My JLPT Studies: Practice 11/17 - Re-took Practice N4

2013年11月17日日曜日

Practice 11/17 - Re-took Practice N4

I re-took the Practice N4 today.

Vocab: 34 questions, 7 wrong. % Correct: 79%
Grammar: 35 questions, 7 wrong. % Correct: 80%
Listening: 28 questions, 2 wrong. % Correct: 93%

The previous time I took it, when I was determining my level, I did as follows:

Vocab: 22/34, 65%
Grammar: 25/35, 71%
Listening: 26/28, 93%

So that's +14% on vocab, +9% on grammar, no change on listening (I got one of the same two wrong - clearly I need to practice that listening.)

Still I'm disappointed. がっかりしている。I was really hoping for a more dramatic improvement, and I'm frustrated by the ones I got wrong.

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.