JLPT guide

JLPT guides

How the exam works, written out in full.

Three pages on how the exam itself works - the scoring, the step people find hardest, and how to choose a level. Everything here is about the JLPT as an exam rather than about Japanese.

• How the JLPT is scoredEvery level is out of 180 — and the total is not the rule that fails people.
• N4 to N3: the biggest jump in the JLPTThe kanji doubles. The thing that actually fails people is that reading becomes its own section.
• Which JLPT level should you take?Start from what the certificate is for — then check your guess against a real paper.
• How many kanji does each JLPT level need?The JLPT stopped publishing its lists in 2010. Every count you have read since is reverse-engineered.
• N3 or N2? The pass mark that surprises peopleN3 needs a higher score than N2. It is not a misprint, and it does not make N3 harder.
• How to practise JLPT listeningSixty points at every level, its own minimum to clear, and the recording is played once.
• Every 問題 on the JLPT, explainedMost of what is lost in the first ten minutes is lost to a format, not to the Japanese.
• JLPT exam day: how the sitting runsThe Japanese is the part you prepared for. The day has a shape too.
• How long does each JLPT level take?The honest answer is a range — but the range tells you whether December is a plan or a wish.
• JLPT, JFT-Basic or NAT-Test — which do you need?They are not alternatives. The one you need is decided by whoever is asking for it.
• What is JLPT N2 actually worth?It is the line where Japanese stops being something you study and starts being something you are employed for.