by Jonathan East

Created on: May 03, 2010   Last Updated: May 04, 2010

Preparing for the revised JLPT exams.

The Japanese Language Proficiency Test, or simply JLPT, is held by the Japan Education Exchange and Services (JEES) to evaluate and certify the Japanese language proficiency of non-native speakers. It is held twice a year (July and December) in Japan as well as in other 55 countries/areas around the world.

After holding the first JLPT exams on 1984, JEES will be administering the revised exams this coming July 4, 2010. In face of this change is the need for new study preparations.

To ensure that your studies are aimed at helping you pass, equip yourself with the KECC strategy:

* (K)now the scopes of the level your taking
* (E)stimate the time required to study each scope
* (C)hoose your study tools
* (C)reate a schedule

Let's take for example, you're planning to take N5, your approach could be as follows:

1. Know your target level's scope - taking the hint given by the new JLPT Guidelines, level N5 is approximately the same level as JLPT L4. Basing on the Test Content Specifications published by The Japan Foundation on 2004, your target scope would be: Kanji (100 items), Vocabulary (800 items), Grammar (130 items), Listening (25 Lessons), Reading (25 Lessons), and Practice Exams (5 exams). 

2. Estimate the Required Time -  allocate study time per item. With the items identified in the previous step, a possible estimate would be: Kanji (17 Hrs) + Vocabulary (133 Hrs) + Grammar (33 Hrs) + Listening (25 Hrs) + Reading (25 Hrs) + Practice Exams (10 Hrs) = 243 Hrs. 

3. Choose your study tools - there are already existing tools on the web, just use your favorite search engine (e.g., Google) and use the following key words - "jlpt <scope> <level>." Replace the <scope> and <level> to the appropriate item you're looking for (e.g., "jlpt kanji n5"). Key things to keep in mind when selecting a tool is that you have access to it during your study time (next step) and it contains the items you identified in the first step.

4. Create your schedule -  depending on your committable time, spread the required time on a weekly basis. For example, Monday(1 Hr Kanji + 1 Hr Vocabulary) + Wednesday(2 Hrs Grammar) + Saturday(1 Hr Listening + 2 Hrs Reading) = 7 Hrs/Week. So your schedule would take around 35 Weeks or around 8 to 9 months (243 Hrs divided by 7 Hrs per week).

Passing JLPT is do-able if you follow the steps above, keep your motivation, and diligently follow your study plan.

[Reference]

Japanese Language Proficiency Test: Test Content Specifications (Revised Edition), The Japan Foundation and Association of International Education, Japan, 2004. ISBN 4-89358-281-X.

Learn more about this author, Jonathan East.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.