Today we're going to look at one of the sections that has historically given people the most difficulty: the Reading Section, and look at a few tricks on how to pass it more easily.
For all of its issues, the JLPT is considered the definitive scale for Japanese proficiency both in and out of Japan. It is what is used to screen applicants for jobs, and for foreign exchange studies. The test itself is now held twice a year, and is arranged into 3 sections (Vocabulary, Listening and Reading), each of which is broken up into various subsections.
The Reading Section: or 'What do you mean I'm out of time!?!'
As the title above states, the reading section is a thorn in the paw of many students of the JLPT, and past test scores show that for students in Japan, their reading scores average much lower than the other sections.
One of the main reasons for this is time. There's just not enough of it!
Especially considering that from Level 2 on, the test introduces the
long essay section or the "超長い意味もない、なんでこんなところにこのつまらない論文を読まなあかん？！？！文."
Ok, maybe I'm lying about that last part.
Honestly, the only way to learn to read faster is to read EVERYTHING you can get your hands on. Pick up books (not manga),
read newspapers -- anything with long sentences that can get your brain
into the practice of reading natural Japanese for long periods of time.
I personally recommend Sakura Momoko's
line of humorous essay books. They're very easy to read, each chapter
is its own separate 10 page story, and they're very well geared towards
Level 3 or Level 2 reading levels.
When I first took the Level 2 JLPT I had about 10 questions
remaining in the reading section when I ran out of time. Over the next
year I read maybe 6 or 7 of Sakura Momoko's books, and the next year
finished the reading section with 10 minutes to spare.
On a 60 minute section, an improvement of 15-20 minutes is definitely non-trivial.
"But that's not a hack!" I hear people in the back say.
You're right, it's not -- it's just good advice.
Here's the hack:
Do the reading section backwards
The makers of the
JLPT in all their (sadistic) wisdom, decided to put the long reading
questions first, then followed by the Medium reading sections, finally
followed by the grammar questions.
The points then break down like this:
- Long Reading: 5 points per question
- Medium Reading: 5 points per question
- Grammar: 2 Points per question
Looking at this, you might be tempted to think "Well, if the long
reading is worth 5 points, I should do those first to make sure that I
get all of those before my time runs out!"
WRONG
The Long Reading section is definitely worth more points, but in 2 pages of dense text, you only get 7 questions, or 35 points.
Two pages is the ENTIRE grammar section (most of the time) and it has something like 40 questions.
So in the same amount of reading (and a lot less comprehension) you can get 80 points as opposed to the 25 for the long reading.
So, do the reading section in this order:
- Grammar
- Short Reading
- Medium Reading
- Long Reading
Get finished with as many questions as you can, and leave things that you might get stuck on for later.
And if you do find yourself not understanding a passage, or having trouble with a question: skip it and come back to it later.
It is more important to get all the questions you can correct, and then come back to the ones that you're having problems with.
Conclusion
The JLPT is not an easy test. Especially for beginners it can take a
lot of time and effort to get to a point where you can get a good
score. But in the end, it is still just a test, and there are
strategies that you can use to get yourself a better score.
Hopefully we've given you some ideas on how to attack the JLPT, and how to prepare yourself to get a better score.
If you're looking for more study materials or wordlists, why not try Ippatsu's wide range of flashcards geared towards the JLPT? Or try practicing online with past test questions?
Good luck, and good studying!
