Hi, I am wondering what could be recommended if Tobira for the most part feels very easy, but I still want to hammer down the N3 level. Besides, it lacks some e.g. announcement-specific vocab, but is very good for my grammar. Should I just drill through JLPT prep material or is there a better approach?
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I can’t really tell you about some better approach but what I did and ended up passing N2 quite comfortably was after Tobira going through the nihongo sou matome workbooks for N3 to make sure all my bases were covered and then N2 as well (and at that point you should also be getting as much media input as you can tolerate)
Start reading as much as you can. Increase your reading comprehension and speed. I can recommend the N2 Shin Kanzen Master reading comprehension textbook because it prepares you quite well for the actual exam.
For grammar you can also get Shin Kanzen Master or some other textbook, depending on what you prefer. In my opinion it’s good to be familiar with the grammar but I would spend more time on reading more.
Depending on how comfortable you are with listening, listen to some podcasts (like LingQ) or watch Anime or whatever you’re interested in. There are also JLPT mock exams for listening I think.
I’ve been studying to take N2 (after passing N3, which is what Tobira is supposed to prepare you for); for vocabulary I’ve been reading the Tango N2 2500 book, along with its Anki deck.
For grammar I’ve been reading Try! N2, it doesn’t get enough love in this sub but I really like it since it’s easy to read, provides examples and exercises for each grammar point, which are also explained in both Japanese and English, in case there’s something you don’t get. Additionally, the book tells you in which setting you’re more likely to come across each grammar point (casual or formal speech, written or spoken language, etc.)
In terms of reading, the Shin Kanzen master N2 is quite good, alternatively, reading some native material should help you a lot, specially to improve your reading speed, which is probably one of the most critical aspects for a test taker.
For listening, Try! N2 also has some audio tracks that will help improve your listening. Alternatively, podcasts or even watching anime or other source of native material will help you a lot, specially if you can access to the subtitles or scripts in Japanese.
Lastly, if you’re planning to actually use your Japanese for anything other than just consuming media, don’t neglect your speaking, passing N2 or even N1 means very little if you can’t hold a basic conversation!
Best of luck!
Edit: typo
The main Tobira textbook is for N3 and a little bit into N2; I found the supplemental books, especially the Power Up Your Kanji one to be helpful for going beyond what they cover in regular Tobira. But after that I used JLPT N2 specific books.
This was the time I invested in a private tutor, which made all the difference in my Japanese studies. I will recommend it a thousand times in this sub, but it was totally worth springing the money, as I never would have gotten to N2 and beyond without one.
Switching to N2 specific books was also helpful