Awhile back, I posted about having tried the 2006 Japanese Language Proficiency Test (日本語能力試験) for Nikyuu, i.e. “level 2″. The JLPT is divided into 4 levels, where 1 is the highest, and I am going to take the level 2 exam in a little less than a month (December 7th). Today, I once more gave it a try, this time the 2005 JLPT exam (the book I bought has 2004, 2005, and 2006 in it), to see where I’m at. I intend to do the final 2004 exam a week or so before the real exam, just to stay warmed up.
The test is divided into 3 sections – a kanji/vocabulary section, a listening comprehension section, and a reading comprehension section. The third section is by far the most difficult of the 3, and it comprises 200 of the 400 total points, that is, it is half the test.
In any case, my results in the individual sections below:
- Kanji/vocabulary: 57/65 correct (87.7%) => 87.7 points
- Listening comprehension: 22/27 correct (81.5%) => 81.5 points
- Reading comprehension: 36/59 correct (61.0%) => 120 points
Thus I scored 288/400 points, which puts me at 72%. With a 12% margin and almost a month left of studying, I think this will go okay. Now my biggest enemy is, of course, relaxing TOO much because I think it’ll be a breeze.
I think back on when I in May-June asked one of my teachers if she thought I’d be able to pull off the Nikyuu test and she said “Um… probably not, but you should give it a try!”. I’ve come a long way since then, if I may say so myself.
Keep your fingers crossed for me on December 7th, regardless. I’ll update (on this topic) again once I’ve done the 2004 test in about 3 weeks and again once I’ve taken the exam. I guess it’s almost time to start focusing on Ikkyuu (Level 1) at this point. That won’t exactly be detrimental to my Nikyuu exam or anything, so why not…
Hi Kalle, I happened upon your blog earlier when I googled for ‘jlpt difficulty 2005 2006 2007′ would you believe. I, like you, am taking nikyuu in a few days time. Today I sat the 2005 exam in mock timed conditions at my Japanese school (in Nagano) and wanted to find out what people thought of how the difficulty of the test has changed each year. In class for example I took the 2002 listening part and got over 90%, but after class in the 2005 listening part I only achieved a miserable 66%.
Anyway if you want to nudge me, then maybe we can converse on email about the test. Oh, and as it’s now less than a week before, have you sat the 2004 test?
Hi Mark!
Wow, cool that you found me. I wish you much luck in the real test on Sunday.
I’ll send you an email for sure.
As for the 2004 JLPT test — yes, I did, but it was a disaster because the reading comprehension (3rd) part had texts in it that we had done in school already. Stupid, stupid school. Or stupid, stupid JLPT people for both letting schools use the 2004 exam content and simultaneously selling that in stores.
The score was slightly worse than for 2005, but overall I’d say it was about as easy, I just had bad luck on remembering stuff (I had no idea 招 had the “まね.く” reading…). I actually gave myself 0 points on all the problems in the book that we’d already done in school but I still got 62.5% on the test as a whole, so my confidence is still good, despite it all.
Good luck with that! I am writing the JLPT ichikyu test this Sunday– I am in a huge panic mode right now. Although I know the level is different, do you think there are any ways I can prep myself for that exam? I am studying off this “Complete review guide for JLPT level 1″ study guide– but I am not sure if this is sufficient ><!
Do you think you could email me? Once again, good luck this Sunday!
Well, the one thing I recommend is to do the previous years’ exam(s) in advance. It’s a little late for that now though since the test is 2 days from now, but if you have time, just going through them with the right timed conditions etc. will help you get a feel for “which pace works where” … for example, I noticed that I tend to have about 10-15 minutes left after I finish with the vocab/kanji section every time, so I intend to go slowly and carefully on that one on Sunday.
Good luck to you too.
Hello,
Haha thanks for the tip! I guess I’ll be doing the mock exam in my study guide, in hopes of helping me pass! Wooo, I can’t believe it’s only one day before the exam (I guess you live in a different time zone, though).
Good luck to the both of us!