Are you going to take this years JLPT & KPT

P

PaulTB

Manga Psychic

22 Jan 2004

2,265

59

• 15 Sep 2004

• #26

mikecash said:

I did it backwards. In my case I worked in a Japanese environment first and took Level 2 later.

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Yeah well I wouldn't be calling you a theory bloke - more inclined to the practical I'd say.

 

H

hayashi

先輩

21 Jan 2004

41

0

• 2 Oct 2004

• #27

I'm taking level 4 this year. My experience is that I'm in the middle of Japanese I at community college and have listened to all of the Pimsleur series on tape. I bought the 2003 and the 2000 test booklets and another book with sample questions and "strategies" on taking the test but there's not a word of English inside the books. Are the instructions (hopefully) given in English at the exam? I wasn't even sure what some of the parts were asking. Also, is this one of those tests where you're really rushed for time to finish?

 

Mike Cash

骨も命も皆此の土地に埋めよう

Twenty-year veteran

15 Mar 2002

16,758

2,298

• 2 Oct 2004

• #28

Whether you are rushed for time or not is a highly individual thing and depends most strongly on whether you're in the appropriate level or attempting one you're not quite ready for yet.

 

P

PaulTB

Manga Psychic

22 Jan 2004

2,265

59

• 2 Oct 2004

• #29

hayashi said:

Are the instructions (hopefully) given in English at the exam?

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There'll be dozens of people you can ask about the exam hanging around outside. Also I think you're sent a dual English / Japanese instruction booklet through the post.

hayashi said:

Also, is this one of those tests where you're really rushed for time to finish?

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When I took JLPT 3 I had enough time that after checking all the answers I had time for a 20 minute nap at the end of the afternoon - thus earning the undying enmity of some taking the test

Anyay I suppose I should give my 'multiple choice exam strategy'. It's quite simple.

1. Go through quickly and mark off the answers you're pretty sure of properly. Answers you're not sure of mark off lightly. DON'T spend much time at all considering any answer until you've gone through them all once.

2. Go back and reconsider the answers you weren't sure of but remember that statistically you're much more likely to be right on your first guess and change it to a wrong answer than vice versa. So only change your mind if you're pretty certain.

3. If you're running out of time and you still have unanswered questions try to narrow it down to one of two options and just go with one at random / hunch - there's nothing sillier than leaving a multiple choice blank and eliminating even one possible answer is a lot better than guessing completely at random.

Obviously the listening portion isn't as flexible - there you just have to do the best you can as they go past.

 

H

hayashi

先輩

21 Jan 2004

41

0

• 3 Oct 2004

• #30

Thanks for the tips Paul. The book I have is from the ALC Press Japanese Textbook Series and it's called Preparation and Strategy Practice Questions for the Japanese Langauge Proficiency Test Level 3-4. I also have the White Rabbitt Kanji cards, which are supposed to cover all level 3-4 kanji.

Are there any other study aides you would recommend? It doesn't seem like there are a lot of resources specifically designed to prepare for the test.

 

wintersweet

Nihon ni itai na...

30 Jun 2004

137

3

• 3 Oct 2004

• #31

I wonder if the SF Bay Area Kinokuniya(s) carry anything related to the tests. I guess I should find out one of these years.

Also, I disagree about studying Chinese not being of much aid to learning Japanese. I find I remember kanji a lot more easily than people who have never studied Chinese, even though the Chinese meanings and pronunciation are often definitely less than helpful. I'm sure this varies a lot by the individual, though, eh?

 

S

Scrivener

先輩

8 Sep 2004

204

8

• 3 Oct 2004

• #32

I zapped straight up to Chinese HSK level 4 (like JLPT) which is halfway up the 8 levels of the test, just after 5 months of study from zero Chinese, just because of the fact that I could read Japanese. Then I went into the final year of undergraduate Chinese at university (luckily it was mostly reading and writing, hardly any speaking, in the course I did).

Speaking Chinese wouldn't be much help, but there is a lot of synergy in the written language. I did a semester at Beijing Language and Culture University. There are loads of Japanese over there, and they pick up the written language really quickly, but usually their pronounciation is terrible, due to the limited number of sounds in Japanese.

 

DragonChan

後輩

21 Jul 2004

170

4

• 3 Oct 2004

• #33

I am living in Japan for a year (exchange student.) I already passed the JLPT 4, though unofficially, since one of my teachers gave it to me to try to figure out how much Japanese I knew. I got everything right except in the Kanji section, I only know 60 and they tested for 100 (i think). So I am assuming with some kanji study when I get back I can pass Level 3?

As for Level 1, the teacher who gave me the level 4 test said that for fun she had written level 1 (just a practice test) and as a native speaker she thought it was really hard, and couldn't answer everything. I hope one day I can pass it, but it looks like it'll take a long time before that can happen.

 

Glenn

一切皆苦

8 Jan 2004

7,842

200

• 14 Jan 2005

• #34

From what I've heard about the 一級 (ikkyuu), it seems that you have to be a student of Japanese linguistics to do really well on it. From what I understand they ask questions that are highly impractical, and have nothing to do with the language as it's used every day.

 

Pox

後輩

24 Sep 2004

111

3

• 14 Jan 2005

• #35

Glenn said:

From what I've heard about the 一級 (ikkyuu), it seems that you have to be a student of Japanese linguistics to do really well on it. From what I understand they ask questions that are highly impractical, and have nothing to do with the language as it's used every day.

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You can take JLPT 1, 2 and 3 kyuu(文法と語彙だけだけど。) here.
日本語能力試験問題検索室

Since I'm Japanese, I can't take JLPT.
So I just took JLPT 1kyuu on this site for the first time.
and I don't think most of the questions are impractical.（多分ね・・）

身長２メートル（ ）大男が、突然、目の前に現れた。
1)だけある 2)からする 3)だけする 4)からある

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でも、これは普段、あんまり使わないかも・・。

 

epigene

相変わらず不束者です

10 Nov 2004

4,354

179

• 14 Jan 2005

• #36

Pox-san,

Looks like the link is broken... I'd like to try a "mogi", too. Yoroshiku!!

 

Pox

後輩

24 Sep 2004

111

3

• 14 Jan 2005

• #37

あれ？

Please go to 日本語教材図書館-JLPT日本語能力試験対策・みんなの日本語教材 , then click "問題検索室".

 

epigene

相変わらず不束者です

10 Nov 2004

4,354

179

• 15 Jan 2005

• #38

Poxさん、ありがとうございました！

ちょっとやってみました。大丈夫だったんで安心しました・・・

特に非常識な設問はなかったみたい。まあ、二千漢字も、読解の範囲なので、理にかなっているように感じました。だいたい、６０から７０％できれば合格出来るんですよね？

「からある」は、理解だけできればいいんじゃないかと思いました。