JLPT 3 to 2 transition

What is most difficult about the progression from JLPT 3 to 2?

Is it the sheer amount of vocab to remember (4500 more words, 700 more kanji), the grammar (about 176 more, I heard from a language school), reading, listening or
anything/something else?

Well, I never took three, but I've looked at some of the texts. I think by far, the reading comprehension is the hardest of both tests 2 and 1... without a doubt. You need to be able to read a page in one go, and grasp it. You can then search for more details after reading the questions. And yes, they are very tricky.

IMHO, the kanji was moderate at best, but tricky. They try to screw you on お vs おう and しょ vs しょう. Make sure you have that stuff down pat.

Even though some of the stuff gets to "advanced" Japanese, I think it should be the benchmark as the Japanese used on the test is actually pretty useful. The level 1 stuff is out in left field, IMHO.

I've passed both level 3 and 2 (within 1 year) and I think the biggest obstacle to overcome was the reading, as Gaijinpunch says.

From a strategic point of view the reading section is by far the most important because it counts for something like 40% of the test score alone. Plus there are fewer questions, so each reading question is worth about 5 questions on the other sections of the test.

So my advice is to hit reading hard. Read as much Japanese as you can. Newspapers, magazines, books....anything you can get your hands on. In doing so you'll at the same time be preparing yourself for the vocabulary section as well. Don't spend much time on the grammer, it isn't much more difficult than the level 3 stuff and the grammar section excluding hte reading component isn't worth very many points. If you live in Japan you'll have a million and one opportunities to practice listening on a daily basis. If not, buy some listening CD's and practice with them.

And buy the last year's test. That is very useful.

Good luck.

I was supposed to take Level 2 last year...

But I missed it so I'm taking it this year. Senseiman is right on, as far as I know. I have three different copies of old tests, and the reading is mucho difficult. Like it was said, I've been reading everything I can, and I still don't think I'm ready!

I never took L3, but for L2 you really need to be able to read (and comprehend) very quickly. You get 70 minutes to complete all the reading and grammar questions.

Get a copy of previous tests and see if you can complete all the reading questions in about ~45 minutes (since you will also need to save some time for the grammar questions). This will give you a good idea of how much you need to work on your reading skills.

Also, start studying the grammar ASAP. As you mentioned, there are 170+ new forms you will need to learn. Many of them look very similar but have completely different meanings/usage, so you really need to give your mind time to digest them.

I think my problem is that I'm an awful reader in English as well. I have a hard time concentrating when I read. As such, my Japanese reading is very poor as well. My pointers would be to learn how to take in as much info as you can. You need to get used to reading a lot of material, and not at reading it over and over. Again, practice makes perfect. Japanese newspapers (online ones even) are a great place to start.