N2 prep
This year I finally committed to taking the JLPT seriously and booked the N2 exam for December 7th. I’d been studying Japanese on and off for a long time, with mixed results, and it felt like the right moment to take that step. Passing N2 wouldn’t just be a personal milestone, it could also open more doors for my career here in Japan. I mainly used:
- Kanzen reading textbook
- Anki app with vocab and grammar decks daily
- Japanese lessons (I had previously never had a real lesson)
- Full practice tests (via old leaked tests online)
Out of everything, starting lessons made the biggest difference. I was doing about five hours a week, and it helped fix problems I didn’t even realize I had. One big issue was how I structured explanations. In English we follow a flow with a beginning, some kind of conflict or point, and then a resolution. In Japanese I often skipped one of those steps, which made what I said confusing even if the grammar itself wasn’t completely wrong. Once that clicked, a lot of everyday conversation started to feel more natural.
The test proctor's goof
Test day itself was more eventful than expected. I had taken the JLPT once before as practice, and the rules felt much looser back then. This time they were extremely strict. Phones had to be sealed inside a brown paper bag and you weren’t allowed to open it at all until the entire test was finished, not even during the break. However the proctor in my specific room was new to taking tests and nervous, so no one could hear anything he said. In my class every single person opened their bag during the break. As a result I guess the test proctors felt like they couldn't really blame us and decided not to take any negative action, though I heard that in other tests people were immediately disqualified for this.
How the test went
Vocab/Grammar
In terms of the content of the test, I had taken practice tests and felt confident as I had passed those, but this test's vocab and kanji section completely stumped me. In fact, in the first 2 pages I barely knew a single answer and I was panicking. However, in the second half of the vocab/grammar section I hit my stride and I think this was a pass.
Reading
Reading was the hardest part for me. The early panic meant I was short on time, and there were several longer passages where I had to guess more than I’d like. I didn’t walk out feeling good about it. That said, when I got home and checked a leaked answer key, I felt a bit more hopeful. I may have scraped through, but it’s hard to say.
Listening
In practice tests, listening was always my strongest section and I was counting on it to carry my score. This time it didn’t feel nearly as solid. I followed most of it, but I don’t think I hit the 80 percent range I was aiming for. It’ll probably be decent, just not as strong as usual.
Waiting for results
Now I'm stuck waiting for the results and it's a tough wait, thus far I'm continuing my N2 studies so that in the case where I didn't pass I will be well prepared for the next one. But I also never officially got a previous certificate so it makes it tough to write down my Japanese language level on my resume or just to prospective recruiters. For now, I’ve settled on describing my level honestly as intermediate, working toward advanced: 中級（上級を目指して勉強中）