So, a quick background on this. I am currently 17, turning 18 this year and can confidently say I can speak Japanese (Just that I only had the chance to use tameguti, so for keigo, not too much). I can read Hiragana and Katakana, I understand the small letters, the hyphen (or long pronunciation?) and a very small bit of Kanji. Now, I’m planning on going to Japan to study and I heard that Japanese proficiency tests are required to get admitted (At least N3, but better if N1). As someone who already has initial knowledge, where do you guys think I should start? What should I focus on? What types of questions do I need to prepare myself for if I am to take the JLPT?
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>can confidently say I can speak Japanese
>I can read Hiragana and Katakana, I understand the small letters, the hyphen (or long pronunciation?) and a very small bit of kanji
You need to elaborate your current skill level, because those two statements I pulled from your post usually don’t go together very well. Do you mean you’re a heritage speaker or something like that?
Pick up one of the official practice workbooks and it should help you figure out where you stand:
https://www.jlpt.jp/e/reference/books.html
JLPT has no speaking part that tests your conversational skills. It’s testing your reading and listening comprehension, grammar and kanji knowledge; all in written form. Listening might be easier for you; the rest could be more of a challenge.
So, it really depends more on your literacy level. If your university requires you to have N3 level, that is roughly 650ish kanji, roughly 180ish grammar points which are being tested at N3. N2 or N1 are obviously only increasing these numbers.
There also is less and less furigana (the reading of a kanji written beside or above it) from N3-N1.
You can google some free quizzes to gauge your level. There exist quite some textbooks helping you to prepare as well! I’d start trying to read a few N5-N3 texts and see how well you understand them. This’ll give you a first impression of the work ahead.
Definitely put some focus on reading, especially for the higher levels (N2, N1). The texts get quite difficult and the time is VERY limited.
The JLPT measures reading and listening ability. If you’re not confident in those two skills you won’t fare well.
Where there isn’t official study lists/material, most tests of a given level will pull from the same sort of grammar, vocab, etc. Each test includes the skills of previous levels as well.
A short list of materials to help; the cover a lot of the same material:
N5 – Genki 1, Nakama 1, Yokoso 1…
N4 – Genki 2, Nakama 2, Yokoso 2
N3 – Quartet 1, An Integrated Approach to Intermediate Japanese
N2 – Quartet 2, New Authentic, Tobira
N1 – Books, etc, aimed at native speakers.
Start with the textbooks and use JLPT prep books (New Kanzen, Nihongo Somatome, Testuto ni Deru…) to fill up the holes. Try multiple practice tests of your anticipated level before you take the actual exam. Leave plenty of time between each so you can brush up on where you’re weakest.
I’d say you can prepare the same way anyone else would prepare for taking the jlpt. it’ll just be easier for you and you’ll be faster.