My plan: I’m planning on finishing Genki 1 and 2 by the end of this July. I’m using Anki to make sure I learn all the important vocabulary and kanji, ad ToKini Andy’s video lessons on YT help me get a strong grasp on the grammar. Also going to do some workbook exercises to reinforce the grammar rules.
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After Genki, I’ll start my immersion. By this point, I’ll have a strong grasp of the Genki grammar, vocabulary and kanji, as well as about 690 kanji and 4500 vocab from WaniKani. Beginning at a suitable level, I plan on doing 2 hours of listening each day while commuting (podcasts, cartoons) and about 45 minutes of reading on Satori Reader. If I begin immersion at the end of July, I’ll have about 4 months of immersion behind me when doing the N3 test.
At the same time, I’ll be going through the Quartet 1 and 2 books at a pace of 1 chapter per week. Using similar strategies as with Genki, I will try to master all of the grammar and most of the vocab and kanji. At this pace, I should finish by around October 20th at the latest. From then on, I’ll be doing N3 specific study, immersion practice and WaniKani until the day of the test. By the time of the test, I’ll have drilled all of the N3 kanji on Wanikani several times, except for about 15 which I’ll study separately to make sure I know them all.
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So, would a solid grasp of Genki and Quartet material, 4 months of immersion and pretty much all relevalt kanji from WaniKani (level 35), be enough to pass the N3 test?
9 comments
GENKI 2 gets you to about N4. So you’ll need to push pretty hard.
I also dont think you’ll reach 35 by then. What’s your current WK level?
It’s possible if you keep that pace up. Worst thing that happens is you fail and you have to try again.
You could do it at 3 hours a day – but skip a lot of the junk immersion in favor of getting a sizable vocab via SRS and using your audio time to immerse with very basic Japanese phrases (there are few on Youtube) which let you hone in your ear and should help with beginner reading. I found that having a large vocab let me read pretty much anything with ease (assuming basic grammar) and while I do not know WaniKani – I did RTK – the Kanji is important to learn. Do Nihongo con Teppei beginner on Youtube and replay it once a day or so until you can get 80% or so before moving on – a few sections a day is best.
Give yourself some fun time, but manga is about all you will do and even that is a struggle until you hit like 6k+ vocab.
I think you’ll be able to handle the N3 by July if your area does the summer test.
In your title, you said you’re aiming for the JLPT next December (which is 1.5 yr away), but in your post you seem like you’re aiming for the JLPT at the end of this year.
Which test date are you actually aiming for?
I took the N3 test in December 2022, and I passed with 100/180.
“Immersion” (or comprehensive input) is going to be key to passing the listening section.
I did the JLPT Tango N5, N4, and N3 decks. That’s 1000, 1500, and 2000 words, and maybe 3200 audio context sentences. I did wanikani up to level 28. I studied Genki 1 and 2, and I watched ToKini Andy’s video series from Genki 1 up through chapter 6 of Quartet.
I got 53/60 on vocab and grammar section. Anki paid off. Grammar study paid off.
But I only got 100/180 on the whole test. Let that sink in. 47 points total between the reading and listening sections. Anyone telling you that you can skate by, on anki and a lot of vocab and grammar study, is doing you a disservice. At the end of the day, you need to practice reading **and** listening.
I had a couple hundred hours of dedicated listening practice, but my listening practice was too easy of content. I could basically ace the N4 practice tests. But when it mattered, on the N3 listening test, I missed words and grammatical nuances. Understanding 80% of what you hear doesn’t cut it, when the question is only asked one time. No repeats.
I would seriously recommend that you not wait until after July to start “immersion”. Start now. Start easy if you need to. A podcast like Nihongo con Teppei Japanese for Beginners. Try the youtube channel Comprehensible Japanese, and do 1-2 videos a day, every day, starting with the complete beginner playlist, then the beginner playlist, then the intermediate playlist. Start Satori Reader now. Before doing stories, do the Human Japanese Extra Credit series, etc. Sakura and Suzuki is a great first story for listening practice, because it uses simple vocab and grammar, using slow, clear speech. Hole in the Wall is another good one, though it’s noticeably harder (after the first few chapters).
This seems possible, but maybe a bit over-ambitious. In addition to time spent improving your skills, it’s also important to spend time enjoying the language, which may not be as “efficient” but will help you stay motivated and round out your skills by putting them into practice. (See the [50% rule](https://drawabox.com/lesson/0/2/50percent).) So it might be a good idea to take it a little slower to have time for play.
I took the n4 July last year right after completing genki ii, and then passed (but just barely) n3 that December. So if you do wrap genki ii by July, it sounds doable.
It was definitely a cram for me to make the genki ii/n4 -> n3 jump in those months, but possible. The thing I found the hardest was the reading speed required. Textbooks, srs etc didn’t give me enough practice reading long passages quickly. I pulled it off, but with a lot of things I knew I needed to work on.
Get yourself some books that teach to the test and then if you study with them you’ll know for sure if you can do it. It’s important to know the format of the test and take timed practice tests so you can ensure you pace yourself correctly. Google 日本語検定 参考書 and you’ll find plenty of books.