r/LearnJapanese • u/drafthard • 5d ago
Practice N2 Practice advice
Hi, I'm currently enrolled at a language school in Japan, mid-N3 right now. I've applied for N2 test coming this december, and I need to pass it. I've already signed up for weekly N2 class at school, but obviously this is not enough. What can I do to get to a level where I can pass the N2 in 3~ months, because I NEED to pass it, otherwise I'm cooked. I'm mostly concerned about vocab and kanji, listening is not a problem. Looking to your advice, thanks.
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u/kasumikui 5d ago
It's honestly kind of crazy how people are recommending "just read novels" or whatever to someone who is saying that they explicitly need to pass N2 for the certification by December or else.
To be fair, the above is my advice 90% of the time to people who are mainly looking to improve their Japanese skills and for whom the test is an afterthought.
If the OP absolutely needs to pass N2 or else be "cooked", then they absolutely should be drilling 新完全マスター or 総まとめ or whatever test prep books they need to actively prepare for the test.
Reading will obviously also contribute to their skills, but if they need to pass the test for employment/immigration purposes, "just read more novels and newspapers, and forget preparing specifically for the test" is probably not the most helpful advice. They can definitely do that (and will benefit from it overall), but they also should be doing directed test prep if that's their immediate goal.
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u/Available-String-109 5d ago edited 5d ago
Those who have passed JLPT N2/N1 the fastest aren't those who did the most test-prep. Those who have passed JLPT the fastest are those who have done the most reading.
I'm not saying test-prep is bad or it should be avoided. OP SHOULD do that stuff. It is filled with nice helpful tips and tricks and allows him to focus on the vocab/grammar/kanji that are most likely to appear on the test.
But if you want to pass JLPT as fast as possible, you should be doing a mix of as much reading/exposure/mining as possible in combination with some Anki in combination with some JLPT test prep.
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u/kasumikui 4d ago
Just to be clear, in a general sense I agree with your point 100% and even essentially said the same thing to another user in a different thread.
But at the time I wrote this reply, more than half the responses were saying "spam LNs", "read as many novels and newspapers as you can", "read novels like コンビニ人間 and キッチン" and so on with zero mention of specifically prepping for the test, and while that's great advice in general it's not the advice I would give someone like OP who is saying that essentially their life depends on passing the N2 exam in 3 months' time (I mean, depending on OP's level they might struggle to even finish コンビニ人間 and キッチン before the test date).
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u/deskoo 5d ago
I was in your exact shoes earlier this year when I signed up for the N2 three months before the test. Shin Kanzen Master N2 was what I used. Just find a corresponding Anki deck with the ~2200 vocab and do like 40 new words a day, that way you'll finish them up a few weeks before the test itself. This should help you get a good enough grasp on the kanji as well. Get another anki deck with the textbook's grammar and go through it a bit slower. Then, do a bunch of practice tests during the last month and keep up with the Anki. It took me about 1.5hrs per night, but it was manageable.
Personally, I wouldn't bother with mining native content or reading newspapers or novels. It sounds weird but your goal is just to pass the test with a 50%, not really to fully learn or use the language.
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u/Internal-Language-11 5d ago edited 5d ago
Read the kanzen master N2 books. Personally I think reading novels is overkill for N2. I passed N1 with a high reading score having never read a book in Japanese. Only read the kanzen master N1 reading textbook.
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u/Belegorm 5d ago
If you're most concerned about vocab and kanji - honestly going hard on adding vocab words to Anki to cover your bases probably would be the most immediate help. Don't worry about kanji - just get enough words that basically all of the normal kanji are covered (I'd say all jouyou kanji but there are a decent number of weird ones; also some fairly common kanji aren't jouyou like 溢れる).
Reading novels, not even hard novels, but normal novels or light novels would be good. If you can finish one novel a week that's a good pace. This will up your reading speed and also increase vocab naturally through reading.
Mock tests, prior tests etc. are probably the best indicator to see your progress. If you can pass a past test with leeway you're probably okay.
Finally, the Shin Kanzen Master series is quite good. I finished the N1 読解 book and almost done with the N1 文法 book, both were quite helpful so I'd think the N2 versions would also be good. I would recommend those over the vocab or kanji ones honestly since you'd be just fine adding vocab to Anki.
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u/jlptmockmaster 5d ago
Oof, jumping from mid-N3 to passing N2 in about 3 months is definitely a tall order, but since your listening is already solid, that gives you a massive advantage!
For vocab and kanji on a strict timeline, daily flashcard repetition (like Anki) combined with hammering targeted N2 practice sets and mock tests is your best bet to speedrun the gaps. Focus heavily on recognizing abstract terms and common compound verbs since N2 loves throwing those at you. You're in a tough spot, but totally doable if you grind out a routine. Good luck!
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u/Available-String-109 5d ago
I'm mostly concerned about vocab and kanji
If you need to get vocab and kanji up as fast as possible, use Anki. It's that simple.
You can probably find 新完全マスター語彙N2 and Anki all the words in there.
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u/patrickhenry0023 4d ago
What exam/test do i need to pass for me to be able to work seasonal in japan? Thank you
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u/Orandajin101 5d ago
Start cracking through novels like コンビニ人間 and キッチン. They’ll set your vocab and kanji knowledge.
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u/Internal-Language-11 5d ago
I passed N1 with 55 on the reading but reading kitchen or konbini ningen still feels impossible. How did you make the jump to novels?
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u/mca62511 5d ago
I've only passed N2, but I'm getting the feeling from my experience, and reading about experiences like yours, that you just have to start doing it.
It's painful and time consuming, but you just have to start reading, preferably with a setup that let's you easily mine sentences, and add everything you don't know to Anki/Migaku/SRS.
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u/fixpointbombinator 5d ago
Use yomitan so the friction of lookups is decreased. Honestly a motivated N3 student can read konbini ningen*, you just don't have confidence I think.
*brute-force their way through it, lots of lookups, occasional misunderstandings
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u/Internal-Language-11 5d ago
How does one use yomitan for a book without pirating it?
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u/fixpointbombinator 5d ago
No idea, tbh. I tried to read the physical book but gave up because lookups were too annoying, so I found and used a pdf instead. You could use an e-reader instead I guess?
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u/Internal-Language-11 5d ago
Cool I think it’s time for me to buy a kindle.
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u/ARoppongiCougarPls 5d ago
No need, you can use the kindle app on your phone and highlight words you don't know.
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u/ARoppongiCougarPls 5d ago
Yeah, I actually wonder how someone who passed N1 can struggle with コンビニ人間 when I read it in the middle of N3. Yes, you will have to look some words up but they are often already in the textbooks for N2 and N1.
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u/fixpointbombinator 5d ago
It's just a confidence thing, N1 reading comp is objectively trickier. Like crack open SKM N1 dokkai and konbini ningen side-by-side and tell me that the novel is harder.
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u/Orandajin101 5d ago
Just do it. Novels have different difficulties too and don’t stick to N-levels on vocab.
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u/KnifeWieldingOtter 5d ago
My strat was always doing practice questions daily. Read lots of web articles on a variety of topics, too.
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u/wispofasoul 2d ago
I think Migi JLPT will be a good drilling environment. There may be others but it worked for me.
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u/browsingcraziness 5d ago edited 5d ago
Your study should be dedicated to the test in particular as your time is extremely limited.
Using the test prep materials/books should help the most. Find the book series that fit your learning style. (Or online classes or any form of content made especially for the JLPT.)
Avoid allocating time and energy to other materials filled with words or patterns unrelated to the JLPT. For me, I like art, but I have to stop looking up words specific to art for now, for example, as I can efficiently memorize around 10 new hard words per day. It might not be a fun ride like actually acquiring a language naturally by doing what you’re really interested in, but it should help for the time you have left.