Here’s the announcement from AATJ. There won’t be a JLPT test administered in the US until December 2021.
Sorry if this has been posted already, I searched and browsed and couldn’t find it anywhere.
19 Likes
Probably the most sensible decision in light of the public health dumpster fire, but it’s a shame nonetheless. I suppose everyone in the U.S. has about 16 months to prepare for the next round now – ample time to practice!
13 Likes
A bit of a disappointment for the people wanting to use the test as a benchmark and motivational tool, but it sucks for those needing it for career opportunities. Though I suspect the void will be filled somehow or other, by Japanese companies.
7 Likes
All JLPT exams across the globe were cancelled.
3 Likes
3 Likes
sadly only the US. seems it was not a decision made by the japan foundation
just check out the home page and confirm for yourself JLPT Japanese-Language Proficiency Test
I would’ve loved to have some peace of mind for them to either cancel or confirm as where I live it is only available at December and I have been anxious about the fate of the exam.
1 Like
That would be rather interesting. It seems like everyone is so reliant on the JLPT right now. I would love to see what’s proposed as an alternative.
1 Like
It’s definitely not just the US. For example, at least a couple of the Canadian sites have also canceled for December.
4 Likes
Checking the website of my closest JLPT location website in Germany says they’re still accepting applications for Dec 2020. A whole year break seems radical, then again, your situation is looking pretty やばい over there 
3 Likes
I did not know that thanks for letting me know, but I suspect for me and many others exams are solely reliant on the Japan foundation call as after all.
Many countries are showing signs of recovery and as you know all exams are sent to the Japan foundation to be graded.
so chances are a number of testing sites can operate with the proper protocols on December but it is meaningless if the grader cant grade so to speak.
1 Like
For those interested, BJT at a Pearson VUE test center may be available. They say if can be used for immigration preferential point system and If you are career-minded, companies may recognize it. Might even be a more practical study course for some.
JLPT may want to re-think their testing deployment model; you don’t to need to congregate a large group of individuals on the same day to take a single test worldwide with an in-room proctor. And levels N5-3 doesn’t really have any professional merit either.
1 Like
I have been wondering about this for quite some time, it seems unnecessarily inflexible. I understand that it’s not as big a commercial operation as the IELTS, for instance, so at first I thought it may simply be that the total number of people taking the test is too low to hold it more frequently (e.g., upgrading most or all locations to twice yearly) or in a less centralized fashion. Looking up the actual numbers, however, it’s just as popular as the French DELF/DALF, which is also centralized, but affords test takers more flexibility than the JLPT.
It could be a cost issue, but I’m not sure that holds water either. While the JLPT is significantly cheaper than other proficiency exams (e.g., IELTS, DELF/DALF, DELE, Goethe), it lacks a speaking part, which is the most complex and costly piece of the puzzle to organize at local testing centers. So there doesn’t seem to be an obvious reason to stick with a rather unaccommodating system, other than inefficiency (assuming that it’s not simply unwillingness).
4 Likes
last time I did the IELTS and TOEFL and that was a long time ago there was no speaking just listing like how it is in JLPT no?
tell me about it, Japan was the first to embrace eCommerce but somehow everything official was still needed to be posted to them. Like same type of organizations were already accepting digital documents and other form of official digital files.
so honestly if not for you guys pointing it out it would have completely slipped my mind that JLPT should be same as any other formal Language test.
so we only get 2 test per year if we were lucky 1 for many international test takers.
I guess the Japanese foundation is 日本的 
2 Likes
I see JLPT had ~650k and 700k applicants in 2019 for the two sessions but application fees around the world seem to vary. I would assume they are sort of a monopoly compared to other English exams. At least they have monetary incentive to change but no one really know what will happen in 12 months.
There is also J-Test as a JLPT alternative and might be available. Appears to be only is Asia but includes a writing section
Ah crap, the YorkU one is down. I was really looking forward to that.
But…from their website:
It is possible that another institution or association might host this event at a different location. We will post the updated information as soon as we are informed.
I wonder how possible this actually is.
I took the Academic IELTS in 2011 and it definitely already had a speaking component then. I’m not too familiar with TOEFL, but I’m pretty sure it has a speaking component as well.
You would think so, but I wonder if they receive a decent chunk of their budget through government subsidy, which would make them less inclined to find creative solutions during a pandemic because they don’t rely heavily on test fees.
The fact that they would push back exams in the U.S. to December 2021 rather than considering an “extra” round in July 2021 to make up for the lost year seems to suggest that collecting the fee money isn’t their main concern. According to the AATJ, more than 7,000 people in the U.S. take the JLPT each year, which amounts to about $420,000 collected in the U.S. alone.
1 Like
Where did you see that? I see nothing about it being cancelled in Japan. And I don’t think it’s a matter of it just not being cancelled “yet.” I can envision them holding it.
6 Likes
asjajhfwkfhsahfc gyAAAAAAAA >:(
Very disappointing… 仕様がない 
Yeah I was about to say. I can definitely see Japan still holding it. Though I wonder if they’d cancel it in specific prefectures. Tokyo ain’t doing so good…
2 Likes