Japanese Proficiency Test

In case you guys didn't know (well, maybe some of you already do), it's a test held every December (first Sunday of the month) in L.A. that tests your Japanese skills. I heard there are 4 levels. My friend took Level 2 last year and got a 75%. And we are around the same level, and it's been a year since she took the test and her Japanese has gotten better (along with mine) since.

I just want to know if there are those who have tooken it before and if so what level and how they did. I have just finished my 5th year of taking Japanese and by the time the test starts, it will be the middle of my 6th. I also hope to plan on graduating school by next Spring and hopefully get a job with the JET program.

Is it in my best interests to take this test at level 1 or level 2?

I heard level 1 was EXTREMELY hard. I heard level 2 wasn't anything simple either, but I know college Japanese majors who have taken it and done fairly well (and still said it was kinda hard). I would suggest you take level 2, especially since you haven't taken the JLPT before. Taking level 2 alone will look great on your application to JET. But also remember, for JET ALT's, they don't even require any Japanese knowledge at all :sweat: Even if you do the other job (office work, requiring Japanese, forget what it's called), level 2 will also help you. Even while in JET, you can still take the JLPT in Japan as well....so if you decide to take level 1 next year, you can, depending on where you'll be placed. Level 2 seems to be highly looked upon as well, so I wouldn't rush into 1 even if your Japanese is up to that par (probably is after 6 years), but since it'll be a new test to you, level 2 might be best.

I took level 4 in December 2002. I had maybe...1 year of Japanese then. Level 4 of course was extremely easy. I didn't get a high score but passed and all that good stuff. It was a matter of not studying and making dumb mistakes by rushing. I got in late...had to travel to NYC on a Sunday morning and it was finals week :sweat:

I didn't have time to take level 3 this past December, but now I finished college and don't have time or money to take private classes at the moment. So I haven't had Japanese classes since August 2003. I better get moving, LOL. I know my Japanese has definitely improved since taking level 4, but I've also lost some from lack of practice :shakehead:

What types of questions are on the test? i was planing to take these exams but didnt know how hard the easiest level is.... :hehe:

The test is divided into three majors section:

-Listening
-Grammar
-Vobulary

For level 1, You must pass 70%. Why don't you take both level? For example in Singapore, level 1 is in the morning and level 2 is in the afternoon.

For JET, you do not need Japanese.However if you are applying for ALT, you need some japanese knowledge.

So how does it go? is lvl 1 the highest or lvl 4?

Well, thanks for all your help. I'll defenitley look into trying it. I just recentley read some of the study material on their website (which I will post later). I know a lot of the grammar and stuff on level 1, but mostly know the kanji on level 2.

I figure I take this test to see how I have gone so far, and maybe for resume purposes.

kinki_txr wrote:The test is divided into three majors section:

-Listening
-Grammar
-Vobulary

For level 1, You must pass 70%. Why don't you take both level? For example in Singapore, level 1 is in the morning and level 2 is in the afternoon.

For JET, you do not need Japanese.However if you are applying for ALT, you need some japanese knowledge.

I'm not sure about LA, but I took mine in NYC (LA office scheduled it). All exams started at the same time.

As someone said the test is divided up into three parts. Each test is, if I remember correctly, 400 points. Level 4 is the easiest and Level 1 is the hardest. You need at least 60% of the points to pass levels 4-2 and you need 70% to pass level one.

For level 4: You need to know 100 Kanji
For level 3: You need to know 300 kanji
For level 2: You need to know 1000 kanji
For level 1: You need to know ~2000 kanji (basically it's as though you were born and raised in Japan).

If you pass level 2, it will definately help you get into JET. I know a friend who applied and got into JET and he knew minimal Jpn. In fact, he studied for and then took the level 4 test while in Japan.

Good luck and if you do decide to take the Level 2 test, I'd appreciate it if you would report on your experience as I am thinking about doing it next year.

Just a word of caution about applying to JET. (Well, not really caution...more like FYI...)

If you know Japanese fairly well, I think your chances of getting stuck out in the boondocks is a bit higher because you have a better chance of survivng where fewer people speak english. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but some people expect to land *plop* in a cool, hip Japanese city with lots of things to do and whatnot. Reality is you could end up in the melon capitol of Japan (Hachiryu-shi, Akita-ken), where just about the only places open in the evening are the bars... ^_^;;;

Luckily, though, you will always have the ALTs in neighboring areas to hang out at said bars... :D

I studied Japanese for 3 years until I finished college last year in 2003. And same with KouSeiya315, I haven't had a single Japanese class from then on until recently when I started to take somewhat a lesson. It supposed to help people who want to take the JLPT. It never crossed my mind to take JLPT until then.

With my 3rd year level, I tried to take the Level 2 practice test that they gave me, but the Kanji just threw me off! Too many Kanji that I don't know. As Slackey said,

For level 2: You need to know 1000 kanji

he's probably right, I don't think I have 1000 kanji in my brain yet. But by 5th or 6th year, you'll probably have 1000 already. Anyway, I tried the 3rd level, and it somewhat suits me. So I think I'm gonna take that one. But in the 3rd level practice test, it's all written in hiragana though, is it like that in the real test, or is it just the practice? :crazy: There is a really big jump from Level 3 to 2.

And for JET, you don't need to know any Japanese actually, but of course, with JLPT Level 2 in the resume, it would look really nice. Besides, I think with 5 years of Japanese, you would survive in Japan though, no? ;)

Btw, does anyone know where to get the practice tests? Looks like they (the teacher in the class that I'm taking now) got the practice tests off the web or something (since it has amazon.co.jp advertisement in it) not sure though :crazy:

Like many of the IT certification exams available, are there any sort of study guides available to prepare for these exams?

--- groink

groink wrote:Like many of the IT certification exams available, are there any sort of study guides available to prepare for these exams?

--- groink

Yes! Totally right!

But unfortunately, many people are lazy nowadays and look for all the answers on websites and message boards.

*sigh* The world of technology. :rolleyes:

:D .. I mean some kind of URL about the practice tests. Yes, you're right, I'm just looking for shortcuts, in case somebody knew it on top of their head.

http://www.jflalc.org/proftest/index.html

Thanks for all your help

Here is the link. I think you can find some practice or study material here somewhat, I guess. I lost track of how many kanji I know, but I hope enough to do well on level 2. I'll probably take level 2 this year if possible, and then take level 1 when I'm in Japan next year.

ParaParaJMo wrote:http://www.jflalc.org/proftest/index.html

Thanks for all your help

Here is the link. I think you can find some practice or study material here somewhat, I guess. I lost track of how many kanji I know, but I hope enough to do well on level 2. I'll probably take level 2 this year if possible, and then take level 1 when I'm in Japan next year.

The site just offers a list of books that could help out on the test.
Too bad i haven't studied japanese for more than a year. I would probably take Level 3, because i forgot A LOT of kanji. :sweat:
I've studied 2 years worth in high school, 2 years in community college, and another 2 years at a 4 year college. :rolleyes: 2 classes left to go to finish my japanese BA..but damn im lazy...

amrayu wrote:

The site just offers a list of books that could help out on the test.
Too bad i haven't studied japanese for more than a year. I would probably take Level 3, because i forgot A LOT of kanji. :sweat:
I've studied 2 years worth in high school, 2 years in community college, and another 2 years at a 4 year college. :rolleyes: 2 classes left to go to finish my japanese BA..but damn im lazy...

There are some random unlinked pages from that site that have scans of the sample tests. It's just a matter of seeing if they are still cached on Google or Yahoo :sweat: They used to link them on the site, but they don't anymore. Even when they didn't link them they still were there....so maybe they have them again :rolleyes:

I can't find the sample tests :google:

I'm not good at finding things :sweat:

ParaParaJMo wrote:I can't find the sample tests :google:

I'm not good at finding things :sweat:

I'll try to find them, but I can't make any promises :sweat: If I find them I'll post them here ;)

i was just wondering...did you guys take the proficiency test for fun or was it required for the JET program or whiever program there is. im very ignorant in this topic. please intrigue me. :P

You don't have to know Japanese for the jet program. You just need a bachelors degree. I wanna take it to test myself and use it for resume building and to prove if my degree in Japanese is worth it.