No of Hours to Pass JLPT L1?Calling those who have passed

[jessmeister766606]

Hi All

I have been investigating the claim that it only takes 900 hours to pass JLPT Level 1. Based on my own progress and what I have read on the web, this appears to be overly optimistic to the extent of being nonsense.

From what I understand it takes a couple of years of dedicated study for Chinese students, or something in the order of 2,000 hours or therabouts. Thus, clearly for English speaking students it would be considerably longer. I recall seeing some studies quoted in forums that a more realistic number would be something in the order of 3,000 hours or thereabouts.

Can anyone who has passed this give some kind of indication based on their experience?

[Javizy]

I think that refers to 900 hours of classroom study, so the hours of exposure and study outside of the classroom aren't counted towards it. When you consider that some teachers recommend writing out kanji over and over again, you could spend 900 hours just learning the jouyou characters. I'm somewhere between ２級 and １級 and it definitely takes a lot longer than 900 hours, even if you're using the Heisig and SRS.

[jessmeister766606]

With the Kanji do you really need to to know how to write them or just recall them?

[Jessi]

You do not have to write anything for the JLPT As long as you know the meanings and readings, you are set!

[mutley]

Once you get to that many hours it gets pretty hard to guess accurately.
I took level 2 in december and think I passed ok after 2 years of living in Japan, studying a couple of hours most days (so maybe 1000+ hours total). So it'll probably be more like 1500-2500 hours by the time I in theory try level 1.

I reckon 900 hours would only be possible if all of those hours are spent with a teacher in a small group lesson (which lets face it is pretty unlikely for most people)

[mieth]

900 hours is completely unrealistic... unless maybe you are Chinese =) then it is very feasible. I don't think westerners are really taken in to consideration for that number.

[QuackingShoe]

Do the kanji kentei instead

[Psy]

900 hours is a gross, gross underestimation. Your milage my vary, but for me, as a language-isolated self-study, it took a solid year of a horrifyingly intense study regimen to make the jump from what I felt would be easily passing 2kyuu to being ready for 1kyuu. Living in Japan/having an instructor would probably lessen the burden a bit, but since there's still a lot of material to cover, it's still safe to say between 1 and 2 years, especially if you're not comfortable with at least the jouyou kanji...

... or, as QuackingShoe has quaintly put it, "Long enough that you'll wish you'd been doing something else."

The milestone is rewarding.

[jon1506]

JLPT Study Hour Comparison Data 1992-2010

Study Hours Required to Pass JLPT

Students with kanji knowledge *no prior kanji knowledge
*eg: Asian Students Other Students

N1 (level 1) 1800-2300 hours 3100-4500 hours
N2 (level 2) 1100-1500 hours 1400-2000 hours
N3 N/A N/A
N4 (level 3) 375-475 hours 500-750 hours
N5 (level 4) 200-300 hours 250-400 hours

# JLEC official averages between Oct 92 - Oct 2010

[ShadowzKiller]

You do not have to write anything for the JLPT As long as you know the meanings and readings, you are set!

So do you mean Kanji only? I mean, of course knowledge of grammar helps a lot too. How much kanji should one know for it then?

[Javizy]

It's all multiple choice, so you don't actually need to write kanji, or anything at all asides from a tick. You should be able to find out more about the content at the official site here: http://www.jlpt.jp/e/