Insights on the revised JLPT N1 Exam (July 4, JLPT N1 Exams @ 六甲台キャンパス)

Mission accomplished.

Today I took the JLPT N1 exam at Kobe Daigaku Rokkodai Campus (神戸大学六甲台キャンパス)... My room was at B109. I think there were around 70 of us in the room.

To adequately share my thoughts on the exam, I think it better to evaluate it in the ff. areas:

1. Structure
2. Number of Exam Items
3. Time Allocation
4. New Question Types

*For easier reading, I'll refer to Language Knowledge (Vocabulary/Grammar) section as the first scoring section, Reading as the second scoring section, and Listening as the third or last scoring section.

**I'll also refer to the Language Knowledge (Vocabulary/Grammar) and Reading as the first test section, and Listening as the second test section. Test Section basically means that on the same time block, you'll be taking the assigned scoring section/s. (e.g., Language Knowledge and Reading(12:45 - 14:35), Listening(15:30-16:30))

• Structure - the structure and order of the new exam is now better if not tremendously improved. Moji, Goi and Bunpo (文字、語彙、文法) of the old exam were combined into the first scoring section, and reading on the second scoring section. I wasn't able to appreciate this order until I took the exam. In the reading section of the old JLPT, you had to take it from back to front (Grammar first, short reading second, the long reading last) in order to answer as many questions as possible.
• Number of Exam Items - the number of test items has been appropriately reduced (for the first test section) and increased (for the second test section). From around 130 exam questions for the Reading/Grammar (around 50-60), plus Moji/Goi (around 60-70), the new exams now has  around 71 questions for the first test section (around 45% decrease!). For the second test section, it has been adequately increased from 27 to 37 to cover the new type of questions.
• Time Allocation - finishing the reading exam is now humanely possible. :) For the first test section, you had to complete it in 110 minutes. For the second test section, you had to finish it in 60 minutes. For the reading exam, I think there were 4 questions I was not able to completely answer (meaning reading a short passage and then answering), but it's far better compared to around 8 items in the old exam!
• New Question Types - the new types of questions were fun! Particularly, the "Sentential grammar 2 (Sentence composition)" (See sample questions, Page 11) and the "Quick response" of the listening section where you had to choose the correct response to a speaker.

Given the insights above, my evaluation of the new exam is that it has (tremendously?) improved and I think it will be more effective in measuring a person's Japanese abilities.

Thank you Japan Foundation and the people behind this change!

Next steps for me would be:

1. Revise Review Plan
2. Revise Review Questions
3. Revise JLPT Score Calculator

Helium Article for Creating a Study Plan for JLPT

HeliumHow to make a Japanese language proficiency test study plan

Result of Internal Exam

I just got the result of my internal exam today. I passed!


The downside was that even though I passed, my score was below than what I expected. Most specially my 文字・語彙 (Kanji, Vocab) result.

文字・語彙: 59
聴解: 56
読解・文法: 133
Total: 248 / 400 (62%)

Nevertheless, still a good reason to give thanks to God. :)
Till next post.

JLPT L2 Point System

Here's a Simple JLPT L2 Score Calculator, based on the ff. given:
(Please take note that these are still based on the old JLPT Exams. I'll update them once I get the time.)

LEVEL 1&2 Point Allocation:
文字 = 1 point
語彙 = 2 points
聴解 = 1 point
読解 = 5 points
文法 = 2 points

Point/Score Calculation:
文字語彙: your score / total possible　X 100
聴解: your score / total possible X 100
読解文法: your score / total possible X 200

Add all 3 partial result for total score.
If Total Score >= 240, PASS. Else FAIL.

Ref:
http://forum.gaijinpot.com/

Study Method for JLPT Internal Exam

本日からJLPTの練習を始めました。準備はあまり少ないですが、下記の進め方で実施したいと思います。

I plan to practice on the ff. 4 areas:

1. Kanji
2. Vocabulary
3. Grammar
4. Reading

My aim is to make sure that my kanji reading ability is still there. Hopefully, will be able to finish all kanji lessons in the ff. site:

1. renshuu.org - I've setup a scheduled 2 week kanji lesson for L2
2. kanji.koohii.com - use Kanji koohi for remembering the kanji (study the composition)
3. jisho.org - to lookup for example sentences to understand how a word/kanji is used in a certain context (remembering)
4. Speedanki - a better kanji driller because of sample sentences and simplicity and a recommended drill method. (added 03/06)

Just posted my planned study method in preparation for an upcoming internal JLPT exam.

JLPT 2009 - Level 1 Preparation

I'm considering taking the JLPT Level1 this year.

As officially announced JLPT will be administered twice this year. The first in July 5 (but limited to Japan, China, South Korea, and Taiwan) and on December 2009 (No official date from the link below, but basing on dates of previous exams, first sunday of Dec - Dec. 6).

Ref: http://www.jlpt.jp/e/

I've started with my plan, but not that full yet. Will provide a check point maybe at the end of this month. For the mean time, I'm targetting around June or July to start my studies.

I've asked for a colleageu's (who passed L1 but is Chinese - has an advantage with Kanji) input, and main information I got were:

1) Use the Kanji/Vocab list available in MLC

2) Use Kanzen Master and ALC (will confirm again which specific books)

3) Interleave of Kanji and Grammar study

I also tried looking for other Study Methods/Plans and the most feasible I was able to search was here.

Came across also this site and am now waiting for feedback.

And last, but not the least, will most likely get the input of japanese senseis back in manila for a possible study plan to pass JLPT L1 by December.

I guess that's my latest update for my japanese studies.

How's your japanese studies?

JLPT Study or Lesson Plan

CREATION OF STUDY and LESSON PLAN

I have searched the net for any available lesson plan for anyone who is aiming to pass JLPT Level 2 through self-study.

There were a couple of tips I found, and with them as support or guides, I plan to come up with my own - suitable with my situation, preference, and style of learning a plan to commit.

Anyway, here goes:

Study Scope
Since my aim is JLPT Level 2, it’s easy to determine my study scope.
(Ref: http://www.jees.or.jp/jlpt/en/jlpt_guide.html)
-> Kanji/Vocabulary
-> Listening
-> Reading-Grammar
(1,000 Kanji, 6,000 words, xxx grammar patterns)

Study Resources
Please see link page and the ff. books. I searched the net for these books (read reviews, etc.). Some say Unicom books are good since they have english translations (?). Not sure but I bought the Kanzen Master for grammar patterns:

(Will write a more detailed review of each book when the time comes and will most likely post it in Amazon)

Kanji & Vocabulary

1. Remembering the Kanji (Vol. 1) by James W. Heisig - Highly recommended for remembering the kanji; mostly for non-kanji using countries.
2. Remembering the Kanji (Vol. 2) by James W. Heisig - not often used
3. Kanzen Master Kanji
4. Kanzen Master Goi

Listening

1. 日本語能力試験合格への道 （２級）

Grammar

1. A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar
2. A Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar
3. Kanzen Master Bunpou (２級)
4. 日本語能力試験に出る文法２級

Draft Study/Lesson Plan
(Ref: http://www.ajalt.org/e/class/group06.html)
Jul – Aug (Kanji and Vocabulary)
Aug – Oct (Grammar)
Oct – Nov (Reading and Listening)

Weekly Breakdown Schedule

(Please see schedule page)