Someone in our Upper Beginners group is also in what we call a hardcore Spanish-Japanese group. Before going on to Minna 2, everyone has to pass the JLPT N5 simulation exam. He asked if I could help.
We had a little less than three weeks of N5 prep before both Upper Beginners decided to take the simulation of the N5 exam. They passed and I’m really proud of them.
I thought we were all going to take the exam around the same time but they took it right away, lol. In fact, I said that N5 preparation would probably take three months. I also told them that while they take their N5’s, I would take the N4. I finally had the time to take it and I also passed. It feels good knowing that we’re not just faffing around - we’re quantifiably learning Japanese - woot!
I asked Adan San and Andrew San for their feedback because I learned a lot from taking the exam even if it wasn't the official JLPT exam. Below are our thoughts.
N5
アダンさんから
Here's my take on the JLPT N5 Simulation Test. I think it's a great way to assess your level of Japanese pertaining to N5 knowledge. I personally encountered a good number of words not taught in Genki 1. Luckily I had seen them from other sources so my recommendation for anybody planning on taking this test is to not rely solely on Genki.
I personally encountered a good number of words not taught in Genki 1. Luckily I had seen them from other sources so my recommendation for anybody planning on taking this test is to not rely solely on Genki.
You have to read at a decent speed, you get about one and half minutes per question on average. The listening part was especially hard since you only have time to listen to the recording once. Most people who have finished Genki 1 should be able to pass it and I think everyone should try it, it is great practice. There's nothing to lose and a lot to gain.
Most people who have finished Genki 1 should be able to pass it and I think everyone should try it, it is great practice. There's nothing to lose and a lot to gain.
アンドリューさんから
I’m really glad we took the time to take this test. It’s very satisfying to have a benchmark for how far you’ve come with something so difficult. That being said this was a tough test for me and a good indicator that I still have a lot of basic grammar and vocab to brush up on.
I’m really glad we took the time to take this test. It’s very satisfying to have a benchmark for how far you’ve come with something so difficult.
One of the biggest difficulties for me was time management. Not being able to understand a passage on the first read through or having to repeat audio sections ate up most of my time. It’s not just knowing the vocab, it’s being able to recall it quickly or hear it correctly on the first try. This is especially true for the instructions and I would recommend practicing the test just to get used to the format.
Online I see a lot of interest in how long you need to study to pass and what exactly is on the test. For me it’s just about two years since I got interested in learning Japanese and a year since joining the meetup, I’ve read Genki I and spent hundreds of hours on ANKI. All this and I squeaked by the 50% needed to pass and there were a number of vocab I’m quite certain I’ve never seen. So, Genki I is enough to pass but supplementing with additional books and resources would probably help fill in the knowledge gaps.
So, Genki I is enough to pass but supplementing with additional books and resources would probably help fill in the knowledge gaps.
N4
私から
I was really nervous before I took the JLPT N4 simulation exam. I don't know my 尊敬語, passive, causative or causative passive very well but I went ahead and took it. I study or have studied from Marugoto up to and including about half of B1-2, the Genki textbooks and workbooks, the Seth Clydesdale website on Genki Resources and, of course, my Anki deck. I've been studying Japanese since March 2018.
For the first section on Vocabulary, I had about 10 mins left after finishing the questions. The time limit is 25 mins and I used about 5 mins going over my answers and then finalized my section before I second-guessed myself too much. The questions still use a lot of hiragana so knowing the readings of the kanji we study is very important. I kind of wished they used the kanji instead because I can figure out what the situation is a lot faster. With the hiragana, I had to say most of the sentence in my head to figure out what the situation was and this took time to do.
It's also important to learn all the kanji we come across in our studies as well as we can. There was one kanji I was supposed to know because it's in my Anki deck but I wasn't sure about it because it's not used at a high frequency in my studies. When I proceeded to the next section, the kanji was there with its reading so I knew I answered it correctly. In the JLPT simulation, we can't return to previous sections once we finish them.
In the second section, the Grammar / Reading section, it felt like all the grammar we were supposed to know was tested only once. The readings were fairly lengthy but I could skim them for the correct answer. Some of the images of the readings exceeded the width of my screen and I couldn't figure out how to see all of it so I guessed.
I didn't have a lot of time left over when I finished all the questions in this second section. The time limit was 55 mins and it went by quickly. I went back over the ones I wasn't sure about and then finalized this section with about a minute to go.
The third and last section was the Listening section. I could tell right away that there would be no time to listen to all of the recordings more than once. It's 35 mins long and there were maybe 30 questions. Even if I wasn't sure what the answer was, I answered the question and hoped to get back to it if there was time left. There were expressions used that we had to know or we would have a very difficult time trying to figure out what they meant. I think expressions like this were used in the Reading section, too. I did have time to go over some of the listening questions but then I really started to second guess myself. I finalized this section, too, with about a minute remaining.
Taking this exam made it very clear to me that the Japanese language is truly built on levels. We learn one level and then build on that one and so on. Textbooks make this foundational learning straightforward because they have to teach the concepts sequentially. If we learn Japanese by using apps or song lyrics or anime or manga, etc., the acquisition of Japanese is all over the place and this randomness impedes progress towards fluency. Textbooks and classes are the fastest way to learn Japanese.
Taking this exam made it very clear to me that the Japanese language is truly built on levels. We learn one level and then build on that one and so on. Textbooks make this foundational learning straightforward because they have to teach the concepts sequentially. If we learn Japanese by using apps or song lyrics or anime or manga, etc., the acquisition of Japanese is all over the place and this randomness impedes progress towards fluency. Textbooks and classes are the fastest way to learn Japanese.
By preparing review materials for the N5 exam, I learned that knowing hiragana and katakana and a handful of kanji are not nearly enough to pass the N5. Knowing basic grammar is extremely important. By providing the Upper Beginners the reading and listening exercises of every day Japanese situations, grammar, vocabulary practice, and speed exercises were also given. The Marugoto textbooks really helped with this.
The scores needed to pass are rather generous. The overall score to pass is about 50% depending on the level. To receive a grade of A, we only need to get about 67% right which means there's a huge buffer to get an A. This seems to allow for the variation in the material learned as there are several major textbooks from which to learn Japanese. A B is anywhere from 50 to 66%.
I know people who have failed the JLPT exam. One said they missed passing the N2 by 20 points. At the time, I thought that this was a slim margin. Now I think it means that they didn't know more than half of what was being tested which, in turn, says to me that they were barely ready to pass the exam. To be fair, from what I've read, N3 and above are supposed to be testing more native Japanese language concepts as opposed to the N5 and N4 exams which only test basic book knowledge.
I also highly recommend taking the JLPT exam whether it's the free simulation or the actual $100 test. I learned a lot about the Japanese language while taking it and it's definitely satisfying to have a measure of how I'm doing.
I also highly recommend taking the JLPT exam whether it's the free simulation or the actual $100 test. I learned a lot about the Japanese language while taking it and it's definitely satisfying to have a measure of how I'm doing.
We all are very grateful to Unagibun for the creation of the simulation exams. We can tell it took a lot of time, effort and people resources to put them together. 本当にありがとうございます。感謝しています。