My JLPT Studies: Why am I taking the JLPT?

2013年9月5日木曜日

Why am I taking the JLPT?

I used to be pretty good at Japanese. Not great, but conversationally fluent and pretty comfortable in it day to day.

I put in a lot of effort to get there.

But, I let my Japanese get rusty, mostly because I don't need it to survive day-to-day and my schedule made it hard to have a regular tutor.

Therefore I've signed up for the JLPT in December. I will be taking N4 (the levels are N5 - the easiest - to N1 - the hardest). I am sure I can pass it, but the goal is to maximize my score. I want to use the test as a focus for my studies rather than a challenge of my abilities.

I want to make sure I know the material for my level inside and out, because the level isn't the goal, the language is the goal.

I will be using this blog to organize my thoughts, link to things I'm reading about Japan, whatever. But mostly it'll be to lot my daily practice.

My Studies

I am studying for the JLPT N2 and may take the test in December 2018. I took the N4 in December 2013 and passed, and N3 in 2015 and passed that as well. I originally intended to take the N3 in December 2014, but I forgot to register in the (short) window in which registration is open. It's very frustrating.

I study 15-30 minutes per day, every day, without fail. Every day means every day, so I make sure I have daily contact with the language.

In addition, I try to use as much Japanese during the day, do quizzes and kanji practice intermittently during the day as time permits, and speak in Japanese whenever I get the chance.

My goal isn't to pass the JLPT per se, but to improve my Japanese skills. I'm using the JLPT as a gauge and a study guide. This helps me focus on one layer of Japanese skill at a time and try to master it.

I am also trying to learn all of the kanji in my kanji practice sets, both as a way to improve my JLPT results and to improve my Japanese overall.