JLPT Study

General :: RE: The difference between N5 and N4 seems small, but is it?

Author: Ryuu
Posted: Sun May 19, 2013 2:15 am (GMT 10)
Topic Replies: 3

Silty wrote:

Ryuu wrote:

I understand what you mean, but in terms of grammar; N4 is quite a bit of a jump. As you can imagine though, the jump between each level becomes greater the higher up you go.

Ah, ok. So the grammar level is actually a bit higher in N4. Thanks!

Yup. This lists all the grammar needed for N4
http://www.jlptstudy.net/N4/index.html

Looking through past papers, that list definitely covers everything but perhaps a bit too much as I'm yet to see some points come up. It could happen however, plus if it's part of the language then I guess you need to know it regardless of whether you're sitting an exam.

Silty wrote:

Ryuu wrote:

Thinking about it though, it would be nice if a 6th level was introduced between N2 and N1. That way N1 and the new level would be "advanced", N2 and N3 would be "intermediate" and N4 and N5 would be the "beginner".

I hate how the exam is only offered once instead of twice a year here, though. It would be kind of annoying for those of us who like to take it one step at a time - it would introduce a dilemma of slower progress or a chance of no progress at all.

I'm lucky enough that I can sit an exam twice a year. However, if you can only sit it once a year then it gives you more prep time and gives you more of a reason to skip a level or two.

Silty wrote:

Ryuu wrote:

You will most likely find the N5 exam to be a piece of cake, I'm not sure how/why people fail it to be honest.

It may be small compared to the other levels, but it's still quite a bit of learning material in an absolute sense. Maybe a lot of people just walk in thinking they know "a little Japanese" and expecting to pass.

True. I think a lot of people use something like Rosetta Stone and think that knowing a few odd phrases constitutes to knowing the language. I'm not completely bashing Rosetta Stone but I'm definitely against using it as a primary form of study - it's a nice (but not really necessary) supplement.

General :: RE: The difference between N5 and N4 seems small, but is it?

Author: Silty
Posted: Sun May 19, 2013 1:53 am (GMT 10)
Topic Replies: 3

Ryuu wrote:

I understand what you mean, but in terms of grammar; N4 is quite a bit of a jump. As you can imagine though, the jump between each level becomes greater the higher up you go.

Ah, ok. So the grammar level is actually a bit higher in N4. Thanks!

Ryuu wrote:

You will most likely find the N5 exam to be a piece of cake, I'm not sure how/why people fail it to be honest.

General :: RE: The difference between N5 and N4 seems small, but is it?

Author: Ryuu
Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 9:02 pm (GMT 10)
Topic Replies: 3

I understand what you mean, but in terms of grammar; N4 is quite a bit of a jump. As you can imagine though, the jump between each level becomes greater the higher up you go.

I guess it's because the grammar in N4 just doesn't seem that tough. However, I've got a few N3 books and the amount of grammar covered per chapter seems to be about 2 or 3 times greater than the N4 books I've got. I'm guessing the same will apply again in N2 and N1.

Not to mention the amount of vocab (I don't recommend just drilling to remember it by the way - constant usage is the best way to make it stick).

Thinking about it though, it would be nice if a 6th level was introduced between N2 and N1. That way N1 and the new level would be "advanced", N2 and N3 would be "intermediate" and N4 and N5 would be the "beginner".
It would also help with needing to double the amount of Kanji you know between N2 and N1. I personally don't find learning/memorising Kanji to be difficult but I know people who do so a new level would ease the pressure on them somewhat.

You will most likely find the N5 exam to be a piece of cake, I'm not sure how/why people fail it to be honest. I didn't do too well on the listening purely because it was so slow that I stupidly stopped paying attention and missed the answer. But I still passed and did alright in terms of percentage (not as well as I'd hoped due to the listening - hopefully wont make that mistake again).

I'm not sure if I've sort of answered your question or not. lol
Let me know if I haven't and we can discuss it further if you like

Level N4 :: RE: Old N3 vs New N4

Author: Ryuu
Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 2:07 pm (GMT 10)
Topic Replies: 4

Hahaha. I thought you'd say something like that. I'll try to make sure I know all the grammar on this site before N4 then.

Level N4 :: RE: Old N3 vs New N4

Author: dimitri_can
Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 9:50 am (GMT 10)
Topic Replies: 4

Teachers always have their hands on those. :p
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Level N4 :: RE: Old N3 vs New N4

Author: Ryuu
Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 2:58 am (GMT 10)
Topic Replies: 4

dimitri_can wrote:

N4 syllabus includes what is covered in MNN2 + extra 20 grammar points

Another 20?! Ouch. Where did you get the syllabus? I thought the syllabi were no longer published?

Level N3 :: RE: Books

Author: Ryuu
Subject: Re: Books
Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 2:52 am (GMT 10)
Topic Replies: 11

dimitri_can wrote:

Ryuu wrote:

Hi all

I know this has been asked a few times in this thread but I'm adding a slight twist as I've read topics of the following books individually but not really seen much comparison between them - something I think will be helpful to anyone wanting to do N3 (me included lol).

Anyway, out of the following books/book series, which does everyone feel is best suited to N3 (and Japanese in general) and which covers the most material:

An Integrated Approach To Intermediate Japanese
Kanzen Master Series N3
Sou Matome N3
Tobira: A Gateway to Advanced Japanese

Any and all advice/thoughts are welcome and appreciated

I am using Tobira as my N2-N3 textbook for teaching. =)

Probably best to save Tobira for the N3-N2 transition then. Thank you for the tip

Level N5 :: RE: Kanji Recall - how do you mentally organize Kanji knowledge?

Author: pauro01
Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 2:44 am (GMT 10)
Topic Replies: 4

Silty wrote:

pauro01 wrote:

The way I study it is understanding its meaning and its combination.. Every character has its meaning, and thus memorizing its meaning plus the combination of another kanji plus its meaning will make you memorize it easier.. For example, Friday.. Friday is 金曜日　a combination of 3 kanji characters.. Money - 金　、曜　、And 日ーDay..　So my own meaning for it is, during Friday you will spend a lot of money for nightouts becayse tomorrow will have no class.. 　So when I've heard about Friday, the first thing that will come out in my mind is money, and thus memory will bring me to the kanji characters of Friday which is this three.. I don't know if this would be effective to you but for me it is.. xD

Thanks, awesome idea! That sounds like you could simultaneously learn both compounds and the Kanji themselves. If you do that for every compound, you might be able to learn every Kanji fairly reliably. Hmm....

That will help you so much in remembering how the kanji looks like, but don't rely on it so much because you will still need to memorized the strokes of every kanji characters.. It will help you familiarize as per reading the characters, but it won't help you that much in memorizing for the sake of WRITING it..

Level N1 :: RE: Where can I get a copy of the 2012 N1 Exam?

Author: dimitri_can
Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 1:23 am (GMT 10)
Topic Replies: 1

They are not available now.
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Level N3 :: RE: Books

Author: dimitri_can
Subject: Re: Books
Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 1:22 am (GMT 10)
Topic Replies: 11

Ryuu wrote:

I am using Tobira as my N2-N3 textbook for teaching. =)
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Level N4 :: RE: Old N3 vs New N4

Author: dimitri_can
Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 1:20 am (GMT 10)
Topic Replies: 4

N4 syllabus includes what is covered in MNN2 + extra 20 grammar points
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General :: The difference between N5 and N4 seems small, but is it?

Author: Silty
Subject: The difference between N5 and N4 seems small, but is it?
Posted: Fri May 17, 2013 11:51 pm (GMT 10)
Topic Replies: 3

Compared to N5, N4 only has a couple hundred more Kanji. Sure it seems like a lot, but consider everything you had to learn for N5.

N5 is the "first" Japanese test, so it consists of learning all of the kana, some particles, some grammar, and just learning how to learn Japanese. I think it's around the time when people lay the foundation for how they'll be learning the rest of the language.

N4, on the other hand, doesn't seem like it introduces a lot of new complex material. Just some extra kanji to memorize. A fair amount of kanji, but it doesn't seem like it's more than all the different stuff you had to learn for N5. It would be a different story if N5 had no kanji, but you should already have learned how to memorize kanji from N5 before starting on N4.

And N3 seems to be where the language starts getting more complicated, so you can't just compare it to the first two anymore, I think.

Am missing something, or is N4 that easy after you know the N5 material by heart? I haven't actually taken any of them, this is just what it feels like as an outsider.

Level N5 :: RE: Kanji Recall - how do you mentally organize Kanji knowledge?

Author: Ryuu
Posted: Fri May 17, 2013 9:46 pm (GMT 10)
Topic Replies: 4

You could also try Basic Kanji 1 and 2. Combined, they'll teach you 500 Kanji

I've given a bit of a review here:
http://www.jlptstudy.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1883

If you have any questions regarding it, let me know and I'll help however I can.

The only other advice I can give you is to use them as much as you can. If you know a Kanji but are presented with a sentence that has the word in Hiragana, then use the Kanji.

You could also try Anki:
http://ankisrs.net/

It's a flashcard application (with a mobile version so you can practice pretty much anywhere). I use it to help refresh my memory of Kanji I don't yet use very often.

Good luck

Level N3 :: RE: 7 Months from beginner to N3?

Author: Ryuu
Posted: Fri May 17, 2013 9:42 pm (GMT 10)
Topic Replies: 10

When practising grammar make sure you use all Kanji you know and that is extra practice in itself

I know that Minna No Nihongo is full of Kanji (I'd skip some of the more complex ones I didn't know) but there are some words that were written in Hiragana when I knew the Kanji, such as 私

Level N5 :: RE: Kanji Recall - how do you mentally organize Kanji knowledge?

Author: Silty
Posted: Fri May 17, 2013 1:02 pm (GMT 10)
Topic Replies: 4

pauro01 wrote: