The JLPT is the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (日本語能力試験) and this year I passed the top level N1 exam. My score section breakdown was as follows:
| Section | Score | Available |
|---|---|---|
| Language Knowledge (文字、語彙、文法) | 43 | 60 |
| Reading (読解) | 26 | 60 |
| Listening (聴解) | 38 | 60 |
| Total Score (総合得点) | 107 | 180 |
A score of 107 /180 puts me in the 72.4 Percentile.
Overall I was happy to have just passed the test – but I was surprised by the breakdown of my results. I don’t live in Japan and I generally improve my Japanese through reading, so I expected my reading and language knowledge sections to be the strongest. If I was to fail the exam I thought that would be because of the listening section, so it was a big surprise that I made up the points on listening that I’d dropped in the reading part!
One of the hardest things I found about the listening section is that because it comes after the other two sections I feel so exhausted that it’s hard to focus, and entire pieces of conversation can sail by before I realise I wasn’t really even listening.
The real exam is also much harder than any practice papers I found. For example I did three mock tests (available here) and passed each of those relatively easily with points (and time!) to spare. With the real test I found myself struggling for time during the reading section and having to rush through the last sets of questions (which probably contributed to my relatively poor score).
I don’t think I will bother to retake the test anytime soon, but I’m still trying to keep working on my Japanese consistently. Since I like learning 3D CGI as a hobby, I’ve been trying to hit two birds with one stone and do much of that in Japanese too:
I’m also reading The Way of Kings but in Japanese, which has been really enjoyable so far.
Anyhow, here is the certificate itself:
