Passed!
A few days ago I recieved my results for the JLPT and as you can see from the picture, I passed!
I seemed to have done better than any of the mocks that I had taken previously. The pass mark was 240 points and generally I would get around 270 points. On the real test I got 305 points.
It was the general opinion with everyone who took it, that this test was noticably easier than previous years and seems this fact is shown in my score.
Now I’m looking ahead at studying for Level 1. I really wish I had bought some level 1 books in Japan, because finding them in England is near to impossible.
The general book store’s books on the Japanese language are all introductory level. I would have thought Amazon.co.uk could do better, but it too only stocks basic level books. Amazon.com actually has Level 1 books, however they are out of print. Amazon.co.jp won’t export outside Japan…
The only place I have found so far, is a DVD website I have used for a long time (and highly recommend). YesAsia offers all sorts of Asia related products… books from Japan, which includes Japanese language books. They are a little awkward to find because of the odd romanization system YesAsia uses for the titles, but I found two of the three books I was looking for:
- Path to success/passing JLPT level 1
- JLPT level 1 grammer
Both of these books’ level 2 version I found very useful for preparing for level 2, so I’m hoping for the same for level 1. The first book is a bit mix of questions, the second book is essential grammer.
While I was at it, I also ordered a new game for my Nintendo DS, “Motto Nou o Kitaeru Otona” that is filled with brain training tests and such.
It was a big hit in Japan, I’m sure they’ll make an English version but I want the Japanese version for the study value.