JLPT1 Progress - Vocabulary Aside: Good

As I've mentioned before, I intend to pass the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT), Level 1 - the highest level - this December. And I'm going to pass it with a good margin - defined as a score of above 80% (70% is needed to pass).

I've now done a mock test, using the Unicom book that contains two mock tests, to get a grasp of where I'm at and what I need to focus on. I can highly recommend that book, by the way. I used it for level 2 as well. Besides the tests, it assists in analyzing your weaknesses and tips on what you need to study.

Anyway, here's a breakdown of my scores:

• Kanji: 82%
• Vocabulary: 64%
  
• Listening: 72%
• Reading: 68%
• Grammar: 78%

Interestingly, that means the average score for each of the three sections (kanji/vocabulary, listening, and reading/grammar) is 72% - quite a coincidence.

So what to make of this? First: it's a pass, with a 288 p/72% score. That also means I'm on track for my goal to pass with more than 80%. When I do the mock test at home I'm more strict than at the real thing in that I don't choose randomly when I don't have a clue, and I try to finish it as fast as possible - I don't stop to think and I don't use spare time for reviewing.

I do that because I want data on how much time I actually need so that I can plan how much time to spend on the different parts during the real test - potential points vs time. For the reading section I had more than 15 min to spare, so I think this affects the end result by a few percentage points. Also, when I did the same thing for 2-kyu two years ago at this time, my score was barely above 60%, but on the real thing I scored 81%, so I think my score on the mock test is lower because I don't concentrate as much as on the real test as well.

Second, the surprises: grammar score is high, reading is a bit low, and listening is lower than expected. I haven't studied grammar really, but my studies consist mostly of reading, so I would have expected reading to be higher and grammar much lower. I felt very uncertain when answering many of the grammar problems even though I passed them. The only reason I can think of is that my book reading and radio listening have made me grasp grammar intuitively, much like a native speaker would.

The low reading score might be caused by me doing that section after coming home from work. I felt very tired by the end... And as I mentioned above I didn't do any reviewing using spare time. After all, I read normal (actually, some of them are probably more academic than most people prefer to read) books written for native readers pretty much every day, and I don't feel I'm missing out on the content of those books, so I don't think my reading skill is bad. And time is definitely not a problem - my Japanese reading speed is good.

Low score on listening, despite listening to the radio for a few hours every day, I think was mostly caused by me not being up to date on the vocabulary used. Describing how people look and asking strangers for directions might be very common textbook examples, but it's not something you do very often in real life... I am going to go through the Unicom listening comprehension book for 1-kyu as well, which contains the equivalent of about 4 tests' worth of exercises, and that should be enough to easily get me above 80%.

Third, as expected: kanji is my strongest point and vocabulary is my weakest. Kanji are natural for me now, although recently I've been working on improving my kanji skills even more (I'll write about my study methods some other day). But acquiring vocabulary is tough! I don't really like repeating words or sentences or anything like that - I'm lazy - but I just hope to pick things up after seeing them enough times in books and news articles, and from hearing. The vocabulary used in JLPT is somewhat specific and specialized, albeit limited, and I have not been reading material specifically targeted at the test. Here as well, I am going to rely on the Unicom, namely reading comprehension book. But I'll probably hold off on that until right before the test and keep reading normal literature that I enjoy reading for now.

Lastly for this post, I'd like to mention one more ingenious scheme I've come up with to extract more data from doing mock tests: marking certainty of the answers. I mark them essentially in 4 degrees, although I only make physical marks for 2: feel quite certain (no mark), feel a bit hesitant (one dot), feel like I'm mostly guessing (two dots), and don't have a clue (no answer). Afterwards, I compile the percentage of correct answers for each certainty level (last level is obviously 0%). A stimulating paper exercise if there ever was one! But this time it also told me one thing: if I feel certain or hesitant doesn't impact the score. But for the two-dot level the probability of a correct answer is halved. In other words I can go ahead and use my intuition even if I feel a bit hesitant, which saves time, and focus my reviewing (using time left after answering all questions) on a few questions that I felt very uncertain about.

Anyhow I'm interested in hearing about other's progress on the JLPT and if you're blogging about it, please post a link in a comment. Please also post comments on your own findings regarding the test. I'm quite exited about the test itself, besides becoming fluent in Japanese!

In the near future I also intent to write something about what I've learned about learning - because I feel I'm really getting into that now, and I'm already looking forward to the next language learning adventure - and also about my own study methods targeting JLPT1, and something about learning Japanese vs passing the JLPT.

Don't forget to apply!

Revised JLPT Announced - New Test Same As Old!

I was reading the JLPT home page (or whatever you'd want to call it) yesterday to see when applications for this year's test will be available (July 15) and if there's some place close where they are sold (there is: the Yurindo bookstore in Atre Ebisu where I always buy books).

Anyway, I also found this shocking announcement of changes to the JLPT test! Shocking not in itself nor in its scope, but because they finally got around to doing it. For my fellow students who have not yet reached level 2, here are changes in a nutshell:

• Starting July 2009, exams for level 1 and 2 will be held twice a year.
  
  
• Starting 2010, the test itself will change. There will be 5 levels, N1-N5.
  
  

The new levels will be laid out like this:

• N1: Like the current level 1, but with a somewhat higher scope.
  
  
• N2: Like the current level 2.
  
  
• N3: Between the current level 2 and level 3.
  
  
• N4: Like the current level 3.
  
  
• N5: Like the current level 4.
  
  

In other words, there'll be a new level between levels 2 and 3, and level 1 will be adjusted to be a little bit harder. There will be no changes in the composition or methodology of the test. So still the same parts, same scoring, still only multiple answer questions, no writing, no speaking, etc. The "N" stands for "Nihongo" and "New"... bit lame if you ask me. ;)



So what to make of this? Having the test twice a year is definitely a good thing. I would have taken it now in July if it was available. As we all know, passing a test doesn't just mean studying the target of the test, one must study the test itself too (unless it's really below one's level). I wonder why they only included levels 1 and 2 for the July exams though. Going from level 4 (N5) to level 3 (N4) in half a year should be possible...

The new N3 level: a good motivator perhaps for people struggling between old level 3 and old level 2? That was probably the largest gap in the levels, since it meant going from essentially only trivial kanji to actually being able to read some real material. But since everything below level 2 is hobby level without practical significance, I can't help thinking that part of the reason is to make more money from applications... as mentioned in the report, there are now over 3 million students of Japanese world wide, and with each application costing 5,500 yen, that's serious money.

Changing level 1: it would have been nice to get a little more concrete information regarding that change. They essentially say "it's gonna be that same... but a teeny weeny bit harder", which isn't very informative. I would have liked to see one more new level above level 1. As I'm approaching level 1, I still feel there's more to go for Japanese fluency. A new top level would not only certify that, but also serve as a motivation. Well, at least there's the Business Japanese test and kanji kentei...

Anyhow, I'm still on track to pass the good old level 1 in December. I'll probably take it the following years too to make sure I'm still progressing. Might as well take the new N1 level in 2010... Keep studying, everyone!

Japanese studies - JLPT - passing the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, Level 1

After having spent last year mostly away from language studies, doing web technology stuff and other programming projects, this year I find myself spending much of my spare time on improving my Japanese. My goal is to pass the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) level 1 - the highest level - this year. And not only pass it, but pass it with a good margin, or I'm not satisfied.

Two years ago, in 2006, I decided early during the year to take JLPT level 2. I didn't think I'd pass and neither did my Japanese teacher, but study I did and pass it I did with a score of 81% (60% is necessary to pass). This year I am aiming for over 80% again, preferably closer to 90% (for level 1, 70% is necessary to pass).

But this time I'm using different methods than I did in 2006 to pass JLPT level 2. Back then, I spent time studying kanji, memorizing grammatical patterns, and doing reading exercises from a course book featuring the same kind of texts and questions that appear on the actual test, and also a similar course book for listening. I used the UNICOM books targeting JLPT2, and found the reading and listening books very good, albeit short. I also bought the grammar and vocabulary books, but they were not good. For grammar and vocabulary, I found two books called 日本語総まとめ問題集 grammar (文法編) and vocabulary (語彙編) that were very good. Pictures and fun all over.

For reference, my strong point then was writing/vocabulary, and the weak point was listening. People say if you live in Japan, listening is easy because you hear Japanese all day, but it wasn't for me. After the test I bought a TV, mostly to improve my listening.


This year I've also got the Unicom books, and the Kanzen master grammar and kanji/vocabulary books. As before, I think the Unicom reading book is great, but still short. I haven't tried the listening book yet. As I wrote I was using different methods. Except for the reading comprehension, but that doesn't take you very far since the book is so short. The theme for learning Japanese this year is having fun doing it.

I'm not studying kanji this year. One reason is that kanji is no longer a problem (relatively, of course). The other is that I think I will pick up enough kanji from increased reading. Also if you get dwelling on all the peculiarities of kanji, you risk spending too much time on that. At least I do, since I find the peculiarities interesting.

Grammar: I'm no longer memorizing patterns and functions, I'm copying all the example sentences from the Kanzen master book to flash cards and drilling them. Writing the flash cards is tedious, but drilling them is not (particularly). I'm writing on average about 4 example sentences for around 200 grammatical patterns. I plan to finish next month... I go through some of these flash cards on average a few times every day.

My thinking is that instead of, like I did on the JLPT 2 test, analyzing the grammatical structure of the sentence and remembering how the four alternative answers fit into that structure, this year my brain will do all pattern matching work for me. Like "this reminds me of that sentence, so that answer it is". On top of that, it's great for learnign vocabulary and expressions as well!

But that's all old school - the core of this poodle consists of something entirely different! The first one is reading books. Real books, in Japanese. When you get to JLPT1 level that is very much possible. I was planning to start reading books this summer, hoping to have picked up enough grammar and vocabulary by then. But then my workmate told me he's been reading the Harry Potter series in Japanese and recommended them for simple reading. So I borrowed the first book from him and started reading it - and now I'm hooked. Not hooked on Harry Potter, but on reading books in Japanese.

Harry Potter is really good, since it includes furigana for pretty much all kanji. One could argue this is not good for learning kanji, but I think it is. I don't want to learn incorrect readings - I might think I know the reading when in fact I have just made it up myself, and anyway as I mentioned before I'm not focusing on kanji - I think that will come by itself. Harry Potter is also good because it's a Western book. That makes it easier to read when even when you don't have 100% comprehension - at least you don't have to struggle with cultural understanding. The story isn't very complicated either.


So that's one thing: reading books in Japanese. Grammar, vocabulary, expressions, and reading speed all at once, and it's fun. The other revolutionary idea came from the same coworker. He had an old, analog radio on his desk at work for a while. I work in a high tech software company targeting the next, successor of the next, successor of the successor of the next, and successor of the successor of the successor of the next series Japanese mobile phones. Having an analog radio on your desk is weird. Initially I just thought it eccentric. But then it hit me: how much time I've spent looking for good Japanese podcasts, online radio, and just about any piece of spoken Japanese on the web. A cheap-ass analog radio is actually all that you need! Free (if you avoid paying the NHK fee), simple access to spoken Japanese blurted out like there's no tomorrow, any time of the day, on any subject you can think of.

So I got myself a small portable radio for 2,000 yen at the local electronics store in the alley. It's great! I can get on average around 2 hours of listening every work day. At work! It makes both learning Japanese and working fun. I think the radio is what will make the difference between a good score and a great score on the JLPT in December. For anyone in Japan who's above JLPT2 level I'd really recommend it. This year the listening section will be a breeze.

If only one could get some licensing agreement set up to broadcast all Japanese radio on the web for all the people struggling to pass the Japanese Language Proficiency Test who are not in Japan, that would be great. But probably unfeasible.