After 6 years of studying, I finally passed the Japanese Language Proficiency Test N2 level.
Today, I want to share with you how I prepared for the exam, how I learned from my previous failure in 2022, and talk about the successes I had and the mistakes I made this time round.
Hopefully this episode will be interesting and useful to anyone out there thinking about taking an English exam in the future!
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Vocabulary
- Proficiency (n.): A high degree of competence or skill
- Her proficiency in multiple languages made her a valuable asset to the team.
- Immersion (n.): Learning a language or subject by being completely surrounded by it.
- Full immersion in a foreign language environment is one of the most effective ways to become fluent.
- Curriculum (n.): A set of courses, and their content, offered at a school or university.
- The university updated its curriculum to include more technology-focused courses.
- In the Lead-Up to (phr.): The period of time just before an event or activity
- In the lead-up to the final exam, she spent every evening doing practice tests.
- Exposure (n.): The experience of something, often for the first time, that leads to learning.
- Early exposure to different cultures can broaden a child’s worldview.
- Mock Test (n.): A practice test taken to simulate the conditions and timing of an actual exam.
- The teacher scheduled a mock test a week before the real exam.
- Consistent (adj.): Done in the same way over time
- Her consistent study habits were the key to her success.
I Passed a Japanese Language Proficiency Test!
Earlier this year, I decided to take a Japanese proficiency test.
The test was the JLPT, Japanese Language Proficiency Test, N2 level. This is the main and most recognised proficiency test for Japanese learners, basically the equivalent of IELTS or TOEFL but for Japanese learners.
After some intense study and preparation, I took the exam at the beginning of July. It was challenging, felt far more difficult than the practice questions I had completed, and during the exam I realised I hadn’t actually practised exam style listening at all.
I was so unsure of my performance, and I had to wait nearly two months until I found out the result. At the end of August, on the last day of my vacation, I logged in to the online result portal and saw that I had passed the test!
I was ecstatic!
There are 5 different JLPT test levels, but the N2 Japanese test is probably the most important. It is not the most difficult (that is N1) but it is the most important because many jobs and opportunities require at least N2 level language proficiency.
I had also been studying for the test, on and off, for 6 years before I finally passed.
Today I want to share some of my experiences with you, including the way I prepared and the mistakes I made. Many of you listening will be studying for English proficiency tests and may find it useful to learn from me.
Important Context
What is the JLPT?
I should mention a few important pieces of context and background information about the exam and myself before talking about how I studied. This is because my experience of learning and studying is very specific to the context of this exam, and if you are studying for an exam, you will likely need to adjust your approach for your context.
First, the JLPT is the main Japanese proficiency test, the one promoted by the Japanese government, and often considered the equivalent to IELTS or TOEFL.
However, it is not equivalent to these exams in reality. To be completely honest, I think it is actually a pretty weak exam and a poor test of actual proficiency.
It only tests two of the core language skills: reading and listening. There is no speaking test and there is no writing test. There is no active language use when taking the exam.
In addition, the questions are all multiple choice – you simply mark the correct answer.
This means that when studying for the exam, I only had to focus on reading, comprehension, and listening. I didn’t need to spend hours practising writing or speaking, because these are not important for the test.
I actually failed this same exam back in 2022, and one of the reasons was that I took 3 conversation based Japanese courses at a university language centre in the lead up to the exam. These were great courses, but all focused on a skill not tested by the JLPT.
When you are preparing for whatever English exam you plan to take, make sure to tailor your study programme to specifically focus on what the exam covers!
My Personal Situation
Second, I should also mention that my own personal situation may be different to yours.
I am a self-employed podcaster. This is all I do… my income isn’t particularly high, but it is enough to survive (please support me on Patreon or sponsor the podcast)!
Being self-employed, and specifically as a podcaster, means that I can be quite flexible with my time. I run a few conversation sessions every week (join my Patreon if you are interested), and the rest of my time is spent writing and recording two or more episodes a week and working on other projects.
In the lead up to my exam, I made sure I had as much free time as possible. By the end of May, I had recorded and scheduled all my podcast episodes until the middle of July. This meant I could spend June studying a few hours a day and it would not affect my work.
I also live in Japan, with a Japanese wife, and I am surrounded by the Japanese language all the time. As I’ll explain later, I did quite well in the listening test but never studied any listening. Instead, I am immersed in Japanese.
Exam Result
I should also mention my actual performance in the exam. I failed the same exam back in 2022, performing well in listening, below average in language knowledge (vocabulary and grammar questions), and badly in reading comprehension.
This time round, listening was still my strongest result. I actually performed a lot better than last time, which I found surprising.
My biggest improvement was in reading. This is something I really focused on in the lead up to the exam, and my score almost doubled from the previous test.
And my language knowledge score didn’t change. I expected this as vocabulary and knowledge of Japanese characters is by far my weakest skill.
How I Prepared for the Exam
In preparation for the exam, I used five different approaches.
First, I spent hours in textbook study.
If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen photos of me using different textbooks in cafes, parks, my desk, or the local library.
While I do own far too many textbooks, there were 3 key ones I used for preparation this year: a general vocabulary textbook specific for this exam, a grammar textbook, and a reading comprehension textbook.
While I did use the vocabulary and grammar textbooks extensively in the lead up to the exam, I definitely benefited most from the reading comprehension book.
It took a while to get used to using a different style of textbook, which simply had a text and then 2 questions on each page with no explanations or translations, but once I got used to everything it was incredibly beneficial.
It gave me exposure to exam style reading questions. I would read the text once, answer the questions, then make a note of any vocabulary or phrases I was unsure about.
After a few weeks of doing this, my confidence in reading increased and the actual exam result was double my previous attempt. By targeting my weakness and using resources designed specifically for the exam, I really benefited.
Second, I took a Japanese class every Friday morning.
I think classes with a real experienced teacher are really useful for language learners (search Thinking in English classes . link if you are interested in English classes). From April until July, I took a 90-minute Japanese class every Friday morning. I could ask my teacher for specific help or clarification on issues and follow a curriculum.
While textbooks and Japanese classes were the main study methods I used, I did use some other methods too.
I decided, for the first time in my life, to actively watch Japanese TV and Netflix. Although I’ve been studying for 8 years now, I have never really been interested in watching content or videos in Japanese.
To help immerse myself and improve my listening, I watched a lot of movies and TV shows in Japanese with Japanese subtitles.
This is important. To ensure I was using Japanese and challenging my comprehension, I did not use any English subtitles on TV shows or movies I watched. I would recommend the same to you guys – do not use your native language subtitles if you are trying to study from TV or movies.
I also used a vocabulary study app on my phone. I don’t think this was the most effective though.
And finally, in the week or two before the exam I watched a lot of exam specific grammar YouTube videos made by Japanese teachers.
Successes and Mistakes
Now that I’ve discussed my study approach to the exam, I think I should reflect a little on my performance. What did I do successfully? And what mistakes did I make in preparing for this exam?
Let’s start with successes.
Successes
My reading and listening scores improved significantly compared to my previous attempt 2 years ago.
For reading, this was certainly due to focusing specifically on the skill of reading comprehension and using study resources designed for the exam I was taking.
While it is obviously important to read a wide variety of materials, I personally felt like using exam specific resources made sure I was prepared for the reading questions. There is a certain style of question or style of article the exam setters like to use, and by using exam specific resources you can begin to understand and get used to this.
Listening improved as well due to the immersion and increased listening I have been doing over the previous few months.
A big part of my success in this exam was setting a regular and consistent study schedule. In June, I basically spent a month studying for at least 1 hour a day. I also varied my approach, sometimes taking a class, sometimes using a textbook, and sometimes watching a video.
And I focused my study specifically on passing the exam. This isn’t the best approach for overall language development and growth, but it is the best approach when you have an upcoming exam.
In 2022, I was taking a class on debating in Japanese, a class on informal conversations, and a class on giving speech in Japanese. All of these classes were interesting, but they focused on skills not tested by the JLPT.
This year, I made sure to focus on the exam itself.
Mistakes
I also made some mistakes.
My score wasn’t perfect and I didn’t improve on my language knowledge, vocabulary and grammar score.
I definitely focused most on reading, my previously weakest skill, and neglected vocabulary and grammar. I should have had a more all-round approach to this section of the test.
I also didn’t make the most of my weekly Japanese class. The class became more of an unfocused Japanese conversation than a tailored grammar or vocabulary focused session. Part of this was my responsibility – I should have communicated to my teacher what I wanted to study.
This is actually one of the common problems with private 1-1 language classes, both in person and online. Without a set or focused curriculum, both the teacher and the student can be a little confused on what to focus on.
I think in the future I’ll try to join a class with an actual curriculum. You can do this too – Thinking in English Classes run some amazing 6-week Level Boost courses and my regular sponsor Lingoda has curriculum based classes every hour of the day.
And my final mistakes were two things I realised in the exam itself.
First, I forgot to do any full mock tests in exam conditions. I had studied a lot of exam material and questions, but I had not done a full mock test. I had not sat down for 2 hours and timed how long it took me to answer questions. I was also slightly unprepared for the structure of the test (I had forgotten how it looked over the past 2 years).
I also realised that I had done absolutely no exam style listening practice. Yes, I practised listening everyday through TV and my daily life, but this isn’t exam style. My score should have been higher in listening, but I missed a few questions simply because I wasn’t sure how the question was formatted (I assumed the answer was going to be repeated).
If I had actually prepared using exam resources and mock tests, I wouldn’t have been surprised or confused by these things and would probably have done better.
Final Thought
What is next for me?
I think I want to pass the top-level Japanese test, the N1. My goal is to pass in December 2025… so let’s see how I do!
By reflecting on my successes and mistakes taking this test, hopefully I can be more efficient and productive studying in the future. In fact, I have already signed up for a Japanese class starting in September and asked to focus on N1 level grammar.
I think the key points from this episode that are useful for any of you listening who want to take an English test in the future are:
- Understand the test you are going to take and prepare for that test specifically
- Understand your weaknesses and target them in study
What do you think? Are you planning on taking a test like IELTS or TOEFL in the future? Let me know!
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Tom, congratulation…well done
Gorka
Thank You!