Those who have passed N3. Help

Thanks so much for the detailed answer. I’m reading NHK easy everyday but its probably becoming too easy for me now. I think doing lots of practice tests seems like the way to go too. Cheers

Learn to give up and read the questions fully first, this is great. Having done a practice test, I can see this approach will help me a lot. Cheers

I think you’ll probably find that the the material isn’t too much harder than (and might be even easier than?) NHK Easy, though it’ll probably help with speed on the test to just get used to quickly going through test-style passages and questions.

Don’t let it eat too much into reading-for-fun time though.

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Thanks for all the tips in this thread, I’m also aiming for the N3 this December and I feel like I can actually pass it now.
I was getting more and more deflated because a few months ago I thought I’d just go for the N2 in December, but the more I studied, the less confident I got.
That’s why I applied for the N3 instead. And now I feel that if I just keep up my current work ethic, I can probably pass it with a decent score.

I’m working through Tobira (halfway through chapter 2 atm)(got this book from my ex, so didn’t have to buy it)
I’m aiming to get level 30 in December (it’s going slower lately)
I’m learning as much vocab as I can using Iknow (I have the lifetime plan)

And irrelevant, but I’m saving up my money to buy the lifetime sub for Wanikani and more learning materials so I can push for N2 after N3.

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I’m advancing pretty slowly. I usually do ten lessons a day because it seems like a good pacing for me. I could probably go slightly faster and take fifteen instead, but for now I’m sticking to ten.
This does kinda leave me with a question. I would love to take on the JLPT N5 by december, but I don’t know if my pacing is fast enough to make that o.o anybody got any tips?

Use wkstats. It will tell you exactly when you’re going to reach N5 level if you continue studying at your current level up speed. So you should be able to figure out if you need to go faster.

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Things I realized I had to work on after taking the N3: Listening comprehension and reading speed. With the longer text segments, you usually get the gist enough to answer the questions, but if your reading speed isn’t up to it, it can be hard to finish on time, plus it can be really exhausting if you, like me, aren’t used to reading a lot at a time.

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Thanks! Seems I’d be okay to take N5 this december at my current speed ^.^

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(Main points in bold)

Exactly as Myria and iansacks put it, 100%. I didn’t reach any JLPT level yet, although now I’m fluent in Russian and English and as i see it, theres pretty much the same strategy.

  1. You need not translate everything, its a waste of time, only do the things that pop up all the time, since you are going to find lots of words you’re missing (at least in the beginning) which you can understand from the context. That worked for me with Russian and English, and with experience you will start getting it. So translate if you really don’t understand anything or if its a word you see pop all the time.

  2. Always read the answers and only then the question/paragraph needed, since the answers can point you to the thing you need to look for in the text. That is: skim the answers and read the text. Most of the times if you skim the text you will need to go back and reread once or twice which wastes some precious time.

Practice reading, you will need speed. You will have to read things every day to build it up, In school i sucked in English (although i was near top of the class) because i was reading only in school. which was like twice a week and that is if i didnt draw in my notebook instead. When i started reading every day my speed increased, though it took me couple of years to build up, I can finish a book 350 pages in either english or russian in about a day (without skimming the text). So time is you enemy and if you’re not good at reading, focus on it for about 2-3 hours a day and you will be a pro in December. Reading is just like a muscle, you need to practice and build it for long periods of time and it will grow.
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I passed N3 last year.

I think it is possible to cram last minute grammar and vocab in the weeks before the test, but reading and listening are a totally different matter and require dedicated practice over a long period of time.

I used Kanzen master for N3 prep. I found the reading in the test to be challenging but not overwhelming and I could finish with a bit of time to spare.

Listening is harder (for me at least). You should definitely do as many practice exams as you can since the style of questions is not much like a normal conversation at all.

My opinion is that NHK web easy should not be your primary resource for N3 reading - the grammar is too simple, although it can be good for review and reading speed.

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If you haven’t yet discovered 日本語の森:

They have a lot of N3 material that I found super helpful (especially for grammar/listening)

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