How does JPod compare to the different JLPT levels?

[Anine]

Hi all!

I'm trying to decide which JLPT level to try for next year. I used to study Japanese and spoke it at a decent level, but that was a few years ago. Now I'm using JPod to motivate me to study again.

If I'm able to understand the beginner lessons from last summer without too much difficulty, and understand about 80% of the intermediate lessons, am I then at about high level 3/low level 2 when it comes to listening comprehention in JLPT? Or are the audio blogs more similar to level 2?I would love to know what level I am at right now, so that I can have realistic goals for my studies.

[annie]

How many years did you study Japanese, and was it in university, h.s., or on your own?
How many kanji do you know?

http://jlpt.info/ has copies of old exams posted, so you can try some out. (but the site seems to be down at the moment)

there's a huge gap between level 2 and 3. and you're likely somewhere in there. It really depends on your kanji and how advanced your grammar and reading skills are.

[Abrassart]

Well, it's difficult to say, because there is not only the "listenning" part, but also the "vocabulary" and the "grammar" part. Then you have to know (and to be able to read fast) a lot of kanji. For the level 4 it's only 200 kanjis, but it grows fast...

[Anine]

2 years full time in University, and then 6 months in Japan, 10 years ago. With a bit of JLPT-specific study I would have been able to pass level 2 back then. I still remember most of the grammar, but I have forgotten lots of vocab and of course kanji. I use JPod for listening comprehention, Japanese for Everyone to brush up on grammar, and Heisig for kanji. From what you told I guess level 3 next December should be do-able, and then I can aim for level 2 in 2008. Level 1 would require me to study beyond what I once knew, so I probably shouldn't even dream about that for now!

[tiroth2]

I think intermediate Jpod does probably correspond closely to 2級 listening. If you get 80% of later intermediate lessons then you would probably do about as well (60-80%) on 2級 or even 1級. The listening portions use much simpler language than the rest of the test, and it doesn't seem to get much harder between the to levels. (unlike the other sections!)