I've cleared JLPT4 this year (the japanese language proficiency exam)
I've listed down how to get started for those interested
Turn back if you cant spend atleast 2 hours a day for 4 months
Exam DescriptionThe exam consists of 3 parts
- Vocabulary (Moji Goi)
- Listening (Chokai)
- Grammar/Reading (Dokkai/Gumpo)
All of them are multiple choice questions with weighted marking
Level 4 is the basic level exam (pattern is changing to 5 levels next year)
You need to learn 120 kanjis, 750 words and about 120 grammar patterns
MojiGoi
This is the easiest part of the exam, questions in this section are broken in these sections
Select the correct kanji for the word underlined in the gI'ven sentence
Select the correct word for the kanji underlined in the gI'ven sentence
Select the correct word for the blank in the gI'ven sentence
Select the sentence which means the same as the gI'ven sentence
Example
Q)I am late (watashi wa osoi desu)
1. I am fat (watashi wa futoi desu)
2. I am not happy (watashi wa ureskunai desu)
3. I am not early (watashi wa hayakunai desu)
4. You are not late (anata wa osokunai desu)
Chokai
The section is broken in 2 parts
The question paper has sets of 4 pictures, you need to select the one which is talked about in the audio
Second part of the exam has a set of questions and conversations.
Example of audio transcript
A boy and girl are talking...
Q:Why did the boy leave the party?
girl:did you lI've the party yesterday
boy:yes it was great
girl:i left around 10 because i was tired
boy:oh, you were tired, how are you now?
girl:fine
boy:i ate a lot of sushi yesterday, then left at 11 since i had to get up early
girl:are you going to school today?
boy:not today
1)get up early
2)he was tired
3)had to goto school
4)he ate a lot
Many people would mix up 1 and 2 since they didnt pay attention to the question
Dokkai/Gumpo
Biggest section of the exam
Must be able to read fast
1 Comprehension is usually a conversation of about 20 lines and 3 smaller ones of 5 lines
Remaining ¬40 questions are for grammar patterns like adjectI've conjugation, selecting the correct particle, correct tense etc
A LOT of practice is needed here
Where do I start from1a. Learn hiragana and katakana
http://www.e.kth.se/~e96_dsa/www/nihongo/hiragana.gifhttp://www.e.kth.se/~e96_dsa/www/nihongo/katakana.gifSpend about 3 weeks learning this till you can read it as fast as english
1b. Learn Kanjis
http://www.jlptstudy.com/4/Aim to learn 1 kanji a day
Write it down 20 times, paint it on the wall...what ever helps you remember
2. Now that you have the kana's learnt, start with vocabulary
http://www.jlptstudy.com/4/I prefer to make separate lists for adjectI'ves, nouns, verbs, adverbs etc
Aim for 5 words a day
Listening
Find and download old chokai exam audios and try to transcribe what they say accurately
It will take a couple of weeks before you can do it well, exposure to anime will make it easier
Grammar
Find a good teacher
Level 3 needs 350 kanjis, 1500 words and about 250 patterns.
Gambatte
