How I Passed the JLPT

(Also How I Failed It)

The deadline to sign up for July’s JLPT has passed, so by now folks know their summer plans. Here’s a quick outline of what I used to pass the JLPT (as well as a few words about why I failed N2!).

I’ve always found the JLPT to be incredibly fair (unpopular opinion, I know), so this post is almost boringly straightforward. Nevertheless, I largely followed the advice I received from others, so it only seems right to pass it on.

About the Test

Before I took the test, I didn’t realize that every level is formatted a little differently (especially the listening sections), so I’m glad I did my research. I started with the official JLPT test site. I also referenced JapaneseSensei’s grammar and vocab lists and did practice tests.

Vocabulary (語彙)

Like everyone, I used flashcards. (So, so many flashcards.) However, there’s a book series that’s so good I’m actually excited to recommend it?? I know that’s cringey and I’m sorry, but I used it for N4, N3, and N2, and every time it amply prepared me for the vocab on the test. More than that, though, reading the example sentences in those books hugely boosted my reading abilities and gave me a foundational understanding of how Japanese sentences are formed.

The 日本語単語スピードマスター is my baby. I read it every morning when I wake up.

Kanji (漢字)

I used WaniKani to get me through N5-3 kanji. However, I know lots of other folks who’ve learned kanji elsewhere, like through Anki and JPDB.

After the N3 level, my vocabulary started massively outstripping my kanji knowledge, and I found WaniKani to be more of a time burden than a helpful tool. To be honest, I’m still looking for a new way to learn my last joyo kanji (advice in the comments would be greatly appreciated!).

But if you’re cramming for the exam, then any kanji textbook will give you a boost:

However, JLPT-centered kanji textbooks don’t actually teach kanji. Kanji are bunched together illogically, and only the most common readings are covered. These books are just for cramming surface-level knowledge.

Grammar (文法)

For N3, I used the Try! textbook during an 8-week intensive exam prep class that I took at my local community center (ISBN 4866393351). The name Try! is oddly condescending. Pair that with the fact that you, the student of Japanese, is represented on the cover by a literal worm, and somehow this textbook has always spoken to me.

With Try!, my teacher explained the grammar and answered extra questions we had about it. Then, we used the textbook exercises to reinforce each grammar point. Finally, we made up our own original sentences on the spot to make sure the grammar point was solidified as active knowledge.

To reinforce the grammar even further, I’d write 5-10 original sentences on my own for each new point. Did I always do this? No, but it was helpful every time I did.

Even after I learned the grammar, I often still had questions—sometimes ones that native speakers of Japanese couldn’t readily answer (We aren’t always the best at articulating how our native languages work.). From the N3 level and above, I’ve been hugely indebted to Makino & Tsutsui’s classic trio of grammar dictionaries. Once I was at the N2 level, I decided to splurge for the advanced dictionary.

I also watched lots of YouTube videos. I’ve already recommended GameGengo’s complete N5 and N4 grammar surveys:

This channel has great videos for N3, 2, and 1 grammar points:

And I watched and rewatched this video for N2:

Practice Questions

Practice questions are an integral part of JLPT practice. Starting a couple of weeks before the test, I used JPDrills until it felt like my brain would explode. And I went through drill books like this one (ISBN 4872179404):

Reading (読解)

N5-4:

I didn’t use a dedicated textbook for the reading section. I recommend graded readers like the ones listed on Dokusho Club. I personally went through this series (ISBN 4872176413):

N4-3:

NHK’s Easy News is a great stepping stone to reading real newspapers.

Reading Road was also my buddy when it came to building my reading stamina (ISBN 487424792X). This was probably the first time I really looked forward to reading in Japanese. It taught me about cultural stuff that felt relevant to living in Japan, and some of the articles used excerpts from native materials (e.g. political speeches) that made me feel like I was finally ready for authentic Japanese.

N3 and above:

I think I’ve used every major textbook out there (I like flitting from book to book), and after trying them all, I truly believe that if you go through the entire 新完全マスター読解 book, you’ll pass the reading section for your level.

However, when that textbook felt just a bit too hard for me, I used the 日本語総まとめ series as a warm-up:

For N2 and above:

When preparing for N2, I purchased two Japanese newspaper subscriptions (including the Mainichi). Reading the articles reinforced the grammar I was learning, but when I took N2, I was surprised by how much the vocabulary and sentence structures in the 読解 section seemed directly lifted from newspapers. Starting three months before the exam, I read 3-5 newspaper articles in their entirety every day. I used the Chrome extension Rikaikun to help me with vocab, and I grammatically parsed sentences I found difficult to understand.

Listening (聴解)

The format for the listening section varies by level, so I was always happy to use the Speed Master series to help me get familiarized with the types of questions to expect:

But I failed N2’s listening section by 1 point last December, and thus failed the entire exam. A lot of people sympathetically said, “Yeah, listening is so hard, isn’t it?” to me after I failed but…I didn’t feel like it was hard. I felt like the exam was exactly what it’s supposed to be: Slightly-slower-than-native-speed Japanese scripts that discuss a variety of topics in direct ways. There were no trick questions. It was a fair exam. I just wasn’t ready for it.

Textbooks can’t teach you listening; you train your ear through lots of practice. So here’s what I wish I had done prior to taking N2.

a. Watch more TV, listen to more podcasts

It’s a hard life, studying for the JLPT, but someone’s gotta do it.

b. Shadow

My friends who are very confident in their listening all swear by shadowing. You can google how do it if you don’t already know, then look up Japanese YouTube videos and start practicing right away.

There are also textbooks that help, including the シャドーイング 日本語を話そう series (ISBN 4874248500).

Active listening can be hard, and there’s just no way to get good without doing it—a lot.

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So those are the resources I used (or wish I’d used). This doesn’t cover every Japanese language book I own, and it doesn’t touch on the native materials I read and watched, but it includes the JLPT-centered practice that helped me most.

Good luck!