Studying In Japan

If you want to further your education in one of the world’s best universities in Japan you will be required to pass the Japanese Languages Proficiency Test or JLPT.

The JLPT is a test that assesses how confident and capable a non Japanese native speaker is in written and spoken Japanese,. The JLPT assesses a person ability to confidently speak and also read and write in Japanese.

The JLPT is held globally every year in the month of December. In order to complete the JLPT accreditation you are required to pass four level. The beginner level is 4 and then it moves upto level 1 which is a lot more difficult. In order to pass levels 2 through 4 you must get a 60% mark, however level one requires a 70% mark. The JLPT is not an easy test to pass and does require prior preparation in order to be successful in. Under 30% of people passed level 1 and under 70% passes level 4 in 2007 worldwide

Content

The questions are mulitple choice and there are Kanji, Japanese grammar, expressions and also vocabulary. The grammar section will rewquire you to know how Japanese nouns and verbs and particles work. Although this may sound obvious, please be aware that the JLPT is written in Japanese writing scripts and not English.

At level 4 you will need to know 100 Kanji Symbols and at level 1 this increases to 1000. The amount of vocabularly you need to learn also increases.

Test Breakdown

Essentially the JLPT at all levels 1-4 is broken down into three major sections, being:

• Writing and Vocabulary
• Listening Comprehension
• Grammar

Obvioulsy the expectations at each level goes up the higher the level you are attempting. To pass level 4 you will need to have learned 100 Kanji Symbols and 800 Japanese words plus be confident holding a simple Japanese conversation.

Where do you go to sit the JLPT?

A Japanese language school or University if accredited by Japan Educational Exchanges Services can administer the JLPT. For those of you who are actually living in Japan then you will need to contact the Japan Educational Exchanges and Services (JEES) who administer the test.

Advice On How To Pass

The first thing I want to point out is that the JLPT requires study and discipline to pass. JEES state that for level 4 a student ideally should have done 150 hours study.

Therefore you need to establish a study method and start learning the 800 Japanese words and 100 Kanji symbols that are required to pass level 4.

Summary

Well the main point to take from this artcicle is that the JLPT is not the most simple test but by no means out of anyone’s reach who put in the right preparation. Japan has some of the best Universities in the World and passing the JLPT is the door to getting excepted by a non native Japanese speaker.

If you are however wanting to speak conversational Japanese for a hobby or you are travelling to Japan then I highly recommend that you consider taking an online course, as they will save you a lot of money and time. You can find out more information about the best online Japanese course here: Rocket Japanese Review.

All the best with you studies,

Sayoonara!