LLearn Japanese

Is reaching N2 a reasonable goal within two years, with two years of experience already?

I have been learning Japanese for about 2 years and I would guess I’m around N4. I’m currently studying in Japan and hope to be around N3 by the end of my year abroad (ends next July). I am heavily considering working in Japan in the future and would like to reach N2 to broaden potential jobs, but I’m not sure if that’s reasonable? I want to start planning whether I’ll need more time to stay in the US and learn after I graduate in 2 years (currently a junior).

6 comments

  4. 2 years is a very generous amount of time to reach N2 with plenty of room for error and burnout – so yes. There’s lots of people who reach N1 in that time and the gap between N2 and N1 is almost as large as the gap between zero and N2.

  5. The gap between N2 and N3 is significantly larger than between N4 and N3. So while it’s possible to go from N4 to N2 in two years, you should aim beyond N3 while you have the advantage of being immersed in Japanese environment.

    Take it from someone who went from N5 to N3 while living in Japan for a year, only to be stuck between N3 and N2 for 10 years afterwards.

  6. Yeah, I got from 0 to N2 in two years by just studying regularly at an average pace, even though there were days/months where I could only do my Anki reviews. I feel like as long as you keep constantly working on it at a reasonable pace, there won’t be any issues

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