JLPT: The aftermath

This update is dedicated to Toby for being possibly the only person interested in reading my blog!

I know you're all dying to know how the JLPT went in the end, and why I've been so quiet with the updates. Well, the answer is I'm just not sure.

In the days leading up to the exam I bit the bullet and bought the 2007 and 2008 past papers from the Japan Centre, because anyone who tried to take advantage of my previous post may have noticed that, probably due to the legal grey area of posting these materials on the internet, (a) the audio files were missing or very badly recorded (b) the audio transcripts were missing (c) for some years the papers were missing in their entirety, especially the most recent ones (d) the answers were unofficial and in many cases incorrect.

This gave me 2 forms of final preparation for the exam: taking the past papers as practice exams and, for the listening section, which seemed to be my weak point, practicing transcribing the audio. For most of the practice exams, I remember feeling extremely discouraged and lacking in confidence in my answers during the exam, yet somehow managing to score around 75%. Given that the pass mark for level 4 is 60%, these were all comfortable passes.

I started to get an overall picture of what to expect from the real thing. Section 1, Writing and Vocabulary, can be broken down into four subsections:

1. Identifying the reading of a given Kanji in a given context
2. Given a reading in kana, producing the correct Kanji
3. Identifying the correct word to use in a given context (in a vocabulary rather than grammatical sense)
4. Synonyms - e.g. the question might read "That hotel is famous" and the answer is "Everyone knows that hotel"

Relatively speaking, this section is extremely easy. There are about 100 Kanji to learn for level 4 and it is easily achievable for one to memorize how each one is read and written. Provided you have a good vocabulary which, frankly, is essential for the entire exam, the other 2 parts should also prove no problem. Getting 100% in Section 1 is realistic, was definitely my goal, and should be yours too.

Section 2 is listening. This remained my weakness throughout my study period. On the day before the exam, I felt sufficiently prepared in all other aspects that I dedicated the entire day to improving my listening skills, by working on transcribing the audio. Nevertheless I continued to find it extremely challenging, although I felt my skills had improved somewhat by the end of the day. But here's the thing: sections 1 and 2 are worth 25% of the marks each and section 3 is worth a whopping 50% of the entire paper. Keen mathematicians amongst you will have quickly realized that I could get 0 marks on the listening section and, provided I aced the remaining sections, comfortably pass. Even keener mathematicians will note that, given the exam is multiple choice with 4 choices per question, by chance alone I should be able to pick up 25% of the marks in the listening section, which is equivalent to about 6% of the overall marks. Which means I could get as low as 72% of the marks across the remaining 2 sections and still pass - and I've already told you I intended to get 100% on section 1.

Section 3 is Reading and Grammar and has 6 or so subsections. You'll need to

1. Identify the correct particle to use in a variety of contexts
2. Conjugate verbs
3. Have an excellent grasp of question words and key phrases
4. Have a top notch vocabulary to handle the extensive comprehension questions

The particle usage I found to be the part where I was most lacking in confidence, being unsure of my answers in most instances and having to rely too heavily on intuition. However, it seemed my particular method of revision worked brilliantly insofar as granting me that inuitive grasp of particle usage, at least for the practice exams. The comprehension questions are not that challenging provided your vocabulary is up to scratch, and it's important to bear in mind that these questions carry many more marks - perhaps 4 or 5 times as many marks as one of the particle usage questions. I cannot stress enough how vital a good vocabulary is for passing. It may seem obvious, but if you can't read the questions in any of the sections, or identify the words in the listening, then you're going to struggle.

So how did the real thing go? Like I said - I'm really not sure. It went pretty much exactly the same as all of the practice exams - I lacked confidence in my answers. But I'm comforted by the fact I passed those practice exams. Now all I have to do is wait until March for the results...