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[rxk22]

I was wondering if anyone here has passed the N2 in the past 3-5 years? I just passed the N3 this summer, and I am taking the N2 this winter. I have been studying a decent amount, and I have some hope in passing.
Thing though, is that getting to N2 level means that you can pretty much read. My Kanji still isn't there yet, as there are still tons of Kanji that I can't even read, nor guess read.

I currently use notebooks to study at work, Anki on my phone, and when i get a chance, Mormorinihongo on youtube to get instructions, and for listening practice.

Anyone have any tips, comments, or are also looking to take a JLPT test this winter?

[taikibansei]

It's been more than a few years since I passed the N2--actually, nearly 20 years. (Man, I've gotten old....) That said, a lot of what I did then to pass the N2 (and N1) is still pertinent, including the following for studying kanji:

First, if you don't already have them, get yourself copies of these two books:

Henshall, K. G. (1988). A Guide to Remembering Japanese Characters. Tokyo: Tuttle.

Nelson, A. N. (1994). The Modern Reader's Japanese-English Character Dictionary (Second Revised Edition). Tokyo: Tuttle

The Henshall book has a lot of nice tricks for remembering characters, while the Nelson dictionary is just...awesome. (It has many daily use characters that all other Japanese-English dictionaries do not list.)

Second, you need to do what the Japanese do to learn these characters...which is to practice writing them every. single. day. That said, for the N2, they'll be testing you on character readings (as well as meanings). What I did was type something--at least one email, letter, report, diary entry, etc.--in Japanese every day. (It helped that responsibilities at my workplace often necessitated written correspondence in Japanese.)

Typing stuff forces you to get the readings right. E.g., there's a big difference in meaning between "jokin" (除菌) and "jo-kin" (常勤), something many foreigners (including myself) have a hard time catching just from listening to the spoken word (let alone remembering for a standardized test). However, on a Japanese word-processing program, unless you type the readings correctly, the characters you want will not appear...forcing you to learn them.

My two yen, anyway. Good luck!

[rxk22]

Thanks for the reply. Sorry for the late response.

I don't think that the N2 is all that much different, even after the recent changes. N3 got a bit harder is all IIRC.

I do need to try and squeeze in writing, typing into my study regiment.
RTK is an amazing system though. I don't think I could write many kanji without hat system. I forget so easily it seems.

The N3 had a lot of kanji on the test that were similar, or had similar readings. I am sure the N2 will have way more. So I am going to see if I can find your books here in Japan.

Thanks for the tips

[mitsui]

I think a pass in each section is about 50% but if you fail one part you fail everything.
It used to be your overall score put together but now each section must be passed.
Maybe kanji and reading is the hardest part while with N3 it is grammar and vocabulary.

You could look for Japanese boot camp on the web, which gives tips for each test.

[rxk22]

[mitsui]

www.jlptbootcamp.com

I think he is in Japan and assume he passed N2.

[Inflames]

Study every day. Kanzen Master books were the best books when I took it (2009-2011).

If you are married, honestly lie to your wife and go to a convenience store with an "eat in" section and buy a coffee and study there for an hour each day - it is your time, and passing it will pay off in the end. I can never study at home (even stuff I need for my work) so Starbucks/cafes/conbinis are essential for studying.

Don't feel discouraged about not being able to read everything - I work at a Japanese company doing translation and there were things in the beginning I couldn't read (I see them every day now so I learned).

Good luck!

[rxk22]

[Lamarr]

I'd recommend Kanzen Master too. I've been studying with that for the N2. I took the test a couple of years ago after studying with So Matome for a while, but found that the exercises were a bit lightweight and didn't prepare you enough for the test, particularly the reading. Kanzen Master is more like boot camp, with plenty of examples of the actual type of questions you're going to get in the test. The only thing I find is lacking with Kanzen Master is that the listening book is a bit short (though it's still better than So Matome). They could do with lengthening it and giving more listening exercises I think.

I don't find the kanji that much of a problem, the hard ones for me are the reading - some of those multiple choice questions get very niggly and nit-picky - and trying to remember all those damned grammar points is a pain in the neck as well. I think you need to give yourself a good 12 months to steadily go through examples each week, and consider the first time you take the test as a "dry run": don't expect to pass it first time, but do it for the experience, and to gauge where you're at, then consolidate what you need to work on and plough on with that for another 6-12 months.

I had a friend who took the N2 about 5 or 6 times. The last time he did it, he got 59%, one short of the pass mark, so he just tells people he passed it. It's not unusual to have to take it a bunch of times before you pass it.

[rxk22]