What to expect when expecting: JLPT N1




Disclaimer: I am not claiming that by reading this post you'll pass JLPT. It all depends on you, the examinee, to study for it. I am just here to talk about how it was for me and what resources I used while studying for it. My brain will not be able to retain all the things that I've seen in the past while revising for the exam, so I am writing this post to help me recall the things I did while preparing for the exam. As of now, I am still waiting for the N1 result, which I will know in just a few weeks. 


 Studying for JLPT N1 is certainly no joke. You have to at least know 10,000 words and 2,000 Kanji, on top of those things that you've learned in the past, and that's definitely not just walk in the park. What I realized was that there's really no way for me to study all of the words, with that in mind, I took everything in stride, and just digest whatever my brain can absorb in the span of time that I have. I started to seriously study 2 months before the exam ( and yes, it is still not enough). I was still cramming. 

Some General Dates to remember
When you can take the exam : first Sunday of July (12 March - 06 Apr 2018), or first Sunday of December (Aug - Sept 2018)
When you can apply : 4  months before the exam date ( usually just 1 month period of registration)
Where you can register: (Singapore) JCS or online.


Before Exam

If you are the dou de mo ii, nonchalant person who only studies when he/she feels like it, these are just some of the ways you can slowly brainwash your brain into studying Nihongo..

 1. Watch Japanese drama/anime and pay attention to the dialogue.
Little things help along the way, watching shows without the aid of subtitles, will force your brain to pay attention and slowly analyze the things. As with the dialogue, there's that part in the exam about appropriate response to the question, and by listening to the dialogue, you will pick up some responses.

2. Listen to Japanese music and pay attention to the lyrics.
This was a true story. While I was taking JLPT Level 4 ( now N5), I was listening to V6's Darling, there was a point in the lyrics where it said yuubei, and lo and behold it came out in the exam. At that point in time, I just didn't pay attention to the lyrics of the song, but the word was damn familiar. So one hard lesson was to list down the words that I couldn't make sense of, and add it to my vocabulary. Who knows, it might just come out in the exam!

3. Watch tutorials online
Believe it or not, youtube was a big help during the time of my studies. Some of the sites that I saw were:
NihongoMori
N1 Study List
Grammar playlist

4. Find Online Resources
I was surprised with the amount of notes/resources available for revision, although it does take time looking through reddit, and crazyengineers, but I managed to sift through everything and it boiled down to this.

Books ( Most of this are either in Thai or Vietnamese, but basically, you just need the links to get the resources)
Study Japanese was a big help.
Tailieutiengnhatsocap was another website that collated all books from studyjapanese.net
JLPT 855 for some of the books for JLPT review

I also got to go through some of the forums that give out some tips on how to study for JLPT ( which I am guilty of not following... Oops!)

Tips
Helpful tips on how to manage exam 
Koohii
JTalk online

 Practice exam 
Official website
 And here's another study guides to get you acquainted with as much words as you can in that limited time you've got for studying ...
Podcasts
NHK
Study Guides
Tanos
JLPT Study
MLC
Grammar 
J-Gram
Readings
Yomou
Reuters
Yomiuri
ItMedia
Blogmura
Nifty

5. Get your groove on.. and remember the reason why you studying Nihongo in the first place.
Find that optimal space in your room for studying. Play some classical/mellow music while sipping coffee/tea during your study. Most importantly, make studying enjoyable rather than a chore!

During the Exam
On the day of the exam, you are left to your own device. You can only pray that your brain retains most of the things you've studied.


1. Go to the test site early! ( unless you want to feel the adrenaline rush)
Good thing that they've informed us of our room via email. If you did not receive any email, you can go to the test site, and look at the bulletin board where they will post your test voucher number range and the room assignment. 

My N1 exam started roughly at 14:00 and ended 17:00, and I was already at the test site as early as 13:00. I took a sip of tea to calm the nerves while still browsing through some of the words that are not yet on my head.

But let me tell you, last minute studying doesn't usually works. 

2. Make sure you have all the "weapons" that you need for the battle ahead. 
A sharpened H2B pencil or a shaapu pencil, a handy sharpener, leads for the shaapu pencil, erasers, 1 bottled water, your IC, snacks (during the 20minute break), and test voucher, and you're good to go. 

3. Carry light. 
I guess, it goes showing that you need not bring all your review books to the test site. 10 minutes before the exam, the proctor will ask to put all of your bags to the front (including your phones). You're left with the pencils, erasers, sharpeners, 1 bottled water(for some), test voucher and IC on the table. 

4. Turn off mobile devices once you entered the test site. 
Any forms of distraction is a mood killer, so basically, everyone is reminded to switch off the phones and any alarms so as to not disrupt the exam. It's only 2 hours. 


After the exam
Party hard since Christmas is already near (if you are taking it during December). Forget worries and woes till the coming year ( and wait 4th week of Jan for the online results)

The countdown begins.... and yes, it's soon. Online results for December exams are already up on 24 January 2018, 10:00AM (JST) till 31 March 2018, 17:00. Good Luck! 




Countdown to JLPT N1 Dec 2019


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