JLPT N5 advice needed

[archie.alcain_498865]

Hi, after 2 years of decision-makin', finally I've decided to try to take the JLPT exam this December (our country only hosts December exams) I'm on summer vacation right now, and I have loads of freetime (literally whole day!) so I'd like to study as much as I can.

My vacation only lasts 3 months, and after that I'm stepping to college, which will unfortunately hinder my learning progress as I only have around an hour per day to study at that time.

So while I'm on vacation, I'd like to get much out of it as possible. I can work for 5~6 hours per day. I have Hiragana nailed down and I'm halfway at Katakana now. Unfortunately, I only have less than 10 kanji in my vocabulary, and most of my Japanese vocabulary comes from watching anime(yes, I know.) In my estimate, I can understand almost half of the episode when watching it raw, so maybe that includes basic conversation, I don't know if that helps. I'm willing to learn everything!

Oh, and I have Genki I & II and RTK here also.

Is it possible to nail down N5 surely in three months? I'm not gonna be able to focus on Japanese when August steps up, so I wanted to make sure I'm already confident by the time July comes. My test is still at December, but I don't want to be a laughing stock when I take the exam.


I need to set up a study schedule, but I don't know where to start! Any tips would be highly appreciated!

[community.japanese]

arche.alcain san,
That is a good goal.
I am really cheering for you.
However, in order to pass N5, you should know around 150kanji (both onyomi and kunyomi).
If you can finish Genki 1, you should be able to pass the test.
Nevertheless, Gneki 1 doesn’t have comparison sentence structure. And it uses なくちゃいけませんeven though other text books use　なければなりません for sticking formal expression.
Although Watching manga is helpful, you should understand formality level which means when and to who you can use casual form and casual languages.
We have some lessons for JLPT.
They are still said Level 4 (old version but now N5) however, you can try them.
http://www.japanesepod101.com/2009/10/1 ... -course-1/
Yuki 　由紀
Team JapanesePod101.com

[mwbeale6642]

My suggestion would be that you get to the level of Genki 1 at least. I studied with the Japanese for Busy People series and needed to be half way through the second book of three to get to the right level (so if Genki 1 is half way through the Genki series of books, that seems about right).

I think a really useful reference book for N5 is the Unicom book:

http://shop.whiterabbitjapan.com/japanese-language/jlptn5/the-preparatory-course-for-the-jlpt-n5-yomu-learn-kanji-vocabulary-grammar-important-forms-of-speech-and-conversational-expressions.html#.U1Tks167pGI

I'd be aiming for mastery of Jpod101 beginner series 4,5,6 (you don't need to do 1,2,3 to start on beginner series 4). That would make you more confident about the listening aspect.

Remember that it is not all about vocabulary, grammar and kanji. You need to be able to listen and read too. You need to know the format of the questions, so maybe get some mock tests too (several books are available on that: e.g. see the White Rabbit website) or study the JLPT specific resources on Jpod101.

If you've already got some grounding in Japanese, then I think you can pass N5 in three months.

Good luck.

マーティン

[community.japanese]

マーティンさん、
Thank you for sharing the information.
I think it’s useful everyone.
ありがとうございました。
Yuki 由紀
Team JapanesePod101.com