Hi all,

How did everybody fare for JLPT this time round?

This Dec, i took N4 with my students. For vocabulary,
we saw a few N3 words and 1 of the uncommon words tested. N5 grammar was also tested. Listening was quite tricky.  名詞修飾形 was also tested, which is very important from N5 onwards.

Some of my other students took N3 and N2. Heard that the listening  was quite tough. Keigo was also tested.

After the exam, most of my students told me that they feel the importance of making sure that foundation for Japanese grammar is very important and am glad that i helped them in making sure that their foundation is firm. In our lessons, as we are able to take the exam with students, we usually tell you all what grammar or vocabulary tends to appear in the exam.

If you feel that your foundation in Japanese is not so good, why not try our lessons to strengthen your foundation or find out more? =)

To support those that wish to sign up for our lessons, we are giving a 30% discount off the 1st term, should you sign up with us by end September. That is on top of 1 free trial lesson. Contact us via here

Look forward to seeing you in our lessons.

Till the next JLPT, have a good rest and great week ahead.

/Can

Hi all,

JLPT Exam tips will be out on 29th Nov (Fri).

Do look out for them.

Cheers,
Can

Hi all,

Am happy to announce my JLPT results for the various levels.

N1: 1/1 passed (Top score: 119/180)
N3: 1/1 passed (Top score: 126/180)
N4: 3/3 passed (Top score: 138/180)
N5: 14/16 passed (Top score: 180/180 x 2 students)

Congratulations to all who passed. 1st time i see N1 with 119/180. If you have not checked your results, head to here to check them.

/Can

みなさん、おはようございます。
Can’t get to sleep, so decided to write my after thoughts about JLPT.

As usual, i was early at the exam venue early in the morning at 8am and managed to secure a good spot to do my last minute revision for my students. I think the last minute revision helped a lot as i was told that a lot of what i spotted and mentioned came out in the exam. やった！

I was unable to be with them the whole duration, but i went back to check on them after my lessons and most of them were able to handle the paper.

For myself, i took N1 and i thought the vocabulary and grammar was easy. Reading was a killer for me, especially with all the passages. Listening this time was quite ok. I hope to get at least a 50/60 for listening.

So what did you guys choose for the last conversation passage? Its always good to write down the options and their characteristics. After that, match it with what they say.

For those who follow through my tips to do the reading passages, you would have been able to finish the reading on time or left with 1-2 questions unanswered.

Your foundation knowledge is very important and can help you to ace through the star questions. For example, my Intermediate students are able to handle a N2 star question without much effort, given their foundation knowledge of how the sentences link together. I was quite lucky that my foundation knowledge have been tested over and over again when i took N1 this time round.

For vocabulary, i think you really need to hit the books. For myself, i am glad that i usually spend time to look up words that i don’t know while watching dramas, so that kind of helped a lot, as most of my other time are all devoted to my students and improving the teaching materials.

For N1 and N2 listening, it is good to start watching office-related dramas like 「私は定時で帰ります」、「泣かないと決めた日」、「庶務二」, etc. All these dramas would contain a lot of stuff you need for N1/N2 listening.

For reading, i realized that N1/N2 reading are starting to test more on environmental, psychological and sociology passages. This is something that i plan to cover in my upcoming Advanced classes.

If you wish to find out more about how my teaching methods differ, feel free to drop me a message to meet up.

JLPTを受けたみなさん、お疲れ様でした！

ケン

みなさん、

JLPT scores has been released.

You can check the scores via here

N3: 4/4 passed (highest score: 137/180)
N4: 1/3 passed (highest score: 180/180)
N5: 5/5 passed (highest score: 145/180)

This term, my students did quite ok, but i had 2 borderline failures in my N4 batch. I think both of them tried their best. Given that they have only done 9 months of study, it calls for a time of self-reflection.

I felt this year the N4 moderation curve is quite steep. What do you guys think? Drop me an email or share your comments below.

Congrats to all who passed. For those who didn’t make it, don’t take this as a setback, JLPT is just a stupid bell curve. The important skills are still speaking and conversation.

/Can
(feeling sad)

みなさん、

こんばんは。

Its my usual post after working from 7am to now, taking exams with the students and stuff.

This year, i took N4 with my students and was quite glad to say that a lot of N5 questions came out. My students did N5.

For those thinking of attempting higher level tests like N1 and N2, please do note that basic questions like transitive verbs and intransitive verbs are still being tested in the exam. If you are having issues with beginner/intermediate Japanese, now is a very good time to revise.

Also, as you move up the ladder, always ask yourself, “Why am i taking JLPT for?”, “What do i hope to do in the future?”, etc.  JLPT is ultimately just an exam that tests your written proficiency, not your spoken proficiency. Even if you passed N1, it would be before long that you understand your journey with the language has just begun. Even for me, while i am still teaching Japanese, i am still learning the various vocabulary.

Without understanding foundation grammar, it would be hard for you to pass JLPT with good results. 一緒にがんばりましょう！

Enjoy this song! お疲れさまでした！

/Can