I haven’t taken JLPT before but I am living in Japan. I can converse in Japanese for my daily life here but for work, I need to be certified N2 level. I self-studied and do language exchange to reach my current level but I am wondering if its advisable to go to school to pass N2? Or if you self-studied 100% to pass N2, how did you organize your schedule?
I am torn because most people I know studied in a school that sponsor visa to get N2. I don’t need a student visa sponsorship and those schools are really expensive so I would like to seek advice.
If you have a school recommendation that does not sponsor visa (I think it would be cheaper), feel free to tell me your recommended school within Tokyo.
20 comments
I think self study is the way to go for you. Without knowing too much it sounds like we are in a similar situation where the Japanese is already very ingrained but reading and writing are lacking.
If I were to think how I would approach N2 is that I would get a vocab list and when I’m done with that tackle some reading material. Listening won’t be a problem either way and then you should be able to easily get a passing grade after a few test runs on mock exams.
I passed N2 last december after 4 years on and off self-study, took only one 3 months course in university around N3 level. Most of my learning was just immersion (Visual Novels, Anime, Jidai-Geki novels, just whatever I was interessted in), supplemented with Anki and later some grammar study on Bunpro. I also used the Nihongo sou matome series to prepare for the JLPT in particular.
I took private lessons with a tutor (not a school) that were very affordable. ¥2,000 per 1 hour lesson, once a week. Then I would receive homework to practice throughout the week. That was the absolute best thing I did for my Japanese studies and the only reason I got from N3 to N1 (eventually anyway)
I am currently studying for the N2 exam and I have never set foot in a formal classroom. The closest I’ve had to that experience is going to some weekly lessons held by volunteer teachers. It’s mostly group conversation practice with grammar and whatnot taught as you need it. I sometimes wonder if I’d be better at Japanese if I tried a language school, but it’s never been an option for me and I seem to be doing fine anyway
I’ve been here since 2000. I’m self taught myself and know how to express myself in writing and speaking.
I know my grammar falls short and I know I use too many loan words (and loan words that are not commonly known here) but I get by.
ya 100% by myself, and 95% outside of japan. took me about 2,5 years. i used youtube and anki 95% of everything. (textbooks in the beginning).anki all the time, in toilet, anki, in a booring meeting, anki, walking, anki, watching tv, you dont, you study japanese. id say given todays technology and resources, you learn better by yourself than in class. Sitting in a class would only drag me down
I have only self studied ever, and recently took a mock n1 past paper with time restrictions and passed on that. Just read more and look up words you don’t know when reading.
I live in Japan and am primarily self studying. I used to work with a tutor for a bit and I’ve taken classes at the community center, but I’ve never taken a college class or gone to language school or done anything intensive like that. I spoke no Japanese when I arrived in Japan and I passed the N2 last year and am going to take the N1 this summer.
You definitely do not need to go to language school. It’s not a bad option if you have the time/money and think that kind of enviornment would be helpful for you, but it’s by no means necessary. The main thing people living in Japan struggle with for the N2 is the reading. You can get by just fine living in Japan without doing long form reading, so many people struggle with both speed and stamina in the reading section. Make sure you’re doing lots of reading practice, not just test prep. I recommend reading books. Start with a book written for elementary/junior high kids and work your way up.
For the language knowledge section, I recommend just getting JLPT prep books. Your local book store will carry a bunch. Personally I was fine on kanji and vocab and really just needed to study the grammar.
Absolutely doable ! I did it in about 3 years, while studying at med school and doing some jobs here and there. On the other hand my speaking skills are quite lacking :/
Went to a US college and can say that following the college curriculum is absolutely slower due to the classroom setting than a driven self studied learner.
Genki 1 and 2 combined take almost a whole year. Which a self learner could accomplish much quicker. It slows down from there.
The jlpt isn’t a goal so much as completing the curriculum and finishing the bulletpoint degree requirements for your piece of paper.
The average major at the end “should” be n2 at minimum. There were definitely graduates who wouldn’t pass n2 after 4 years.
Some who had plans to work with Japanese did place n2 or n1. But only the few who I remember actually being studious.
Ironically, half of the few who finished the degree still didn’t know what they were going to do after they graduated and hadn’t even looked into Japanese related careers.
Looking back and seeing all of the resources people are kind enough to share here and among other communities, I wish I had so many options when I was learning.
There are now a heck of a lot more clear paths to jlpt level proficiencies than back then.
I graduated in 1998 with a bachelor’s in Japanese but honestly my skill level was about N3 at that time. Years later I self studied to N2 and passed it. It depends on how good you are in general with languages. TBH I must be a little weaker with Japanese because I know people who have passed N2 or N1 with less study time than myself.
Completely self studied a little under a year and a half outside of Japan and passed the December 2022 N2 with pretty much a perfect score. Definitely doable.
Really, all the study I did was a little bit of kanji review, Anki cards and grammar a day. Probably around 30 minutes each. Then a ton of reading and listening whenever I had the time. So I varied from 1.5-6 hours of doing things in Japanese a day depending on my college workload or if I had other things to do.
I took a beginner course. By the end of it, I would have solidly passed N4 but probably would have failed N3. Then I self-studied the rest of the way to N1.
It took about a year and a half, during which I was in an English speaking country and had no contact with Japanese people.
I’m also studying for the N2. You don’t need classes — and message me if you want examples of people (in the public light) who’ve taken Japanese classes “for years” and somehow still have *demonstrably* low comprehension of the language.
Even while studying for the N2, I often see expressions/words that I already came across years ago when I started this whole process, through consuming native media.
You’ve got this.
This advice might be dated, by when I studied the Kanzen Master series basically had everything you needed to pass any given level of the JLPT. It looks that series hasn’t been updated in awhile, but if you go to a moderate sized book store they should have stuff like [this](https://www.amazon.co.jp/%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E8%AA%9E%E8%83%BD%E5%8A%9B%E8%A9%A6%E9%A8%93N1%E6%96%87%E6%B3%95-%E5%BF%85%E4%BF%AE%E3%83%91%E3%82%BF%E3%83%BC%E3%83%B3-%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E8%AA%9E%E8%83%BD%E5%8A%9B%E8%A9%A6%E9%A8%93%E5%BF%85%E4%BF%AE%E3%83%91%E3%82%BF%E3%83%BC%E3%83%B3%E3%82%B7%E3%83%AA%E3%83%BC%E3%82%BA-%E6%B0%8F%E5%8E%9F-%E5%BA%B8%E5%AD%90/dp/4863922337).
I took N2 and passed with a good mark after 4 years of watching anime almost every day and reading Naruto manga once a week. I did not use Anki at the time but always made sure to look up the words I did and would google all the unknown grammar structure I came across. I think my progress would have been much faster using Anki and a one tap dictionary as I do now.
Yep, did that. Exam practice books. All of them. Over and over again, two hours a day for about a year.
I self studied to N2 in about three years just drinking with Japanese people on weekends and doing Anki and grammar study on weekdays. I do think it’s not an easy feat and if you can afford tutors go for it
I’m currently taking 1:1 classes to work on my listening comprehension, speaking and polish my grammar. However, it is possible to self-study even to N1.
How? Initially getting enough grammar (Genki 1+2 / Tobira / Cure Dolly videos / Tae Kim’s Guide to Grammar / etc.) + vocabulary (Anki) to understand written Japanese and then grinding hard both reading and listening, since that’s what’s tested on JLPT.
Did self study all the way to N1. Reading, watching tv, looking up/making flashcards for all the words I didn’t know. A tutor might be a nice supplement but you’ll still have to study yourself either way