini Andy Genki videos if you’re ever looking for something to go through Genki with. I was using his videos on Genki 1 to review the chapter I had worked on in the previous week’s class before moving on to new things. I definitely appreciate the OTO Navi app. I just walk around the city playing the conjugation exercises and dialogues and shadowing or answering out loud, luckily no one thinks you’re crazy for talking to yourself these days.
So I’m almost through my 1000 N5 vocab words book and it helped me to improve a lot.
How are you guys doing?
Congrats!
Doing well i think, have about a thousand words so far as well, anki + vocab from WaniKani, recently just finished Bunpro’s N5 section, also did my first mock test a few days ago, and i had a nice result, which gave me some confidence, since we still have 2 months until the actual test. which means i still have a lot of time to study.
Here’s my stats so far, trying to increase reading since its my lowest score on the mock test.
Where did you take that mock test?
Its a iphone app called Easy Japanese News, it has a JLPT section with complete mock tests, for each level.
I stopped learning new kanji on wnkn at the beginning of October and am focussing on reviews and grammar now.
I went on vacation for two weeks this month and finally completed the 1000 N5 単語 book. So I’m not worried about vocab or kanji too much.
In regards to grammar and listening I feel a lot of worry though (also kinda anxious about my brain forgetting all I’ve studied so far if I postpone reviews too much or something).
And I think a lot about all these people always bragging about how easy N5 is lately while trying to manage studying and crying simultaneously
FWIW, when I took the N5 exam several years ago, I left the test location feeling totally dejected and thinking that I must have failed it - but when the results came out I found out that I had actually passed it.
Keep in mind that some of the questions are there for the purpose of gathering data for use by the test writers but are not actually used in scoring the test.
Have you done a practice test before or is this purely based on you trying to cover all the N5 material before the test? 
… one of those certainly makes the N5 seem a lot harder than the other 
Does anyone know at what level (approximately) in Wanikani that we have learned all the kanji in N5?
According to wkstats, you know 100% at level 16.
Unsolicited advice, but I feel like giving some words of caution anyways, because that number is a bit misleading.
You really don’t need to know all of them. At level 8 you know 95%, which is more than enough. The list isn’t an official one to begin with and even if it was knowing 95% would be plenty for a safe pass. At level 8 you also know a lot more kanji that aren’t on the list. On top of that, Kanji is arguably the least important section of the JLPT.
Working on core vocabulary or grammar is going to give one much better chances at passing the N5 than those 8 additional WK levels.
I didn’t know about them inserting questions simply to gather data yet! Thanks for the heads-up. That sounds like something that can really impact your mood in a negative way if you’re not aware of it!
Both. After reading the experiences of test takers this summer it appears N4 was harder that time than usual. So that’s something to prepare for it seems even after taking test exams.
And even if I managed to pass but didn’t cover the majority of possible content what’s the point of moving to N4 material? Because I don’t wanna spend considerably more time on N5 material afterwards if I can prevent it.
How‘s it going for you guys?
There‘s definitely grammar I could improve on but I can‘t seem to bring myself to study test related things anymore. It‘s some mental block tbh. Instead I‘m leisurely studying new kanji on Wanikani
I feel hopeful that I’ll pass based on practice test scores but still wish my grammar and listening skills were better! the 4 blank questions trip me up hard, focusing on those today x____x
