掲示板 Forums - JLPT Vocabulary amounts

It's been a couple years since I took the JLPT, so my memory is a bit fuzzy, but I remember that I hadn't "studied" all the terms marked as N2 or N1 when I took the respective tests, and I passed comfortably both times. It's hard for me to quantify how large my vocabulary actually was (or indeed, how large it is now), though, because Renshuu wasn't my only source of input - I read a lot of native material, mostly fiction, starting about eight months before I took N2. I think this really made the difference for me, both in terms of passive vocabulary acquisition and in terms of reading speed and comprehension; the single most common complaint I hear about the JLPT is that people don't have time to finish the reading section. So I would cautiously recommend focusing less on how many words you "know" and more on what you can do with them. I do think that daily drilling with Renshuu and similar software is a good strategy to supplement your other studies, though; I don't think I would have learned as quickly using either Renshuu alone or native media alone. Basically, the more learning opportunities you give yourself, the more everything will fit together.

If Renshuu is your primary source of input, I'd guess that you'll need a higher number of "known" words than if you're also picking up terms from other sources. It's also worth noting that there are no official lists of content for the current JLPT levels, and a certain percentage of material on the test will be deliberately chosen from items that learners are unlikely to have studied. So building Japanese "intuition" is, I think, one of the best favors you can do yourself. Get comfortable not knowing everything, and you'll find that with context, you can make good guesses even about words you haven't seen before. Kanji will also save you here; if you're going to prioritize finishing any JLPT list, I'd probably focus on kanji rather than vocabulary.

Another way to get comfortable with the plot in English is to watch subtitled anime that is adapted from a light novel, then read the light novel --- you get both Japanese listening experience and reading experience.

Finding the right set of vocabulary is still challenging. I quit reading Moribito because I was learning far too many words specific to feudalism and not enough that I'd find useful on a daily basis.

shirokitsune は 05月 29日, 1:06に

Thanks so much for the feed back! Out of curiosity what books did you read? I can read most picture books easily but whenever I look at a novel I get a gut feeling that it is impossible and back off. Maybe If I tried to read a book I know somebody else has read I would have more confidence. Thanks again for the input!

と言いました。

I read a lot - some of it was better than others, and some of it was definitely too hard for me at the time, but pushing through it was still rewarding. At N3.5 (N2.5?) I think you're definitely advanced enough for books, if you're patient; I think that's about where I was when I started reading seriously. My original goal was just to read something every day, even if it was only a page - and sometimes it was! But other times I found myself getting sucked into the story and wanting to keep going. For that reason, I think it may be more motivating to read something that you haven't read in English, but that's just me personally.

I actually recommend against Harry Potter, and also against many light novels - despite being written for younger readers, books with fantasy or sci-fi elements are going to have a much higher percentage of rare words, if not words that the author has made up outright. (Think about all the spells and such in Harry Potter!) Of course it depends on where your interests lie and what you've been studying, but I think that books with fairly realistic settings, e.g. high school, tend to be pretty easy to follow. 森絵都（もり　えと） and あさのあつこ have quite a bit that falls into this category - I think リズム, by 森絵都, was an especially easy read. I'd also second 乙一 as generally pretty straight-forward, and 赤川次郎（あかがわ　じろう） if you're into mysteries - I personally liked his 三毛猫ホームズ series. 東野圭吾（ひがしの　けいご） is also a hugely popular mystery writer; I find his writing style a bit flat myself, but he does have interesting plots, pretty straightforward writing, and a lot of movie/drama adaptations if you want to check your understanding. There are a ton of great books out there, though! I like to track what I'm reading through 読書メーター, and it's also been my primary source for book recommendations. I think most of my favorites are listed in my 本棚, if you're interested.

(Tangentially, 読書メーター also has a Twitter-like function called みんなのつぶやき which can be a lot of fun just to look through if you've got a few minutes to kill; lots of posts about books, of course, but also food, pets, and just day-to-day life. Lots of photos, too! I think it's quite a nice look into normal life in Japan.)

I'd really like to emphasize that you don't need to take anyone's advice, though - the best thing for you to read is going to be whatever motivates you personally, regardless of how easy or difficult it is! If you find an author you like, it can also be helpful to read several of his/her books; writers tend to have favorite words, so the more you read by one author, the more new words will get reinforced. (This also applies within a book, so you probably won't find as many new words proportionally in a novel as you would in a short story. If you're not too intimidated by length, you can make this work for you!)

I could go on about this for ages, but I'm afraid this is getting long already. Best of luck and feel free to ask me if you're curious about any books in particular! (P.S., I am super jealous of your Book-Off access; I really think that Book-Off can be your best friend as a Japanese learner. ^.^)

ETA: Forgot to mention, but this is important - there are two ways to approach foreign language reading, intensive and extensive. Intensive reading is what most of us, I think, are trained to do in school - you look up everything you don't know. This can be a good way to deepen your understanding of a topic, but it doesn't lend itself well to reading novels; you'll get tired and burn out. In extensive reading, the goal is to read as much as possible. This means that you shouldn't be looking up more than a couple words per page: look it up if you think that not knowing it is hindering your understanding of the plot, but otherwise, allow yourself to make guesses. It also means that what you're reading shouldn't be too advanced for your current level: 96-98% understanding is probably ideal. If that means you need to start out with middle or elementary-school level books, don't worry about it!