Nihongo Noryoku Shiken

The Japanese Language Proficiency Test is fast approaching, and once again, I've wimped out on taking it. I passed level three a long time ago, but level two seems much more difficult--there's a huge jump between them. I've even studied for level two and have books and other study materials to help me study for it, but I'm so afraid of not passing it.

Or maybe I'm just lazy. Right now I'm enjoying reading and speaking Japanese twice a week in my classes, and I walk away satisfied and very happy. So I accept that as progress. It's too late to start intensively training for the December test date, but I should set a goal, finally, to take the test next year. I think I'll do that, and make this blog part of my accountability plan.

If you're one of those folks who's taking the test, check out The Kanji Site to keep you from going crazy from all those characters.

Updates: There's a helpful study guide for the test.

Popjisyo and Rikai help with online reading, kanji, and vocabulary.

Also see info about bilingual books about Japan to assist with your reading skills.

The ALC site has an online Japanese dictionary and publishes helpful books, including 500 Essential Japanese Expressions.

Yookoso has grammar and kanji lists that can be emailed to you every day.

See lists of Words from Japanese Newspapers in kanji, hiragana, and katakana.

Also check out the vocabulary lists for the test.

Read manga, listen to audio files, and read examples at an excellent Giongo and Gitaigo site.

Get online Kanji flashcards.

Other sites: Katango and JLPT Kanji Project (thanks to Kikoubun).