2010 JLPT N3: 合格！

I am happy to report that I passed the JLPT N3 for 2010! I was pretty surprised, because the test was difficult and I was pretty sure I failed. But I managed to pass with the following score:

• Vocabulary/Grammar: 52/60
• Reading: 42/60
• Listening: 43/60
• Total: 137/180

To be honest, I thought the Listening section was somewhat easy, but I scored worse than I expected. Meanwhile, I scored a lot higher on Vocab/Grammar than I expected. Reading was hard because the essays were so long, and barely had enough time to get through them.

Anyhow, it should be noted this year was the first year the JLPT was given in the new format (and the N3 was a new level). I came into the test pretty unprepared, but still scored better than expected. Keep in mind that the N3 was a new test, so there was almost no textbook material. Instead, I spent the year studying Japanese like so:

• Reading Japanese manga: some Buddhist stuff, 宇宙兄弟 which is a truly enjoyable series, ちびまる子ちゃん (specifically the book on the 百人一首), and the hilarious 聖☆おにいさん (reviewed here).
• Making heavy use of two dictionaries: Denshi Jisho and a great Japanese dictionary at Goo. The latter dictionary is very helpful for getting the context of common words right, especially when Western dictionaries explain it poorly. The difference between 止めるand 辞める for example.
• Anki, Anki and more Anki! I am a proud owner of the AnkiMobile iPhone app, as well as several installations across a few computesr.
• I watched lots of Japanese TV with my daughter. Childrens’ TV is a good place to start, and good father-daughter time. I enjoyed Shimajiro quite a bit (very nice cartoon, good messages), Anpanman, and also lots of TV shows on NHK. Even at that level, grammar from the N3 and N4 are used a lot, so if you can’t understand these TV shows, this is a good place to start and build a foundation. I also listened to podcasts off and on, and enjoyed music from Arashi in particular.

However, as discussed before, the N3 is still small-time. The true bar of a Japanese student begins with the N2 and above, so my challenge has just begun. I am concerned that if my score was this low on the N3 exam, it will be even lower on the N2 unless I really work hard for the next 10 months (time flies!). So, I am redoubling my efforts, reading more manga, and spending lots of time memorizing vocabulary which is a heavy focus for the JLPT2 and above. Learning vocabulary also makes reading great manga like 宇宙兄弟 a lot easier, so it’s like a feedback cycle.

The point of this post is to demonstrate that you don’t have to spend a ton of money on textbooks and such. In fact, you probably shouldn’t. I owe this test “victory” to my wife, who told me to start spending more time on real-Japanese resources and less on textbooks and memorizing wordlists, because that’s how she had learned English. I started reading manga after passing the old JLPT3 (N4) after her suggestion, and it was hard at first, but has gotten much easier over the last year.

If you’re serious about the JLPT, focus on no less than the N2, work your way through the lower level tests, get as much real exposure to Japanese language and media as you can, and take a look at all the excellent resources that can be found if you know where to look (or keep checking this blog as I update often). You have nowhere to go but up.

Thank you honey for your advice!!

P.S. Double post today. The other one was more of a self-reference post.