JLPT this weekend (Japanese Language Proficiency Test)

Kaede

Adventurer
Anyone else here taking the JLPT test this weekend?

It's my first go sitting the N5 level and I'm rather nervous. Would be great if there is someone here who has sat the exam could let me know what to expect.

Cheers

K
 
I've heard of the N5 Japanese Language Proficiency Test as I'm interested in learning Japanese myself (Have been researching this over the past few days!). I'm surprised there isn't a general topic on learning Japanese here. :p

There are sample questions on the official website - but I'm sure you knew that already! Out of interest, are you self-taught or learning through lectures/tutors?

Good luck on the exam and sorry that I can't offer any helpful advice!
 
Hi Neptune,

Yeah I've been through the sample questions on the site and I also bought a book with sample questions in too. Cheers though.

I've been studying for about 9 months with a private tutor and it seems to be going well. I've recently gone to a couple of Japanese language meet ups in London to practice which was fun.

Before that I was teaching myself for three years and although I could say and understand very basic sentences, progress was far too slow. Although this is the first other language I've tried to learn so that probably didn't help.

If you think you might be interested, deffo give it a go. If I'd known how interesting the language is, I would have started this years ago.

This is the book I started learning from:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Japanese-Ultima ... 366&sr=8-2

Great for the basics, but you'll soon realise books that use romanji aren't that great for study.

When I got my tutor I switched to this, which has been great fun (it's totally in Japanese though, so you'll need to have mastered hiragana and katakana before you get it.)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Minna-No-Nihong ... 4883191036


Regards

K
 
Kaede said:
This is the book I started learning from:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Japanese-Ultima ... 366&sr=8-2

Great for the basics, but you'll soon realise books that use romanji aren't that great for study.

When I got my tutor I switched to this, which has been great fun (it's totally in Japanese though, so you'll need to have mastered hiragana and katakana before you get it.)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Minna-No-Nihong ... 4883191036


Regards

K

Thanks for the helpful advice! It's always good to hear other stories on how/why someone is learning a language. I'll check those out as soon as I begin my studies. I have some books such as Japanese for Busy People and Let's Learn Hiragana - but it doesn't hurt to have others as well. I'm combining these with flashcards too for vocabulary. I'm going to self-teach myself until later in the year where I'll decide if going to a language school/tutor is right for me.

I'm sure you'll be well covered for the N5 exam! Good books + tutor= PASS. :D

Kaede said:
Also, have you switched usernames? I recognise your favourite anime and post count but not the name!

Sadly, this is the only username I've used on this forum. I've recently come back after a few years of hiatus on anime. :wink:
 
Japanese for Busy People is supposed to be very good and learning hiragana is essential but thankfully not too hard at all. Just keep writing the letters over and over until they stick.

Best of luck with it, and if you want to try out a few sentences on here I'd be more than happy to converse!

がんばれ!
ganbare!
Do your best!

Mike
 
Minna no nihon go was like the bane of my life. It's structure used to really infuriate me. It's OK once you get your head around it I guess, but still.
 
Kaede said:
Japanese for Busy People is supposed to be very good and learning hiragana is essential but thankfully not too hard at all. Just keep writing the letters over and over until they stick.

Best of luck with it, and if you want to try out a few sentences on here I'd be more than happy to converse!

I've been learning Japanese for a number of years and I have to say that Japanese for Busy People is very good. Kaede is also right about learning kana, the best way to learn it is to keep writing them until they stick. I practiced every morning and now I can read it and write it easily. Kanji on the other hand... I'm good for around 200 but the rest... :eek:
 
Yeah agree that Jap for Busy peeps is really good for home learning, and kana isn't anywhere near as hard as it looks, it won't take you long to get it down at all.
 
vashdaman said:
Minna no nihon go was like the bane of my life. It's structure used to really infuriate me. It's OK once you get your head around it I guess, but still.

Vashdaman, I know what you mean. My teacher reccomended it though so I went with it. God help anyone learning from minna no nihongo without a teacher!

Hey, perhaps we could have another go at a speak Japanese thread?
 
Kaede said:
Hey, perhaps we could have another go at a speak Japanese thread?

That's a great idea. We could discuss how our individual progress is going and also think that it could turn into a good resource if we pool our thoughts/ideas together! :)
 
I really need to take the new top level of the JLPT but I, uh, keep on forgetting to apply in time. >_> I guess other discussion has moved to the other thread, so I also shall.
 
Thread bump!

Passed the JLPTN4. Didn't get a great score, but I'll take it!! Never thought I'd get this far when I started out with Japanese.

Now for the N3...
 
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