イギリス英会話ブログ

I’ve recently been preparing for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test - up to my ears in grammar books, kanji tests and mock papers I am beginning to feel that I am ready for the test. I may even peak just in time. My work as an English teacher usually starts at mid-day so I always have some time in the morning to study - for which I am very grateful. The JLPT is only held once a year, so failing means you have to wait a whole 12 months for the next opportunity to come around. I am beginning to feel that kanji tests and grammar books have taken up enough of my life, so I am hoping against hope that I won’t flunk it on the day!

Funnily enough, the JLPT is rather similar in format to the English STEP test for adults, except without the speaking component. The test consists of multiple-choice questions in 3 sections - Vocabulary, Listening and Reading Comprehension/Grammar. You answer by shading in a circle with your pencil. The answer sheet is readable with a machine. Strange really that there is no test of a candidate’s ability to speak or write coherently in Japanese. Perhaps this would be considered undesirable in a foreigner!! Far better to have a willing cohort of foreigners who can comprehend what they are being asked to do without answering back! (It’s not just that though. I swear that more than half of the grammar content I have been studying I have never ever heard a Japanese person use. Even in the newspapers, I only very rarely come across a construction that I have learnt for the JLPT.)
Or perhaps, the testers just assume that if someone can comprehend to this level, then they must be able to produce the language, too. That maybe true for people living in Japan, but the test is held all over the world. Surely it would be desirable to grade people according to their ability to ‘produce’ the language as well as just ‘comprehend’ it. I suppose the problem is that then the marking process could not be left up to a computer.
You would think that a testing process automated to the degree that the JLPT is would be very time-efficient but it will be the end of February next year before anyone gets their results. My attitude to the whole thing has been that the test provides a time-frame for my studying and a clear target to attain, and as such has been very useful and motivating for me. I just hope that employers in Japan recognize the qualification and value it more highly than most of the people who take it do.

And I hope I pass, too…