Hello! I’ve been studying japanese for a lot of time, I started in middle school all by myself, then I chose japanese language in high school and I just finished a “japanese language and international business” license at university. My final goal is to go and live in Japan in maybe 2-3 years when I’m all done with university.
Last year, I took a “jlpt focused class” and I passed the JLPT N2 with a score of 97/180 (quite short lol)
Now I’m going to do a master degree that only focus on international business, therefore I won’t have anyone teaching me japanese for the first time in like 6 years.
My license ended like a month ago, so I’ve been trying to get better by myself (going through RTK for the first time, it really helps me to remember how to actually write kanji because I tend to forget easily). I also bought some N1 books : the whole sou matome collection (because that’s what my teacher used for the N2 class) a mock exam book and some unknown books for the vocabulary.
I feel quite… overwhelmed by all of this. I don’t really know how to use these books by myself, they are really dense and for instance the sou matome are supposed to be done in 8 weeks each but it seems to be too much.
I’m looking for other (free) resources that I could use to self-study for the N1, but also general advices.
I think I would read some novels with yomichan so that I could make an anki deck easily, do you have other ideas?
Also how do you guys actually get oral skills? I would like to get better at speaking fluidly!
6 comments
I use this website for N2 grammar as it’s the hardest to study
It also has n1 list
https://jlptsensei.com/jlpt-n1-grammar-list/
For oral clubhouse has lots of Japanese group which they have conversations about certain topics
I wish that I could help more than that but I’m freshly starting self study for N2
Good luck for you
I think it’s still worth redoing JLPT N2 material until you feel comfortable first.
As for soumatome, those books are ideal for reviews, you can keep one of them always at hand and review a few points from them multiple times a day when you feel like it.
If you can reconsider the “free” part of your requirements I can recommend:
bunpro (cheap) and/or [nihongonomori.com](https://nihongonomori.com) (rather expensive).
Regarding speaking skills, you can look for individual language exchange (for example using tandem app). Also, depending on where you live there may be some clubs where Japanese and locals can meet and discuss practicing each other languages, or events like that.
One of the main things to remember about the sou matome (and the shin kanzen master) series is that these are review materials. They are supposed to be done in 8 weeks, but that’s assuming you are reviewing for the exam and should, theoretically, be at a level at least close to passing. If you are using them to actually learn you will have to spend a lot more time on them so don’t feel like you’re behind because you do.
まずは英語を止めようね。日本語で練習すればするほど上達できるんだから、この投稿を日本語で書けばよかったと思う。ネットで何をするにも日本語を使ってみよう。
>Also how do you guys actually get oral skills? I would like to get better at speaking fluidly!
日本語でたくさん読んで、自分自身と対話すると少しずつ上手になる。朝起きてから寝るまで日本語を使ってみて。最初はもちろん疲れるけど、だんだん楽になるよ。外国語をマスターするのに近道などない。毎日練習すれば必ず上手になる。
I would recommend setting a target date, such as the December JLPT, counting the number of weeks until then and then dividing that by the number of chapters in your textbooks. If you have 24 weeks to go and each textbook has 8 chapters, it means you would have to do 1/3 chapters a week to stay on target. Then you can go through a small amount of the material every week, decipher it and review things with anki/Quizlet/your method of choice and work towards your goal while figuring out how to use the textbooks best. Breaking the material down into manageable chunks makes it seem less overwhelming, will help you organize your studies while doing your masters, and you’ll still make steady and consistent progress (The 24 weeks are just an example here, the target date can be whenever you want!).
Besides that, you could do some fun reading on the side to internalize grammar and vocabulary (anki optional). Improving reading skills will give you a big overall boost on the N1.
I improved my own speaking skills by reading more/getting more exposure to the language and, well, just speaking! I recommend italki for finding someone to talk with.
Good luck!
If you are overwhelmed as you say… Have you ever think this…? “Do I really need to learn to write japanese?” Seeing that even japanese people forget kakikata a lot, are you willing to keep reviewing kanji no kakikata until the day you die in order not to lose something that is very painful to learn?
Just reading won’t help you not forgetting handwriting. And believe me, you don’t need it at all to live or work in Japan.
Just trying to help you skipping a big battle so war is not that overwhelming.