I want to take the N1 and this December but I am still having a lot of difficulty with reading despite putting an execessivea mount of time into it. I read NHK, the ASAHI shinbun,WEBronz and read Light Novels and Manga everyday (I have read 10 200 page _ light novels in the last 6 months) but I ams till struggling with passages like this http://www.jlpt.jp/e/samples/n1/img/p7.gif.
Interestingly, the Vocab and grammar N1 is not that difficult but understanding abstract and philosophical passages like this has always been rather challenging for me.
I was able to understand this piece text just fine but the one above was too difficult
> 日本と同じ経済力のある国と比べて、十分とは言える内容ではない。ただし、やっとここまできたとのことで、褒めても良い。日本の大きな問題は制度やガイドラインではなく、社会の意識改革であろうかと思います。これまでも、会社などのレベルで制度化されたところは多かったが、育児休暇が取りにくい、とっても復帰が難しかったのは、周りの同調圧力があったからかと思います。社会の中で、個々人が目指していることが異なり、それぞれの道に必要な支援をする、社会基盤を整えるのは、政府や政治の役割のはずです。今回、完成したたたき台を浸透するための政治力が必要で、それに期待できるのでしょうか？国民の関心はそこかと思います。
Is there a difference in writing style here?
9 comments
I definitely recommend that you start reading not just light novels but mainstream literary novels as well – things that have won that Akutagawa prize, things that have won the Naoki prize.
In addition to that, I recommend the newsmagazine 世界 for a lot of really sophisticated writing and politics/current events vocabulary.
I would say there’s a difference in the level of abstraction. Compared to the first author, I would say the second author writes in a more direct and to the point style. You said you’re reading novels and newspaper articles, but are you reading other nonfiction? I think shifting to more nonfiction could be helpful. Specifically if you read some books on social criticism or social issues. There are authors who write things in more accessible everyday language and people who use more flowery and/or jargony language. Some sort of anthology could be a good place to start
Agreeing with the nuanced writing. I think that’s what threw me in December 2021. While I can read without a problem, N1 can get very vague.
If you’re a popular fiction fan, anything from capital-L Literature (think Soseki, Mori Ogai, Mishima, Edogawa Rampo…), newspaper editorials or anything that expresses an opinion might be a good place to start.
But besides that, reading A LOT can also help. You’ll want to be able to read the passages with enough time to read, think and answer. If you’re the kind to juggle two books, maybe have a more serious book as you work your way through a few LN and articles.
Read longform nonfiction.
This might include interviews, essays, explainers (anything aimed at explaining a complex system or situation to your average person).
Anything native. I read a lot of novels before and at the time of studying. Read anything that interests you, do all the reading practice books.
You could look into some n1 読解 resources? There’s plenty of different ones, but they all include level appropriate exercises that have you analyse passages, and understand the authors intent (whether it be metaphorical, abstract, philosophical etc).
新完全マスター 読解 is the one I’m familiar with, but no doubt there’s plenty others.
News sites, science articles, magazines about “advanced” topics, phylosophy books, etc.
Is it the vocab you do not know or the grammar? I found it not to be about volumes of material read, but the actual amount of vocab and how well you know the grammar. Actually… one final question – are you translating it into English when you read?
A lot of people have given good advice here, so I’ll just add Toyo Keizai (toyokeizai.net) to the stack of recommended stuff.
In terms of advice, some of the higher level jlpt reading material comes from genuine sources, and it might be worth tracking down the full article if possible.
It sounds like you’re doing the right stuff, so it might just be a case of needing some more time and doing some test-specific preparation. Reviewing grammar in the Dictionary of Japanese Grammar certainly couldn’t hurt either, if you’re not already doing that. Good luck!