It’s hard to believe that it has been 11 years since I seriously studied Japanese, and 12 years since I left Japan. During this time, I felt the language slowly wither away – every time I would watch a Japanese movie or TV I would notice that I understood less and less.
It would be a tremendous loss if I don’t take advantage of my luck, of having lived there as a child for 3 years. So, I have decided to seriously begin studying it again.
The Plan
Every year the Japan Educational Exchanges and Services and the Japan Foundation administer the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (日本語能力試験 nihongo nōryoku shiken) or JLPT. The JLPT is a standardized test to evaluate and certify the language proficiency of non-native Japanese speakers. It is held once every year, on the first Sunday of December. The next test will be on December 2nd, 2007. I intend to take it. The JLPT has four levels beginning at level 4 and progressing to level 1 – the most difficult:
| Level | Kanji | Vocabulary | Listening | Pass Mark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | ~100 (103) | ~800 (728) | Basic | 60% |
| 3 | ~300 (284) | ~1,500 (1409) | Intermediate | 60% |
| 2 | ~1000 (1023) | ~6,000 (5035) | High Level | 60% |
| 1 | ~2000 (1926) | ~10,000 (8009) | Sufficient for life in Japan | 70% |
I honestly have no idea where I would fall in the ranking above were I to take the test today. I don’t have enough confidence to even say that I would pass Level 4. So, my first order of business: take a practice test and find out how much Japanese I really remember.
