Of the JLPT

I know it's little late on this post, but I've gotten distracted by some other things recently. Studying for the JLPT Level 2 (日本語能力試験２級), doing some work, making friends, and trying to enjoy the sunshine before the rainy season (梅雨) kicks in. I actually have a cool event to talk about, but that will be the next post because I don't have a lot of time right now.

The JLPT has been revised in the past year to try to make it more accurate as a way of judging a person's language ability. Just like the past, there are five levels to the JLPT, with 5 being the lowest and 1 being the highest.

In the old test, there was a huge jump between level 2 and level 1. The difference was approximately 1,000 kanji. Level 1 is also infamous for using kanji that even Japanese people rarely use, such as the characters for "this, that," and the like. Due to this, even people who live in Japan for years can still fail the test. Moreover, Japanese have been known to fail the test. The new level 2 has been made more difficult to try to decrease this jump. However, due to this, it means the new level 2 is more like the old level 1, so it is extremely difficult.

The test is composed of several parts: Reading, Grammar, Kanji, and Listening. The reading section is full of several passages around a page or two. There are questions at the end. The grammar section is pretty straightforward. You have a part of the sentence underlined and you must choose the appropriate phrase. The kanji section is sentences with words in them, the correct kanji or pronunciation must be chosen. Finally, the listening section is full of several passages. The tape is played, and you must choose the appropriate response.

On the surface, it looks relatively easy, but in reality, it's fairly difficult. The test takes several hours, and it tests your syntax, grammar, and listening abilities. Some things that make it difficult are the wealth of Japanese expressions that are put in. The only way to know these is by memorization unfortunately. Japanese grammar is also something that can be deceptively simple. In some ways, the Japanese language is very straightforward. Combination is relatively simpler than the way that it is in English, but things that are written and things that are said are completely different. If you spoke the way that you write in Japanese, you would sound like you're from the Edo Period (1608-1800's). For those that aren't familiar with Japanese periods, it's basically you speaking like samurai. Although it's not technically wrong, it's extremely strange. Imagine if you went around speaking like Shakespeare all the time. For this reason, learning the usage of these grammar points is a little difficult to say the least. Since you can't practice them in conversation, you have to go read vast amounts of things like newpapers, books, and really old historical-type novels in order to understand.

And that roughly, is the JLPT in a nutshell.

The other day unfortunately, I took a practice test and didn't pass the listening section. You'd be amazed at how much seeing a person's face is useful to a conversation. It's why talking on phones here is so difficult, and why I'm proud when I achieve it, despite how sad that may be. I was a couple points shy of passing, and although my friends assure me that that is something to proud of, not passing is not passing, and so I need to work harder. I'll continue to do my best.

Now, we'll see if I can pass.

Michelle