Your WaniKani Level VS Your JLPT Level

[Noursaidana]

Hey everyone, I would like to know your JLPT levels plus the resources you used to get there. One might think that the higher your WK level is the higher your JLPT is which is not true. I was surprised to see that a lot of people were low level but had JLPT N3-N1 which is awesome!

It would be cool if you can respect this format, I will start with my example:

• WaniKani Level: 32(Yes, in case some people check this thread later)
• JLPT Level: I never took an exam, my grammar is N4 at best even though my Kanji reading is starting to be decent.
• Resources/Materials(Completed): Pimsleur 1-4, Human Japanese Beginner & Intermediate, Duolingo(before the recent update), Lingodeer Japanese 1.
• Your Next Goal: Finishing Genki I & II this year, start & finish Tobira in 2020, maybe taking the JLPT N3 Exam as well.

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EDIT/UPDATE(19 April 2020)

• WaniKani Level: 60
• JLPT Level: N3-N2/Intermediate
• Resources/Materials(Completed): Pimsleur 1-4, Human Japanese Beginner & Intermediate, Duolingo, Lingodeer Japanese 1, Genki I & II, WaniKani, Tae Kim’s grammar guide, remembering the kanji I(without SRS).
• Your Next Goal: Fluency.

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If you can vote as well, it would be awesome!

• Grammar Is More Important Than WaniKani
• Grammar Is As Important As WaniKani
• Grammer Is Less Important Than WaniKani

[Leebo]

• WaniKani Level: 60
• JLPT Level: N1
• Resources/Materials(Completed): Completed? Some Nihongonomori video series maybe. A few Kanken books. Dabbled in lots of other things.
• Your Next Goal: Kanken level 2

[Ditto20]

Alright…

• Wanikani Level: 27

• JLPT level: Probably somewhere between N2 and N1 based on their samples, but haven’t actually taken any of the exams yet

• Resources: I don’t actually think I’ve “completed” any single grammar resource but I’ve read, watched, or done small parts of many. I mostly just either just look stuff up as I come across it or if I just happen to feel like learning new grammar. I also use floflo.moe a lot for learning vocab from books. I’ve also read a bunch of books, so maybe those can count as a kind of “resource” too.

• Next goal: Read more books, read harder books, maybe take the JLPT next year

[ren_grantz]

• WaniKani Level: 27(28 by tomorrow yay!)
• JLPT Level: I don’t plan to do the exam since I’m broke anyways, but maybe bordering N4 and N3?
• Resources/Materials(Completed): Duolingo. Beginner’s Japanese class in my uni that I took for fun. Was never really a fan of textbook resources since it feels so formal and language learning for me shouldn’t be so formal
• Your Next Goal: Finish all the 27 manga (in JP) I recently bought! My goal is to finish one manga per two weeks. I hope to improve this reading speed as well

I think Grammar is as important as WK (or vocabulary/kanji knowledge in general) especially if you want to be able to read. Without good grasp on grammar, you won’t know who’s doing the what and on whom or on what. These stuff really gets confusing when you encounter some eccentric character in novel or manga or even in real world. When you don’t have good grasp on grammar, some Japanese puns and jokes don’t really resonate and that’s bad!

Conversely, without enough vocab/kanji knowledge (like me), you have to have a dictionary on every sentence you read and that sucks as hell. Yeah, it sucks.

[TomatoSalad]

WK Level: 58 give me another week and a half and I’ll edit this

JLPT Level: …N2.5? I passed N3 December 2017 and feeling pretty good about N2 this coming December.

Resources/Materials(Completed): Genki I & II, Shin Kanzen Master N3 (Kanji, Reading, and Grammar), Shin Kanzen Master N2 (Reading and Grammar), Beginner/Intermediate/Advanced Japanese Grammar Dictionaries, Nihongo no Mori’s N2 grammar vid series, many many many grammar websites because I don’t trust anyone and need to research thoroughly if it’s true and for the sentence examples, Japanese Graded Readers (vol 4 gets dark af bruh), Podcasts (ひいきびいき), ver of Persona 5 and Stardew Valley, a bit of Floflo, WK of course , and Kitsun .

Your Next Goal: Take that N2 on Dec 1 and get way more vocab. I’ll see about N1

Just backing up @ren_grantz on their point, grammar is as important as WK to me because it’s such an energy zapper while studying grammar to always be searching every kanji reading and meaning since sample sentences are essential when understanding grammar points.

[Zakarius]

WaniKani Level: 18
JLPT Level: N9
Resources/Materials(Completed): Nothing is ever complete.
Your Next Goal: Eat this chocolate bar that sits before me, taunting me to give in to temptation. And then yell at myself, and the chocolate bar wrapper, in Japanese to atone for my sins.

I think vocab (WaniKani) is just as important as grammar.

If grammar is mortar and vocab is bricks, one without the other you’ll either have a messy blob of grammar or a fragile pile of vocab. Need them both if you want to build a sturdy house of it.

[anna_harumaki]

Hi !

• WaniKani Level: 19
• JLPT Level: N4 passed this summer
• Resources/Materials(Completed): Textbooks in French, Shin Kanzen Master N4 for Grammar, Shin Nihongo 500 mon N5/N4, Lingodeer Japanese 1, Ask Japanese Graded Readers (Level 0 to 2)
• Your Next Goal: Take JLPT N3 in December 2020 (and for that, use Shin Kanzen Master N3 for grammar, Shin Nihongo 500 mon N3, Ask Japanese Graded Readers Level 3, and maybe Tobira?)

[Oshin]

• WK Level: 31
• JLPT Level: Unknown. The nearest island that holds JLPT is across the ocean to cross. And I don’t swim.
• Resources/Materials(Completed): In short, Somewhere in between @Zakarius and @Ditto20 above. In not so short, I learn a grammar point when I need it. I mostly use BunPro (then follow the ring resources online/offline), but I also use reading as my treasure to find a grammar point to learn (then follow the ring resources online/offline). I use Kitsun because I don’t speak Anki.
• Next goal: I don’t have a goal. I let it flow. Listen … Did you hear that?

[Ornantius]

• WaniKani Level: 11
• JLPT Level: N2
• Resources/Materials(Completed): Remembering the Kanji (somewhat), went through some Shinkanzen Master N3/N2 and Nihongo Soumatome N3/N2 with a teacher on iTalki in preparation for the exams. Tons of anime (unsubtitled).
• Your Next Goal: Get my kanji knowledge up. Just did Kanken 9, want to try for 7 next summer.

[whatupshimasu]

• WaniKani Level: 50
• JLPT Level: Took N2 in Dec 2017 and got 42% (need 50% to pass), my vocab and kanji knowledge especially was weak so now that I’ve gone from lv 20 from last time to 50 this time I’m hoping it’s enough to get that 8%. I took the JCAT recently and did well on listening but barely N2 or below on the rest so wish me luck I need it haha
• Resources/Materials(Completed):
  • Human Japanese Beginner & Intermediate
  • most of genki 1 & 2 through 5 college classes
  • most of tobira
  • most of a textbook we used in my Japanese class during study abroad (focused on formal writing, don’t remember what it was called)
  • small bits of various books (百人一首)
  • some video games in Japanese
  • Practiced some writing on Lang-8 (not really a completion thing)
• Your Next Goal: Pass N2 this year (Dec '19)

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Unrelated, but how do people get titles next to their names?

Edit way later: I passed B) I actually did pretty meh on listening but did really well on grammar/vocab/reading passages

[InsaneSlightly]

• WaniKani Level: 5, but I’ll be 6 in a few hours
• JLPT Level: I’d say N4
• Resources/Materials (Completed): Genki I and II
• Your Next Goal: I’m currently working through Tobira, as well as learning everything in A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar.

[MikMilla]

• WaniKani Level: 26
• JLPT Level: Took and passed N4 last year.
• Your Next Goal: Hoping to take N3 by 2021, but doing N4 taught me that my listening really needs some work before I do that, because that was my biggest weakness (nailed the kanji section though, thanks WaniKani).

[dispense]

Okay…

Interesting post. I’m only a WK newbie but I’ve been studying Japanese for more than 6 years probably. I’m trying to pass the JLPT N2. If anyone hasn’t taken it before, let me say that it is HARD, not so much the content, but the marathon race against the clock and volume of material makes it exhausting.

• WaniKani Level: 5 (only been on WK a month)
• JLPT Level: N4, N3 passed, N2 failed (4 attempts, all in Japan)
• Resources/Materials(Completed): I have tried and used so many over the years, but here are some… Genki, MinanoNihongo series (used at Japanese Language School in Japan), JET Programme textbooks (now defunct I think), tens of different JLPT (grammar, reading and kanji) textbooks, Surusu (for kanji), Kanji koohi, WK (recently), 新完全マスター series (文法) (the best grammar book imo), Netflix, imiwa? (best dictionary for smartphone, use it hundreds of times a day), Lang-8 (used it a lot to get speeches and things I wanted to say/write proofread by Japanese natives, think it might be defunct now for new members, only legacy members can use it which is a shame), HiNative (poorer cousin of Lang-8, not as good, use occasionally for quick fire responses on stuff i cant understand), Living and working in rural Japan exposed to Japanese 24/7, occasional manga (but not really into it, like the artwork though) and finally having a one-to-one weekly lesson for an hour with Japanese teacher studying JLPT grammar (2018 - present).
• Your Next Goal: Taking N2 in London and hopefully passing, getting into (and enjoying) some more native material and not focussing on test material but more fun material. Getting back in Kanken, passing grades 5 and 6 (Passed Grade 9,8 and 7 whilst in Japan)

[Oshin]

Unrelated, but how do people get titles next to their names?

By having this ritual fifty times a day. Every single day.

[whatupshimasu]

[Oshin]

[Ornantius]

If the spinner looped slightly better, this would be pure evil.

[Gerandpa]

WaniKani Level: Just hit 21!

JLPT Level: Never taken it, and probably won’t until N3 if I take it at all, but I’m learning N3 grammar points right now

Resources/Materials(Completed): Genki I textbook and workbook, a few chapters of Genki II, complementing my notes with A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar, Tae Kim, and the Japanese Ammo with Misa videos (finished with most of the beginner videos), 4 volumes of the 聲の形 manga, 1 volume of 結婚しても恋してる, and now I’m reading ふらいんぐうぃっち with the Beginner Book Club, Levels 0 and 1 of Graded Readers, and for listening I’ve been meaning to finish watching a season of Terrace House without subs, but I’m very bad at completing any kind of show in any language.

Your Next Goal: Finish Genki II before my next semester of grad school starts in January (but my progress has slowed significantly because of this semester of grad school unfortunately), start Tobira in 2020, and read more manga.

[theMusicalninja]

Wanikani Level: 60
JLPT Level: lol idk
Resources/Materials(Completed): Genki I, Genki II, some Bunpro, Lingodeer, the White Rabbit Press readers, WK, Kitsun, a bunch of japanesepod101 videos, KANJI - Link, Maggie Sensei
Next Goal: N3 in a month

[gurujeet]

WaniKani Level: 15, but reset to 1 from 31 earlier this year after taking a 3-month break from Japanese study.

JLPT Level: Passed N5, failed N4 several times. Feel much better prepared for N4 this December.

Resources/Materials(Completed): Genki I and Genki II, taking online classes at JOI (japonin.com), Kanzen N4 study guides.

Your Next Goal: Pass the N4 (finally!), N3 next year.