JLPT N2: time to get it done!

Recently, while surfing the Intertubes¹ I found this helpful site which posits the age-old question:² “Is the JLPT worth it?”. Speaking as someone who recently took the new JLPT N3 test, and am still waiting on the results (and not entirely certain I passed), I think it’s worth asking what I should do next. If I failed the N3, is it worth taking again, or just barrel onward toward the N2 full speed ahead?

I think this site makes a good argument for skipping onto the N2 no matter what, since the JLPT N2 is really the minimum bar for any serious efforts to live/work in Japan. I do disagree with the idea by some people that the lower levels are a waste of time, but I think it depends on your goals.

If you treat Japanese study as a hobby, and just like finding a benchmark for yourself, then the lower levels are still nice to have. I can attest to the fact that two years fo study for the old JLPT 3 (now N4) and the new N3 were time well-spent and have helped me talking with wife and family. BUT even with that study and accomplishment, I am still a beginner. I am a beginner that sucks less, but I am still a beginner. The comments on the link above are right to criticize people who brag about their JLPT certification because even N2/N1 are not fluent, far less so for lower-levels. N2/N1 is really the minimum bar from “hobbyist” to “competent” or even “professional”. I think it’s fair to say that if you pass N2 or N1, you have some bragging rights, though only some. If you get a Ph.D. at Tokyo University for your dissertation on the particle physics, you probably have plenty of bragging rights. Or, alternatively, if you become a beloved author in Japan, whose short stories are read by generations of children, you might have bragging rights too.

Anyway, the point is is that the N2 really is the minimum, the bare minimum, for any real sense of confidence in “knowing Japanese”. For serious students, anything less is just working up toward the N2 bar.

But if you’re not really looking for that, then you should take your time and study at your leisure. There’s plenty of other things to do in life, and no one’s forcing you to get really good at Japanese. Hobbies aren’t fun if you’re feeling obligated or stressed over them. However, I want to have the option to live and work in Japan for the sake of my loved ones, and I am tired of being a beginner all these years. I am getting a bit too old to be truly fluent now, but there’s no reason why I can’t be competent at it if I put my mind to it.

Besides, in April when I visited Yushima Tenmangū Shrine in Tokyo, I made a vow to pass the JLPT N2, and prayed for help in accomplishing that. I don’t intend that to be an empty vow!

So, 2011, it’s JLPT N2 or nothing! If I fail, then I pick up my humbled arse and try again in 2012! And if I fail in 2012, (I might take a break for a while or buy better textbooks…then) I WILL TRY AGAIN!!!

¹ This joke never gets old…

² The Greek Sophists were stumped, while the Neo-Confucians remained divided throughout the Song Dynasty.