Hey Olly! I've just discovered you this summer and have been catching up on your vids. Love your work! I've been living in Japan for almost a decade, and you're absolutely right that the JLPT is not a test particularly geared as a guide for learning Japanese and doesn't test speaking or writing at all. But, aside from taking a test simply because you love tests, there are reasons to take it. If you plan to work in Japan in any field other than teaching English, passing the N3 and up will help your chances at a job. Some businesses even require N2 or N1 of prospective employees. If you hope to become eligible for early application of the permanent resident visa, passing the N2 will grant 10 points toward your (70 point) total, and passing the N1 will grant 15. Of course, many businesses are savvy to the fact that it's entirely possible to pass the N1 and not speak a lick of the language, so for those who are considering it, I'd recommend studying for it along side other, better Japanese language resources. Aside from these, there's probably not a strong need to take the JLPT. If you're interacting with other folks from the polyglot community, a lot of them poo-poo on the test and say it's equal to a considerably lower level of language fluency, reducing its value as bragging rights. The J-Cert is less common, but it lines up nicely with CEFR rankings, so I'd recommend that one for people studying overseas who would like something more official.
i would probably go for N3 just as a study goal. I did the same for N4. Otherwise learning Japanese can be a bit overwhelming with too much to focus on. But I am aware of its limitations. I still practice speaking as much as possible on Italki and listen to and read a lot of Japanese media to build up familiarity with the language. HOWEVER - I do find some JLPT practice books fun. I really like the Shin Nihongo 500 Mon series. The way they chunk things down makes it fun to complete.
Hi Olly! I took the JLPT N3 exam last year and they still do not have a speaking section to the test. I completely agree with you. I don't think it's the best way to measure your Japanese and I don't feel that has helped me that much with my everyday life in Okinawa, BUT I think it is a good thing to have, especially on your resume and the material I studied did help with some aspects. Not very fun to study for unfortunately haha. Ultimately, I'm glad I did it :)
Someone ask me if l took a JLPT, l said "No, because l'm only learning Japanese to read books and newspapers in Japanese". I'm not interested in speaking or writing it, as I'm not applying for a job where l have to speak or write Japanese. I'm almost 50 years old now, and have already reduced my full-time Aged Care job to Part-time due to Arthritis and a heart problem. And will be retiring in a few years. That is if I don't die before then, due to my heart problem.
If you plan on working in the country I would take the exam. If you don’t plan on working in the country and you just wanna see where you rank then I will take a practice exam because at the end of the day they want to see what you know not what your test scores are.
Why do you say that learning Japanese is a big task? What if you remove the writing component and focus mostly or solely on speaking and spoken language?
Not gonna work. When you get to higher levels learning vocabulary without understanding kanji isn’t going to work. Without kanji so many words are just too similar to each other and you won’t be able to understand the actual meaning. There’s a reason they’ve still kept the writing system despite it being so complex
@@heathersaxton8118 I agree mostly. A lot of those homonyms actually differ in pitch accent, making them more distinct than they originally appear. However, the resources for pitch accent are limited in Japanese, and even more so for foreign language learners. :(
Unfortunately there is still no speaking on the JLPT as of 2020. A lot of the study material has been sooooo boring for me so I’ve started focusing on news stories, RUclips videos and fun content instead. But unfortunately in order to advance my career/ life here in Japan, I do feel that at least N2 level is proficiency is what employers deem necessary in order to open yourself up to many jobs outside of English teaching.
All the textbooks and prep materials are a total scam. Best way to study for the test is to just read a lot. I just made a reading schedule for a couple of months where I read at least ten pages of a novel everyday and the occasional newspaper article here and there, memorized some vocab I came across and breezed through n1 with flying colors. Go through mock exams etc to familiarize yourself with the test sections but passing the test is really just about improving your reading and listening skills and that you can’t learn that from jlpt textbooks.
If you’re taking n2 u should just read a bunch of manga since novels might still be a little hard. Make a reading schedule and learn words and kanji you come across with flash cards or however you like to study. If comics aren’t your thing try looking into novels for elementary schoolers since Japanese graded readers are all awful
@@heathersaxton8118 I don't know which textbook(s) you are using, but I am using the traditional texts from 東京外国語大学留学生日本語教育センター (I think it's like the edition from 2003. It's an old book anyways). And starting from intermediate, it did away with texts on conversations but rather texts from real life. I still remember doing comprehension exercise on a small excerpt from Blaise Pascal (translated into Japanese, of course)! In my opinion, there are good textbooks which can guide and train you well. The problem of "popular textbooks" are just that they go too slow IMO.
Yeah definitely if you need it for work or including it in a resumé, totally depends on your language learning goals. I would say that for learning languages as a hobby, just so not worth going through that dull boring content as Olly mentioned.
N1 is barely a low B2 level. Agreed it's not a great test. However, if you're going to spend the time to learn a language, might as well take it to a high level (higher than N1) to reap all the benefits. 2200 Kanji (N1) is not enough. That's like 95% or less of all the Kanji in an average book. Meaning you don't know at least 1 out of 20 characters, which is A LOT. 3000 Kanji gets you to 99%.
The jlpts dont correlate to the common European framework of reference for languages. It doesn’t test your language skills in general, it tests a very specific way of taking a test. The reading part of the test is at a higher level than what Japanese middle schoolers learn in school. Idk what you consider a low b2 though.
@@heathersaxton8118 2000 characters is less than 95% of the all the individual characters in an average Japanese novel. That's you not knowing one in 20 characters. That's like 4-5 PER PAGE. If that's okay for you ..
@@heathersaxton8118 And your statement is false. Sure, high schoolers learn 2200 characters. Then there are the new characters of your undergraduate and graduate discipline. That's another 1000-1500 easily.
Hey Olly! I've just discovered you this summer and have been catching up on your vids. Love your work!
I've been living in Japan for almost a decade, and you're absolutely right that the JLPT is not a test particularly geared as a guide for learning Japanese and doesn't test speaking or writing at all. But, aside from taking a test simply because you love tests, there are reasons to take it.
If you plan to work in Japan in any field other than teaching English, passing the N3 and up will help your chances at a job. Some businesses even require N2 or N1 of prospective employees. If you hope to become eligible for early application of the permanent resident visa, passing the N2 will grant 10 points toward your (70 point) total, and passing the N1 will grant 15.
Of course, many businesses are savvy to the fact that it's entirely possible to pass the N1 and not speak a lick of the language, so for those who are considering it, I'd recommend studying for it along side other, better Japanese language resources.
Aside from these, there's probably not a strong need to take the JLPT. If you're interacting with other folks from the polyglot community, a lot of them poo-poo on the test and say it's equal to a considerably lower level of language fluency, reducing its value as bragging rights. The J-Cert is less common, but it lines up nicely with CEFR rankings, so I'd recommend that one for people studying overseas who would like something more official.
i would probably go for N3 just as a study goal. I did the same for N4. Otherwise learning Japanese can be a bit overwhelming with too much to focus on. But I am aware of its limitations. I still practice speaking as much as possible on Italki and listen to and read a lot of Japanese media to build up familiarity with the language.
HOWEVER - I do find some JLPT practice books fun. I really like the Shin Nihongo 500 Mon series. The way they chunk things down makes it fun to complete.
Hi Olly! I took the JLPT N3 exam last year and they still do not have a speaking section to the test.
I completely agree with you. I don't think it's the best way to measure your Japanese and I don't feel that has helped me that much with my everyday life in Okinawa, BUT I think it is a good thing to have, especially on your resume and the material I studied did help with some aspects. Not very fun to study for unfortunately haha. Ultimately, I'm glad I did it :)
Someone ask me if l took a JLPT, l said "No, because l'm only learning Japanese to read books and newspapers in Japanese". I'm not interested in speaking or writing it, as I'm not applying for a job where l have to speak or write Japanese. I'm almost 50 years old now, and have already reduced my full-time Aged Care job to Part-time due to Arthritis and a heart problem. And will be retiring in a few years. That is if I don't die before then, due to my heart problem.
If you plan on working in the country I would take the exam. If you don’t plan on working in the country and you just wanna see where you rank then I will take a practice exam because at the end of the day they want to see what you know not what your test scores are.
I think that it is worth taking if you feel you can take N1 without too much prepping.
Can you make the norwegian audiobook available in Canada?
Why do you say that learning Japanese is a big task? What if you remove the writing component and focus mostly or solely on speaking and spoken language?
Not gonna work. When you get to higher levels learning vocabulary without understanding kanji isn’t going to work. Without kanji so many words are just too similar to each other and you won’t be able to understand the actual meaning. There’s a reason they’ve still kept the writing system despite it being so complex
@@heathersaxton8118 I agree mostly. A lot of those homonyms actually differ in pitch accent, making them more distinct than they originally appear. However, the resources for pitch accent are limited in Japanese, and even more so for foreign language learners. :(
Unfortunately there is still no speaking on the JLPT as of 2020. A lot of the study material has been sooooo boring for me so I’ve started focusing on news stories, RUclips videos and fun content instead. But unfortunately in order to advance my career/ life here in Japan, I do feel that at least N2 level is proficiency is what employers deem necessary in order to open yourself up to many jobs outside of English teaching.
All the textbooks and prep materials are a total scam. Best way to study for the test is to just read a lot. I just made a reading schedule for a couple of months where I read at least ten pages of a novel everyday and the occasional newspaper article here and there, memorized some vocab I came across and breezed through n1 with flying colors. Go through mock exams etc to familiarize yourself with the test sections but passing the test is really just about improving your reading and listening skills and that you can’t learn that from jlpt textbooks.
If you’re taking n2 u should just read a bunch of manga since novels might still be a little hard. Make a reading schedule and learn words and kanji you come across with flash cards or however you like to study. If comics aren’t your thing try looking into novels for elementary schoolers since Japanese graded readers are all awful
@@heathersaxton8118 I don't know which textbook(s) you are using, but I am using the traditional texts from 東京外国語大学留学生日本語教育センター (I think it's like the edition from 2003. It's an old book anyways). And starting from intermediate, it did away with texts on conversations but rather texts from real life. I still remember doing comprehension exercise on a small excerpt from Blaise Pascal (translated into Japanese, of course)! In my opinion, there are good textbooks which can guide and train you well. The problem of "popular textbooks" are just that they go too slow IMO.
Yeah definitely if you need it for work or including it in a resumé, totally depends on your language learning goals. I would say that for learning languages as a hobby, just so not worth going through that dull boring content as Olly mentioned.
hi I'm coding a social network for language learners
Yes, please make us an alternative to HelloTalk!!! I am sick and tired of the Chinese censor!
JLPT has no speaking component?! loooool
N1 is barely a low B2 level.
Agreed it's not a great test.
However, if you're going to spend the time to learn a language, might as well take it to a high level (higher than N1) to reap all the benefits.
2200 Kanji (N1) is not enough. That's like 95% or less of all the Kanji in an average book. Meaning you don't know at least 1 out of 20 characters, which is A LOT.
3000 Kanji gets you to 99%.
You’re being so misleading
2000 characters is completely enough for studies at a university level
The jlpts dont correlate to the common European framework of reference for languages. It doesn’t test your language skills in general, it tests a very specific way of taking a test.
The reading part of the test is at a higher level than what Japanese middle schoolers learn in school. Idk what you consider a low b2 though.
@@heathersaxton8118 2000 characters is less than 95% of the all the individual characters in an average Japanese novel. That's you not knowing one in 20 characters. That's like 4-5 PER PAGE. If that's okay for you ..
@@heathersaxton8118 And your statement is false. Sure, high schoolers learn 2200 characters. Then there are the new characters of your undergraduate and graduate discipline. That's another 1000-1500 easily.