I have been learning Japanese as a hobby for almost 2 years. Personally, I think did pretty well as someone who self-taught Japanese only using online resources. Currently taking a break from learning grammar(N2~N1) that I’ve been doing for the past few months, now I’m just immersing myself in Japanese content, and deciding what to do next.
Recently, a question stuck with me, just how much have I learned these two years? Obviously I’ve master hiragana/katakana, didn’t have any problems with Kanji(since I came from the country that uses it). I memorize as much as vocabs as I can by constantly adding words to my anki deck. I understand decent amount of grammars through me grinding to learn all grammar as much possible (N5~N1) I did all this for about 1.5 years and starting to be able to consume Japanese content without too much problems. I can understand the content around 80%( except for joke references of sorts) while still enjoy it and learn some new vocabs, proverbs, new sentence structures along the way. Whenever I watch or read something and I always have that moment of ” Wait, I know it cuz I learned this grammar/vocabs from X days ago!”
Of course it doesn’t always go that well, depends on the topic and the difficulty of the subject, my understanding might go down to 40% or less. And that’s where I realized my Japanese probably isn’t good enough. From the very beginning I understood that mastering a language is not a simple task, and it’s gonna take a long time. But all my hard work that resulted me starting to understand Japanese gives a big confidence boost, I thought I “understand” the language, until I hit that wall. I pondered, did I just not get enough study? Do I need to study more to get to that point? And just how much have I learned these two years? Where exactly is my Japanese level at? What can I do and what should I do next?
So I researched and found out apparently there are people who take JLPT to test their Japanese, and can get an actual certification for passing them and putting on resume. But this isn’t for me, because as I said I’m only learning Japanese as a hobby, in the future I have no plan to study or work in Japan. (That being said ofc its good to have something on your resume, but for now I don’t need it.) As for another reason for it, I didn’t want to spend any money or at least minimize it if possible, since I heard it’s not free to take the exam. So I wonder if there’s other way to test my Japanese through online accurately without needing to spend any single cent as well.
In my own evaluation (estimate) , I think my Japanese level is around N3~N2 and weaker at listening and speaking side. But it’s just my own evaluation after all, it can’t be 100% correct. Or rather I do not have the qualification to do so. Which is why I need some else to test my Japanese level like doing exam in JLPT.
If you know any, please give me some recommendations website or something that would be helpful for me to know where my Japanese level at. Any suggestions for how I should continue my Japanese study are also welcomed!
3 comments
If anyone who wants to know my detailed learning process:
0. Memorizing Hiragana & Katakana while memorize some basic vocabs(N5). I write them down on my notebook repeatedly everyday til I memorize it. Occasionally use the flash card from Obenkyo app to memorize it. ー continue about a month
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Obenkyo
1. After mastering Hiragana & Katakana, I started getting into the Japanese grammar while memorize new vocabs(common) everyday.
My go to websites for learning grammar:
https://guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar
https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/online-japanese-grammar-guides/
https://jlptsensei.com/jlpt-n5-grammar-list/
2. Since I’m learning Japanese by myself without a teacher. Whenever I have questions or doubts, the only way I can get help is by searching it from internet or simply ask someone who know Japanese or is Japanese, which is what I recommend if you’re also self-teaching. Every time I have questions I just throw it on Hi native (https://hinative.com/)
People are always willing to gives me answers or explain it to me. So most of my questions regarding the grammar are mostly answered through this method. Sometime I also make example sentences using the grammar I’ve learned and post it on Hinative to make sure I know how to use it and use it correctly. If I got it wrong people will correct me, or teach me better way to phrase it.
3. Half way through the learning I discovered Anki deck, the digital flashcards. I was making actual physical flash cards before it. Now I can make flashcards instantly with the help of Takoboko dictionary app, it can sync with anki, so I can create a flash cards with just click from the app. I can also sync it to my laptop too! And I go through my anki nearly every day to memorize new vocabs and review words I’ve learned.
https://apps.ankiweb.net/
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jp.takoboto
4. Around the same time I discovered Anki, I also found the method of watching anime to learn Japanese. Animelon a site that provide anime witb Japanese subtitles, and you can also save the new words you find in the subtitles and add it into anki later on.
* But when I found this, my Japanese wasn’t good enough to keep up the subtitles, had to pause nearly every sentence. Also I didn’t enjoy as much as do, so only started to use this site around the time I start learning N3~N1 grammar. It was where I started to have that moment of ” Wait, I know it cuz I learned this grammar/vocabs from X days ago!” Which also gives me more motivation to learn Japanese in order to understand and enjoy it.
5. Input. Aside from studying grammar and memorize vocabs, having alot of inputs is also part of my study. Though it might sound like I’m only relaxing, but it’s like a constant learning for me. By consuming Japanese content, it will put what you have been learning to the test. You will get to review what you’ve learned and get to new things as well.
As I mentioned in #4 I can get learn more vocabs by watching anime with Japanese subtitle. Similarly, I also attempted to read manga in full Japanese. The two manga I’ve read, “Yuusha, yamemasu” and “Haikyuu” the two series where I got curious after finishing the anime. By the time I read it I had finish learning N5~2 grammar midway learning N1.
So I started reading the manga as a curiosity for the story and testing how far my Japanese have gone. The results are positive but not satisfactory. I did enjoy the stories, understand like 70~85%(part of it might just be me overrelying on the Kanji which I most familiar with) , and learned alot of new vocabs. But it just took too much time and efforts to look up the words. That being said, I’m still proud of what I accomplished it, I would never be able to do so if I didn’t learn Japanese. I might be able to make out 10% of the story solely relying on kanji, but it wouldn’t worth the time and efforts to get 10% of the story. For now, I wanna put this method on hold, come back when my Japanese got even better and can smooth read through all the dialogues. As for light novels, it’s still way too early for me, but in the future, I also wanna be able to read it in Japanese without problems. Afterall, being able to read light novel in Japanese was one of my goal and motivation to learn Japanese!
△6. Output. Speak/converse with Japanese native. It’s a common consensus that the best way and fastest way to learn a language is to speak more. Well, however I’m kinda an introvert and it got worse during the pandemic for some reason. So I haven’t been able to accomplish that, I know you can like do it online but its still scared me. (I won’t do it for now, but I’ll probably try to do it in the future.)
Therefore, instead of doing output without needing to involve talking, is by writing stories, thoughts, diary of sorts. Though I said I’m too introverted to talk to people, but Im fine with chatting through text with people if it’s not face to face or involve talking. I do that occasionally in #2 I sometimes also ask questions in Japanese as well.
That’s all for the mean time I think. Might have missed one or two of my learning process, I will add it in if I recall it or have come up new methods. If you read all this thank you for reading, feel free to criticize my methods of learning and give me suggestions! 読んでくれてありがとうございます！
There is no ‘test’ that works better than trying to read web novels and such like on Syosetsu. In about 5 minutes if you can read the native stuff without issues than you are probably average level fluent. [https://syosetu.com/](https://syosetu.com/) Though you will need a vocab much higher than N2-N1 to be able to read everything comfortably.
JLPT tests specific knowledge, but it will not help you in a lot of areas of Japanese. Many learners are really just paper holders – they are not actually proficient or even functional in expressing/speaking or even reading the language. It may sound counter intuitive, but many N2s seem to be unable to hold a conversation or write even a coherent argument on a set topic. If you can do these – then you are probably better off than most (if you don’t mind not having a piece of a paper which is not a full measure of your ability anyways).
Do you need an actual piece of paper? You can try an ACTFL OPI, WPT, RPT and/or LPT. Other countries may have their own tests/scales. You’d still probably need to pay for the test.
If you don’t really need certification, just you do you. Or find a JLPT practice test.