Okay okay I know I’m going to get downvoted to oblivion but before anyone throws pitchforks at me, I promise I have a good reason.
I know language learning is not a race nor is it conducive or productive or anywhere useful to rush learning a language. BUT there is graduation + scholarship on the line here, so I hope you understand.
My school/major requires a second language for me to graduate, and Japanese was my choice (I do know another language but it wasn’t approved(?)). I passed N5 so I’m technically all-clear for graduation. However, there’s a scholarship + other major perks for anyone who can reach N1. That scholarship could pay off a huge chunk of my education loans. We also get a free trip to Japan. I’m also applying for professional schools next year, and a third language would bring my prospects up. I need the piece of paper before everything else which I know is awful (and I feel bad even typing it), but such is life sometimes.
Unfortunately, I currently work at a hospital as a researcher (yes I went to school + worked at the same time) so I can’t do a complete immersion. However, being a good student is my specialty—I love learning and I’m consistent in my work. I also attended the top university in my country and graduated in the top 5 for my major so I’m confident I can do well with a bit of guidance and direction. I’m used to working 8 hrs then studying for 6 at home, but I’ve actually finished most of my graduation required courses and mostly work now, so schoolwork is not an issue. I have a little over a year left.
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When I took N5, all I had was Genki I and RTK (\~300) and 20 years of anime. I took N5 maybe 4-5 years ago so it’s been a while—all that’s really changed is that I have Genki I (reviewed it after hearing about the competition) + RTK (\~600).
I’ve read many posts (including Jazzy and Doth’s journey) but I’d be curious to hear about what others have done to streamline this process as much as I can. I know realistically the N1 will probably not happen, but my pen has always been my sword and I’d regret losing this opportunity. I know language acquisition is not a race but I hope everyone understands why it is for me, in just this instance.
11 comments
The people who did N1 fast worked their ass off. There is no shortcut. You study for like 12 hours a day and you’ll get to N1 right quick.
But most people don’t have A) the time and B) the money and C) the energy to do all that
They all tended to be around 18-24 years old, as well, and a lot of people in that age group study a lot to do things like get their degree and so on, but these guys did Japanese instead
Senpai, transfer those good student genes over once you’re done please.
My only worry is that the monetary investment recommended for this kind of effort might offset the benefits you are expecting. Say the free Japan trip is worth $3,000, what if your book, class, and tutor costs plus the opportunity cost of not working during those study hours add up to more than $3,000?
From my perspective, best stuff might be free, but streamlined stuff seldom is.
Let’s say you want to practice speaking. Tier 1: vast time investment, zero cost. Language exchange partners. The drawback is that you work so your schedule is inherently inflexible, and you don’t want to be restricted by the other person’s availability. Tier 2: moderate time investment, less cost. I recommend most people discord servers with native people for the cost performance of this option. The drawback is there’s a million people in the same channel and you don’t get one-on-one attention sometimes. Tier 3: less time investment, moderate $ investment. Pay for a tutor: as long as you pay you can learn whatever and whenever, with exquisite service, and they are experienced and knowledgeable about teaching the language. This option is the most streamlined, if you don’t mind the cost.
With a full-time job, I relied on textbooks and tutor from beginner to N2, then self-studied to get to N1. If we are strictly speaking about passing the exam (totally a different subject from mastering a language, language fluency, etc) then I would say my experience felt pretty streamlined.
there’s no shortcut, and this is asked repeatedly and has been answered over and over
please search the feed for “n1”, you’ll find plenty
and it doesn’t matter if you really want it, there’s no special technique that’s going to get you there, it’s going to take thousands of hours, however you divide it up
[https://www.google.com/search?q=jlpt+n1+hours+site%3Areddit.com](https://www.google.com/search?q=jlpt+n1+hours+site%3Areddit.com)
I am far from being N1, but from experience I suggest that you choose one solid resource that focuses on vocab, grammar or kanji (so 3 resources in total).
-For vocab, you should look for a large vocab pack that contains between 6k and 10k words. I suggest one of these : torii-srs (10k words), anki core 10k (10k words) and anki core 2k/6k (6k words). Personally I use torii-srs because it’s much more appealing visually but the content is essentially the same as anki core 10k
-For grammar, I REALLY recommend Bunpro. It is as complete as it can get. They teach you all the most important grammar points from N5 to N1
-For kanji, I recommend the book RTK (“remembering the kanji”). It is a book designed to teach the shape of the 2000 most common kanji by little stories. There is a community in the kanji koohii website ([https://kanji.koohii.com/](https://kanji.koohii.com/)) regrouping people that study the same book so you’ll find plently of advice and good stories over there.
If you follow my advice and choose one resource dedicated to one aspect of japanese at a time, it should be much faster because you won’t be constantly relearning things you already know. That’s why, as good as Wanikani is for kanji (arguably better than RTK), the fact that it also teach vocab creates quite some overlap with the vocab packs I gave you, which makes it not that good of a choice
I explained everything in this post if you want to know more: [https://www.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/comments/10715m1/review_i_finished_the_duolingo_japanese_course/](https://www.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/comments/10715m1/review_i_finished_the_duolingo_japanese_course/)
Focus only on the material on the test: grammar, kanji, vocab, reading, and listening, so don’t worry about writing or speaking. I’d also do the leaked tests once you’re somewhat prepared. I haven’t looked at those myself since passing wasn’t my goal, but in my experience taking many tests, nothing prepares you better than doing a lot of real practice tests. You learn how they formulate the questions. The other resources don’t get the difficulty exactly right.
Start with N4 then work your way up. Maybe make a schedule, like a Gantt chart, and divide up the time from N4 to N1. Certainly possible if you have the time and dedication.
Study for it like any other exam. You don’t need fluency, you need to pass the exam. Study past exams and the types of questions they ask. Use SRS for kanji and vocab knowledge, and then study any one of the many resources for JLPT grammar (I like japaneseammo with misa, but she doesn’t cover much N1 grammar as of now).
Either way, you just study what you need to know for the test just like you would study for any other test imo. Whatever study methods worked best for you should carry over.
If you want to pass the test, I would focus on preparing for the test. I passed N1 having lived in Japan for two years and so my listening was stronger than it would have been otherwise. I took a prep course for N2 that focused 100% on taking past papers and understanding why the answers were correct, and why the other options were incorrect. At the time I passed, I still lacked a lot of confidence in speaking and writing, but those aren’t on the test!
It still took me four years from N4 to N1 (old system before they introduced N5). I’ve heard of people doing N1 in a year – many were Chinese speakers, though, so they didn’t have to learn quite as much to read and understand kanji.
My resources might be a bit out of date, but I relied on the 日本語能力試験に出る〜 books. These do exactly what they say – give you practice of the kanji/ grammar/ vocabulary on the tests themselves.
Passing the N1 is a lot easier than the goal that 95% of the learners of Japanese learners set for themselves (fluency, being able to read/watch raw unaided etc), passing the N1 is easier when you’ve got that goal in mind as N1 doesn’t mean fluency, plenty of posts on here and youtube about passing N1 and being dead in the water.
Not saying it’s easy but it’s a metric ton easier than becoming fluent and most of the popular learning methods are about learning the language as a whole, passing specific tests narrows the learning requirements significantly.
Identify what it is you need to do in order to pass the n1 and work towards it.
IE: You need to know around 10k words, find the words that’s expected, do 50 a day. After 200 days you’ll have learned the 10k, once you get close to completing that list of words, start to try and find the next common words that appear on the test, that means by the end of the year you’ll have learned 18k words (can reduce this number if you want) but the bulk of the 10k that’s relevant to the test will be well ingrained.
Assuming you hit 10k in 200 days, you can start trying practice tests for the n2/n1 to see how well you’ve progressed, I’ve heard people getting higher marks just by knowing what to expect from tests etc.
Goodluck.
The hardest part about passing N1 the fastest for you will be the listening section.
I would study in order from N5 to N1, all of the vocab, grammar, kanji, etc. using anki. **You’re just going to have to hardcore grind**.
Studying that way will get you more prepared for listening, but if you can afford it, I would supplement your anki grind with 1-4 online lessons per month, or as much as you can afford. I’m sure there are even teachers who can specifically converse with you using JLPT content, or even help you understand it.
If your goal is N1 as fast as possible, then you shouldn’t stray from the JLPT content.
You might want to take a look at the [One Year to Learn Japanese](https://www.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/comments/fohull/a_year_to_learn_japanese_reflections_on_five/) guide, even when planning over several years it’s an incredible guide to outline a study plan and find resources. I don’t know how good it is to actually make it in a single year, but I would still recommend it to any learner, hopefully it will give you a lot of helpful insights.
Ultimately though, like other people already mentioned in the thread, it’s gonna come down a lot to the number of hours you are willing to put in.