JLPT: practice pays off

So, as part of my long-term plan to keep studying for the JLPT3 test in December, I have purchased a set of three older JLPT3 tests now available in book form. As mentioned here, I would take the first one in July, the second in September, the third in November. Last night, with the wife and daughter off to sleep early, the dishes done, and so on, I decided it was a good night to try out the real JLPT test this time, not the mock tests I’ve been taking before.

Try to imagine the song “Eye of the Tiger” as a lone nerd hovers over his desk on a dark and stormy night,¹ and a lone. He struggles through each section of the book for two hours, dodging trick questions, escaping dangerous bubbles filled in wrong on the answer sheet. His heart races through the listening section, wondering just how many he got wrong, before he reaches the ultimate test, the reading comprehension section, before he finally reaches the goal (Adrienne!!!). Battered and bruised, not to mention sleepy since it’s 11:30pm and the dishes still weren’t done, he carefully scans through the answer sheet, wincing with each incorrect answer he gets.

As the passing score for the JLPT test is 60%, I was quite pleased to see I passed the test with 89%. I can’t tell you how relieved I was. The real test, though an older version, turned out to be slightly easier than the mock tests I took in the past, but that’s good. The mock tests really push you hard, and if you studied and learned from your mistakes, the real thing is definitely easier. A couple sections proved to be really easy, such that I either missed no questions, or only one.

Now again, this is not the actual test in December, just an older form for review. But, having succeeded in this test, I feel much more relieved about my chances five months from now. Now I know what areas to correct,² and that puts me on good footing for the real thing.

In January when I first decided to try this, I really didn’t imagine that study and daily practice would really work. I had too much self-doubt at first, but I really wanted to take a risk and go for it. My ultimate goal is to pass the JLPT 2 which is far harder I hear, but I feared that if I failed to pass the level 3 test this year, I’d have to wait another year to take it again and then start on the JLPT2.

So, it’s a relief to see the hard work paying off, and with five more months and two more practice tests to take, I should be OK.

¹ What night in Dublin isn’t dark and stormy? Just kidding.

² Listening still tricky, but improved. For some crazy reason, I always fail on questions involving time or money. I guess I can’t listen to numbers and dates well. As for grammar, I still keep making stupid mistakes on particles. I realize now it’s not the particles I get wrong so much, as not recognizing the particular grammar structure in the question. If I knew the structure right, I’d know the right particle to use.