I’ve registered for the JLPT2, which happens December 7th, 2008. As a reminder, registration ends around September 20th, so get a move on it if you plan on seeing just how much Japanese you know while under the pressure of a test environment with a test purposely designed to fool you.
After Otakon, my studying had dropped significantly, and I found myself forgetting kanji i thought I knew. Alarmed, I became determined to study more with the help of a friend. I answered some sample questions from the JLPT2 and got most of them right. However, being correct doesn’t matter if you don’t actually answer all of the questions, and this is where I learned the harsh reality of the JLPT2: It is a LOT of questions in very little time. One section wants you to answer 100 questions in 40 minutes, leaving you actually less than 30 seconds per question. Granted, you only need to get 60% of the test correct in order to pass, but the pressure of that time limit is so harsh it’ll cause me to lose 2 PP every time I attack.
I also have been trying to improve my listening comprehension, and decided to be all hardcore about it and listen to the Nikkei News Podcast. What I learned is that I can understand Japanese commercials (or rather the between-news-segments promos) a hell of a lot better than I can understand news about business and economics. Maybe if I listen to it 10 more times I could actually understand 50% of it.
it’s only a few months away so I need to buck up and study more. You may or may not see a decrease in post that are actually about anime.
OGIUE MANIAX 
Thanks for the note, I’ll pass along a reminder to J-List readers that they should sign up. Where is the most common/best place to sign up for the JLPT inside the U.S.?
LikeLike
The most convenient way would probably be to register online. You can do it here: http://www.jflalc.org/?act=tpt&id=23
Keep in mind the number of test sites is limited, and so it might be inconvenient for some people to take the test in the first place.
LikeLike
Man I wish my Japanese was badass enough for just the JLTP 4 :(
LikeLike
JLPT rather
LikeLike
That’s on my birthday, which is also Pearl Harbor Day!!
TheAndySan
http://www.theandysan.com
LikeLike
Heh, that’s kind of ominous. Just like the (previous) number of kanji in the 常用漢字 list being 1945…
LikeLike
I’ve heard that you pretty much leave the test a zombie. :(
LikeLike
Good luck on your efforts . :3
LikeLike
Ganbaree!! When I was studying for JLPT2, what I found to be really time-constrained was the reading comprehension section. Reading more novels and answering most of the JLPT2 exams helped me improve in that. And I realized how much I suck at listening… I don’t think I improved much throughout my study =.=; I guess I SHOULD also be hardcore and listen to that podcast… considering that I’ll now be taking the harder exam that is JLPT1 T__T;
“I’ve heard that you pretty much leave the test a zombie. :(”
– depends on how prepared you are I guess o.o
LikeLike