Level 1 Postmortem

[Applecart]

文字語彙 No real problems

聴解 Is it just me or was that really hard?

読解\文法 reading was on the diffcult side but not too bad, grammar was a walk in the park.


My performance on the listening section may have cost me a pass. Seriously, I`m thinking I`ll be lucku to get 40%!

Hope you guys had an easier time of it

[maky]

文字語彙
After I took it, I thought it wasn't so bad. But now that I went back and checked my answers, I now know that I got 82% at the most (I haven't confirmed section VI yet, so it might be lower... ). I wish all of the questions were only worth 1pt.
I made so many stupid mistakes, including one time where I changed a correct answer to an incorrect one. Most of the mistakes I'd made were words that I had actually studied & should have known. I'm pretty sure that I passed 文字語彙, though (crossing fingers), so maybe I just just be happy about that...

聴解
Holy **** this was REALLY REALLY hard!!!!! MUCH more difficult than last years. My head still hurts.
I was counting on this for points, but I'm not sure that I even passed this section. I won't even make a guess.

読解\文法
There were a few tricky reading questions (one is particular is still bothering me), but I agree that overall it wasn't too bad. The grammar was also pretty easy (though I want to know the answer to the first grammar question!! it's driving me crazy!). There were a few non-Kanzen Master points thrown in the mix.

I'll post more thoughts later, and more specific things after everyone around the world has taken the test.

[atomu]

試験は難しかったが、ことによるとぎりぎりで合格できるかもしれない。

That's just a sample sentence from a study-book for the JLPT 1, but there's not much to add from my side. I found it quite hard today. Maybe I'm just a little bit over the 70%, maybe not. Yeah, 聴解 was really a challenge. There were not only a few answers, which I had to guess.

I'll try it again next year, regardless of the result this year. Still too much, I should have known.

It's really getting harder every year, isn't it?

[noir]

文字・語彙

知らん。あいまいな感じ。
けどあまり悪くも無かった。

聴解

正直に言え、私、本物の聴解問題を見るのは今日で初めてだった
アニメおたくの根性で何とかなると考えていたんだが
世の中そんなに甘いもんじゃないのね

読解・文法

私は何よりも文法が一番心配だったので
文法問題が考えたことより難しくなかったのでホッとした
読解？何とかなるんだろう…

[Applecart]

The grammar was also pretty easy (though I want to know the answer to the first grammar question!! it's driving me crazy!).

I think the exam is finished everywhere by now, so if you can remind me what that question was I might remember what I answered.

[maky]

I think the exam is finished everywhere by now, so if you can remind me what that question was I might remember what I answered.

I had trouble with this one:

所得が低い人は、税金の負担を軽くするなどの措置がとられて＿＿＿＿。
①もともとだ　　②しかるべきだ　　③極まりない　　④やまない

Apparently, the answer is ②. I didn't know しかる had two meanings!

[maky]

I also made a mistake with this one. I think I changed it from ② to ①. Oops

観客は彼女の優美＿＿＿大胆な演技に感動した。　
①なりの　　　②にして　　　③ゆえの　　　④をおいて

The answer is ② I think.

These are the only 文法 questions I think I've missed so far. I haven't found questions #22 or #23 posted anywhere yet.

[Kuzuha]

maky,

Yes, the answer is #2 for both of those.

As for my thoughts on the test, everything except for the first part of listening (with the pictures) was harder than I expected. The latter part of listening, as others have mentioned, was much harder than I expected. Grammar was not necessarily hard, but took more time than usual. Reading also took more time with usual. Well, that was my overall impression. Hope you all passed!

[atomu]

I also made a mistake with this one. I think I changed it from ② to ①. Oops

観客は彼女の優美＿＿＿大胆な演技に感動した。　
①なりの　　　②にして　　　③ゆえの　　　④をおいて

The answer is ② I think.

In deed it is. It's so funny; I made exactly the same silly mistake. According to the answers in the other thread, I did well in the 文法 section and mad only 3 mistakes.

There is not all of it out there in the www, and I forgot some of my answers, so my result is a bit unclear yet:


文字・語彙 - 67-74%


聴解 - first part only 44-69%!!! second part???


読解・文法 - 66-82%
(Maybe I failed a lot in the first 7 questions for the first long text, which I did at a last. I was very tired at that point and now I don't remember accurately which answers I chose.)

Total???

[Applecart]

Thanks to the magnificent Maky for hunting down those answers!

OK, assuming the absolute worst case scenario (all questions in doubt are wrong and zero for part 2 of the listening) I get 278 pts.

That probably wont happen so I feel a little confident that I passed.

If all doubtful answers are correct (but still assuming zero for listening part 2) I get 306 pts.

Now, since I took the exam in Australia I have to wait approximately forever to get my results

[nokori3byo]

As for the listening, I commiserate. I essentially knew it`d cost me the pass the moment I walked out of the room. Too much guessing and some rather stupid mistakes from me.

I`m now fairly sure there has been a concerted effort to make listening harder in recent years.

Also, does it strike anyone else as odd that there were 21 reading questions but only 34 (35?) grammar questions? It`s not possible that they upped the weighting of the grammar questions, is it?

Anyway, rather than start a new thread, I thought I`d just write out my reconstruction, from memory, of the listening section here.

In now particular order:

(With pics)

--seat on train (smoking or non)
--doll-making process
--socks and blanket set
--cup and saucer set (I think I blew this on the grounds of having confused the meaning of つぼみ). Such and easy one too.
--a 順番 question about a medical check
--a guy leaving a phone message concerning the time of the meeting and whether someone would attend the lunch.
--The one about the guy choosing his mandatory classes.
--choosing the correct title for the news story.
--the graph
--When the woman`s meeting is expected to end.
--Whether the guy will buy the low-cal high-protein product or not.
--Determining the work relationship between the man, woman, and the unseen employee.
--Determining which section the young employee works in now.
--Determining which figure corresponds to the Professor`s speech.
--Choosing the chart which lists the boys` dreams for the future.

That`s, uh, 15 of the 16 I think. I couldn`t remember the others.

(no pics)
--phone message from a friend asking to delay meeting.
--Footrace results--did the newcomer pull off 大逆転?
--speech about bullies
--document sending crisis/misunderstanding
--Witnesses describing accident.
--survey of people`s desire to get married.
--Man`s complaints about whingeing at work (one of the few I answered with confidence).
--How will the 課長 reach his destination (plane, car, both)
--Students should express themselves by some means other than uniforms.
--Who says that they don`t need お土産?

That`s 10 of the 14. Can`t remember the rest. Anyone care to add?

I`ll say again that my own experience of this listening test was a song sung in the key of ***t. Like really bad. Many of the questions, I should`ve got right, but something in the phrasing threw me off.

Ah well, next year it is then.

[Kuzuha]

Thanks to the links posted, I did some calculations last night, and I am quite confident that I passed. I was a bit worried, so that's a relief. Now to find out if I'm right... in a few months.

[Applecart]

I`m now fairly sure there has been a concerted effort to make listening harder in recent years.

It does seem that way doesn't it, and not in a subtle way either. There were a few fairly easy questions, but overall it really did seem to be a different standard from past years. Maybe it's the standard level 1 should be, but they shouldn't just change it from one rear to the next (especially not the year I happen to sit it ). To be fair though, I have only heard it once and that was in the heat of the exam, so maybe I can't judge yet.

Also, does it strike anyone else as odd that there were 21 reading questions but only 34 (35?) grammar questions? It`s not possible that they upped the weighting of the grammar questions, is it?

With fewer questions each effectively has a higher weighting. Whether they would further weight them with an additional point- who knows?

[maky]

Here are my thoughts after having some time to relax and reflect over the test:

文字・語彙
I think this section was actually fairly easy compared to previous years. I had come across almost all of the words before.
But that didn't stop me from making many, many stupid mistakes. I deliberated over a few questions, only to end up choosing the wrong answer oops. But I got every question right in the last two sections, yay!
Kanji/goi is usually the most difficult test of the three for me, so I am satisfied with my 82%.

聴解
Personally, I thought this test was very hard, but I have heard others say it was a walk in the park (天気がいいから散歩しましょう, hehe). During the fifth or sixth listening question, I realized that I had accidentally filled in two bubbles on one row, so my answers were messed up. >_< I hurried to fix them, but then I missed the beginning to the next question. And for some reason, I kept expecting the questions to be "fake" trick questions-- but now I don't think the JLPT people are that evil. Normally listening is fairly easy for me, but I screwed up this year. I think I missed 3 or 4 of the picture questions alone.
Oh well, there's always next year, right?

読解・文法
Reading was mixed. Most of the readings were doable, except for that economics one (or whatever it was about- I still don't know!). The first one was easy to read. BUT the questions were vague as hell. There were a few that seemed like more than one answer could be possible.
Grammar was incredibly easy. Thank you 完全マスター!! I missed the "~にして" question, but I shouldn't have because sure enough that point was covered in the book, too.
I was surprised by the abundance of 2kyu material and also by the lack of keigo.
I am still convinced that しかるべき falls under the category of "Vocabulary" and not "Grammar" boohoo
----------------------------
nokori3byo - thanks for posting that!!

[Applecart]

Personally, I thought this test was very hard, but I have heard others say it was a walk in the park (天気がいいから散歩しましょう, hehe).

There's really 2 different issues here. It'll be easy for some and hard for others. It depends on the individual of course and there is no reason why it should be difficult for everybody.

The other thing though is how it compares in difficulty to previous year's exams. Having done 3 past exams and about 7 practice exams I'd say that this years exam seemed to be a higher standard. I guess we'll find out when they release the stats. Unless they massage them of course

[tabehodai]

sigh... I calculated my scores and I failed

I'm blown away by how high you guys are reporting your scores. Please advise me on how to study and start preparing for EACH of the paper next year. yoroshiku onegaishimasu *deep bow*

[Laurus]

Yeah, I think I failed by just a few percentage points. It's pretty demoralizing to see that after all the hard work. I've been reading the posts on this board for some time but since all of the regular posters were rocking my scores on practice tests I felt a little embarrassed to post my results. Thanks to maky, Applecart, nokori3byo, atomu and others for contributing so much to this board. I wish I'd participated in it earlier in the lead-up to the test. Oh well, I'll definitely be here for next year's test (unless they somehow change our scores so I magically passed or something). Good job everybody with all the hard work, and I guess those of us who failed can always look forward to next year's test!

[maky]

awww, Laurus, you should have joined in sooner!! But I'm glad you're posting now & hope you'll stick around. And I mean this to all of the posters who just started posting here, too!
Pass or fail, it sounds like many people are planning on taking the test next year again. I think I will (though I won't study as hard for it next year! And I want to take the BJT, too.). I hope that everyone posting in this forum will continue to hang around here. Until recently, there has been a major lack of info about 1kyu in english on the internet. By posting about our experiences here we can help fix this, plus get advice and feedback from others. So please post!

Practice test scores aren't necessarily important (just a diagnosis tool), and the actual test isn't necessarily the most important thing, really. If you put hard work into your studies, I'm sure that it's paid off with your improved Japanese- speaking, reading, listening, and writing. Have you noticed the results? Isn't it a great feeling to be able to actually read things, understand things you hear without trying, watch TV or movies without subtitles & understand most if not all of it, and be able to have actual discussions with people beyond small talk? ^^

Anyway, Laurus & tabehodai - the jlpt isn't over till the official results come out! We can only speculate till then, right?

[Laurus]

Hey maky,

Thanks for the encouraging post. Yes, I will definitely be hanging around here! It's really a great forum thanks to you and other members who are active and encouraging to each other and to newcomers like me.

I think a combination of two things hit me on the test. One, the listening section was harder than I expected, and two, I didn't do well enough on the other sections to compensate for that. So I think my strategy for next year will be to improve my listening skills as much as possible (hard to do) and try to boost my scores on the other sections to compensate for my poor listening (maybe easier to do?).

Yes, I think you're right that our studying has helped our Japanese in general. I picked up a random Japanese book the other day and I was surprised how easy it was to read it compared to before. Somehow I'm getting some kind of strange pleasure from the idea of studying for this test for one more year even though it's testing so much random archaic stuff. And who knows, like you said, some of us who think we failed may have even passed! We just have to wait and see!

[atomu]

Practice test scores aren't necessarily important (just a diagnosis tool), and the actual test isn't necessarily the most important thing, really. If you put hard work into your studies, I'm sure that it's paid off with your improved Japanese- speaking, reading, listening, and writing. Have you noticed the results? Isn't it a great feeling to be able to actually read things, understand things you hear without trying, watch TV or movies without subtitles & understand most if not all of it, and be able to have actual discussions with people beyond small talk? ^^

That's so true!

I've checked all the questions now, but my memory is so poor, there are still a lot of questions, where I don't remember my answers. All I can say now is, I'm somewhere between 241 and 312 points (...). So there is still a little hope, but I fear in the end maybe I'm just 1 or 2 points under the 280 borderline…

Anyway, I'll do it again next year! It's good to know I'm not alone. Let's do it together next! Welcome, Laurus and tabehodai! Don't worry too much, what maky wrote above is absolutely true. We worked hard for the test, but the goal is not the test, but making Japanese rock in your real life.

Thx for joining us Kuzuha, maybe you don't need us anymore, right? Congratulations!

Applecart, I'm sure you've passed!

nokori3byo, I had the same problems in the listening part. Hearing it now, I'm wondering where my brain has been during the test. Next year we'll do it better. But maybe you did it this year...

noir、出来たね。おめでとう！

Congratulations and thank you once again to maky! You did a great job. In the test and here in the board. It would be very nice, if you could stay with us for another year! Don’t leave us alone!