Passing the JLPT Lvl 1

This is courtesy of Annie, an ALT from Iyomishima in Ehime Prefecture, giving her tips for passing Level 1 of the JLPT.

I did ikkyu in 2001 and I am going to sit it again this year, to keep my skills up.  If you have people in your audience who are wanting to sit it this year then tell them to get their skates on and start working now!  The thing I found was that while the individual grammar points that come up in the exam are not in themselves that hard, the sheer volume of things you have to be familiar with is insane, and the only way to prepare that is to expose yourself to as much language as possible.  I recommend making up a study program that blends systematic bookwork with exposure to other media, and find a teacher you really like.

Textbook
The textbook I used was one I was using at university.  It's called テーマ別 上級で学ぶ日本語　and it's published by Kenkyusha.  There's a textbook and workbook and they're both excellent - they cover so much useful stuff.  I didn't even finish the textbook and I still got 85%...I also scored some sample kanji booklets aimed at JHS kids from the Japanese teachers at school and worked through them steadily.  You can get some good kanji drill books which go up to elementary grade 6 from the ￥100 shop.  As far as "other media", anything goes!

Watch TV (with your dictionary at the ready) 
-My pick is "行列のできる法律相談所"  (Nankai Sat 1:30pm) . Documentaries and human interest shows are fine but if you have the stamina, watch the news three times each day. First in Japanese, to see how much you can pick up straight off.  Then watch the dubbed English news and check if you were on the right track.  Then before bed watch it again in Japanese, this time using your dictionary to confirm new vocab.

Music

• Have a really close look at the lyrics of Japanese music that you like.

• Watch an enka concert from start to finish.  Enka is so thematically limited that you will see the same words come up often, and so can easily get familiar with that particular branch of Japanese.

• Learn your school songs. This is my number one secret mini hint.  I guarantee you will find just the type of irrelevant, obscure language that pops up in ikkyu.  All those kanji you thought "as if am I EVER gonna see that!"  What's more you have the opportunity to sing it in a loud voice several times a year...

Read widely

• Newspaper articles will throw up a lot of vocab but are not that useful for grammar.  Varied grammar comes up more in opinion pieces.  I recommend magazines about topics you're interested in, editorials, collections of essays, and your city newsletter.  You need to cover a broad range of subject matter so force yourself to read a bit of boring stuff. The fine print on your bank book, your phone bill, etc.  My secret mini hint number two is don't neglect onomatopoeia.  It almost always comes up in the test, and it's actually quite hard to study for.  Pay attention to it in your everyday life and if you need extra help, children's books are a good source.

Speaking

• This doesn't suit everyone but having to prepare and deliver a speech can be a great way to practice grammar and learn new vocab. Privatisation of  the New Zealand Postal System anyone? I'm your lady. Put the word around and I'm sure you can find a PTA group, fujinkai or whatever to hear you out.         

• In your private speaking even, take the geek approach and make a list of say, three new words / patterns to use during the course of each day.  Make your self use them till they just pop out naturally.   I think a lot of the time, we can make ourselves understood by using low-level Japanese in clever ways. To improve, before you go to explain or ask about something, get into the habit of stopping yourself and thinking "Am I saying this in the clearest, most precise way possible?"

• Eavesdrop on your colleagues' phone conversations, then get on the phone yourself. This is huge for improving your keigo and your confidence.

Hmmm...I think that's about the gist of it. The main thing is to combine regular kanji/texbook work with a broad range of extras. When it came to the crunch, in the exam I ended up getting one kanji question correct simply because I recognised the character from the name of one of my favourite TV stars.   In 2001, I had the luxury of being able to spend 1-3 hrs of work time a day just on my reading/kanji routines,  then I did practice tests (about one a week) at home, then I met with my teacher for about 2hrs a week to ask questions about the practice tests and work throught the textbook. Now I don't have that kind of time so I'm getting going on the kanji and reading early, and will start lessons again in July I think.  You do need to make a big time commitment.

Hope this has been some help.  Good luck!

Annie

Tags: language learning | jlpt | Japanese Language Proficiency Test | kanji | studying Japanese

Comments

[John Busby]

I put a set of flashcards for JLPT vocab for Level One online.
Please check here if you are interested:

http://www.flashcardexchange.com/directory/1535.html

They are quick and dirty.

[Nick Mifune ALT]

Hey Annie,
Thanks for the pointers. I appreciate it!

Nick