Hi, I'm looking for helpful opinions about taking the exam in a country whose language I don't really speak (apart from basic level).
The point is I missed the deadline for enrolling in the december exam in my country, but I really want to take it by december, and I have the opportunity to take it in France, so I'm pretty sure I won't be able to rely on english to get by.
I'm not sure how the exam happens exactly, as it would be the first time I take it, so I was wondering how difficult the quest would be, as adding extra stress to an exam can only worse the performance.
by eyebrow911
4 comments
Most people speak okay English in France, I think you could get by. Also if you take the test in Paris there is English everywhere in the transportation system
If I’m not mistaken, the booklet is in japanese and english. The instruction in the exam room will be given in french, but it’s just regular stuff (no phone, only pencils and erasers, etc…). I don’t think it should be too much of a problem.
Did the same, it was no problem at all.
I’ve done it before, you should be able to get by with basic french, just make sure you can receive the certificate. I’ll just copy and paste what I’ve said before:
I went to Paris last winter. The instructions were only given in French. I managed to read the written ones without too much issues and I got the gist of the spoken instructions with my basic French knowledge, although the latter did make it kinda stressful as I didn’t want to miss anything important, especially since they were emphasizing what would happen if you did anything against the rules. Other than that it was super busy at the venue and it turned into a crazy rush through strict security with a bunch of orders only being shouted in French. Not great.
You’ll probably survive and it’ll make for a more memorable experience. I loved visiting Paris for the JLPT and the city was great in the winter with cool christmas markets etc. Make sure to visit the Japanese bookstore JUNKUDO, they have an amazing collections of novels, manga etc in Japanese!