Hello everyone,
This blog is to give out information to all those who aspire to or have been appearing for the JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test).
The Language Proficiency test for the Japanese language is for anyone to take who has studied a bare minimum of 300 hours or more of the language.This test is for those who study the language to see their grasp of the language as is aparent from the name of the examination itself.For those who know me since I joined this site, know that I have made a blog post about last year's exam. For those who've never known me and are persuing this blog on mere whim, I hope you find this useful. This year, rather than continually whining about how I found the revision days leading up to the exam torturous, I decided to give you some information and general idea about the exam itself. For those of you who wish to hear my whines, I give you the link of my previous year's blog.xD.
http://community.animax-asia.com/profiles/blogs/nisenkunen-nihongo-...
Right, to buisness. As I've already mentioned last year, the JLPT exam patterns have changed as of 2010. From 2010, it was deemed, that instead of holding a yearly exam, now the exams will be held half yearly.i.e, JLPt will happen twice every year.
Timings alloted during exams
The Levels of difficulty for the exams have also changed. Whence, uptil last year, there were only four levels or "dans" yonkyuu, san kyuu, nikkyu and ikkyu,
starting this year, the levels will be as follows:
N5, N4, N3, N2 and N1.
N5 for begginers.
N4 as equivalent of a more difficult version of Sankyuu.
N3 as equvalent of sankyuu and nikkyu mixed
N2 as equivalent of nikkyu and ikkyu.
N1 as more difficult than previous years.
Exam's general informations
The JLPT exams have three segments in all. first is " Moji/koi" or " Reading/Grammer" the second paper is " Doukai/bunpou" or " Vocabulary/ written" and the third is " Choukai" or "Audio". Each paper has its own uniqueness and dificulty. I've herd many students complain that Choukai is the most difficult of all papers, and it is the absolute truth. However, it is also important to know that the two remaining written part is not a piece of cake either. The timing given is very short so be quick, however,
dont do this either.:P
Tips
Vocabulary is the key. If your vocabulary part is flawless, you will not have problems in any of the exam parts. Read up all the new words you can find. And pay special attention to the Kanjis.:).
Keep in mind that the time given are extreemly short so you have to practice timings too.solve previous year's questions prior to attempting the tests.Even if the exam patterns have changed, the practices will give you lots to learn about.:)
Exam study materials for interested people
Before I give you these links, I want it understood that even though there are slots for people who self study to give this exams, but it'd be wiser to learn the language at the hands of a teacher, atleast in the begining before you attempt these exams.:)
http://www.mlcjapanese.co.jp/Download.htm
you will get a lot of study material of old patterns and chokkai guides from Mlc.:)
http://www.tanos.co.uk/jlpt/aboutjlpt/
this page will give you useful information about the new JLPT patterns.
other references
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1>nihongo shoho (1,2,3)
2>Nihongo jishou
FOR STUDENTS WANTING TO APPEAR FOR THIS EXAMS (HOW TO GET FORMS AND WHAT YOU WILL NEED)
Any aspiring students of the language examinations can collect the exam forms from the state "Japan consul" or "Japanese embassy" if you're from Delhi. If you're from Kolkata as me, then you can find your forms from the Japan consul general office in Ballygaunge. Or you can request it from your teaches aswell.:) This year's exam fees have been raised to 500/-
you will recieve a booklet like this.This will also contain the form.
for form fillups, you'll aslo need two copies of your pasport size photos. You have to submmit the forms in the same place. You recieve your admit card with exam center informations a monthbefore the exams. The Kolkata exam is always held in Calcutta university.
In march, you get to know whether you've passed or failed.If you fail, you recieve a small brown envelope only with the score card in it. If you Pass, you recieve a larger envelope with a pass card, the score card, and you recieve a personal letter from th consul general congratulating you on your hard work.:)Like this:
These things are important proofs for later life when you look for job which also requires you to know the language.You need to pass atleast level N2 to apply for job that requires a japanese language background.
This year's exam is on 5th of december 2010, starting from 9:00 am.
I'm appearing for N4 this year.>n<.....I'm not sure how it'll go since I'm the first candidate to be appearing under the new patterns. Will let you know tomorrow!
Hope this blog was useful,
Regards,
Sedion
