Hi! This is actually quite a difficult question to answer because there are a lot of variables that come into play. Just because you passed the N2 doesn’t mean you’ll have a lot of jobs available to you. More often than not, you’ll need to have other skills as well. Unless you are planning to work in an entry position that doesn’t require a lot of experience or skills (working in a factory, housekeeping, assistant manual labor type of jobs, etc.). If you live close to a big city, chances are that there are a lot of these types of jobs, and many companies do hire a lot of foreigners. And more often that not, even these types of positions ask for at least an N3 level of Japanese, or you’re at a level where you you can understand simple conversations. There are two major problems with these types of jobs though. First, it is pretty rare they these types of jobs can offer you a visa, even if you work full time. Some companies use a middle-man to hire their employees (haken-gaisha), and sometimes they might be able to offer you a visa. In my experience, this is very rare. The second problem is that there have been companies who exploit foreign workers. This could be due to the fact that a lot of the foreign workers can’t understand a lot of Japanese, and they take advantage of this. So you need to be wary of untrustworthy companies.

How is your English? If you have had 12 years of education in the English language, that combined with a high level of Japanese (N2 or N1) can open up the doors to a lot of other positions. The most common is probably teaching. However, it is pretty hard if English is not one of your native languages, as many companies ask for teachers who are native speakers of English. I’m assuming one of your native languages is Indonesian. If you go to areas where there are lots of people from Indonesia, you might be able to get a job at a haken-gaisha as a translator/interpreter for workers who speak Indonesian. There might be jobs to teach Indonesia, but it’s probably not too high in demand. If you did happen to land a good teaching job or full time position at a haken-gaisha, odds are in your favor that they can help you get a visa.

Some hotels might be interested in hiring you too. If your English and Japanese is good enough to communicate with international guests, that’s a good asset to put on your resume.

So long story short, passing the N2 will definitely be a plus. Just remember that it’s not the only thing you need. More importantly, keep in mind that you actual level of Japanese is more important that passing the test for most jobs. If you pass the N1, but you have a hard time speaking, reading, or writing in real-life situations, it will be very hard to work in a Japanese company.

Hope this helps! Good luck!

Thank you again!

Hi Greg! Congratulations on passing the N3! Awesome that you got the Sou Matome books for free! I never created a specific study plan detailing what I would study daily/weekly. I did follow the Sou Matome books though. The lessons are broken down into 8 sections, which, if you were to study one lesson per day, you would complete the book in 2 months. So that’s exactly what I did. I studied one page per day. But just remember to study actively and review. THESE ARE NECESSARY! By active study, I mean I not only read over the material and remembered it, but I wrote down notes in a notebook, made flashcards, and tried to use what I learned by creating my own sentences/conversations. I would imagine a situation where I could use what I learned, which made it relate-able and useful to me. And I reviewed what I learned daily as well. I kept reviewing what I learned until it was ingrained into my long-term memory. If you have Anki, creating flashcards there would be great.

I was a little more lax with the Kanzen Master books. After I finished the Sou Matome books, I worked on the Kanzen Master books. I read though the material, and studied what I didn’t learn from the Sou Matome books…which was quite a lot! Even though they are both books teaching you the material for the N2, the information contained in both were quite different. I still stand by my statement though…if you only have the time/money to use one set of books, I go through the Kanzen Master books. They felt much more thorough. But it was much harder to get through than the Sou Matome books.

The main thing is you actually study as much as possible. Multiple times per day if possible. This sounds like a lot, but I think living in Japan can be conducive to studying. When I was teaching English, I would study during my free periods or even lunch break. I would also keep a list of words that I didn’t remember on my Japanese dictionary app on my phone, so I could study anytime I had to wait for something (riding the train, waiting in line, etc.).

If you don’t know where to start, I would just go with the Sou Matome books to get you on a routine. Then, when you get into the groove of studying, start studying the Kanzen Master books too. I also used one more book, which I thought was really good. It’s like a nice blend of the material in Kanzen Master but a little more “study friendly” like the Sou Matome books. As far as I have seen, this book is only readily available in Japan. It’s called 日本語能力試験 N2完全攻略・テキスト＆実践問題集 Since you’re in Japan, check it out if you can. I’ve seen it several major bookstores.

Hope this helps! Good luck on your the N2 Greg!

Hi Jay. Sorry, but I can’t give you a definite answer too. There are some charts out there that give an estimated number of vocabulary words you need to know to pass each level of the JLPT. Most of these charts I seen say you need to know around 10,000 vocabulary words to pass the N1. If you looked at these charts, I assume that each level builds on the vocabulary of the older levels. So if it says you need to know 800 vocabulary words for the N5 and 1,500 for the N4, I assume that it means 700 words in addition to the 800 words from the N5 level. But this is just my opinion. However, if you are going to pay good money to take the test, I say the more you know the better. So if you learn 1,500 more words vs just 700, that will serve you better for both passing the JLPT and increasing your Japanese level.

Are you learning Japanese because you want to speak it? If you are want to learn Japanese for communication purposes, I wouldn’t even bother to take the JLPT and just concentrate on speaking and reading. Then, when you have a pretty good base of Japanese (N3 to N2) you may want to focus on studying for the test. The reason I say this is because the material you learn for the JLPT tests aren’t as good as other things out there. A big reason for this is because it’s generally boring to study. Would you rather read short articles about random subjects or read a book about something you enjoy? That being said, I actually enjoyed studied for the JLPT N2 because a lot of the material was very useful in my daily conversations with people (I lived in Japan at that time). But if your main goal is speaking Japanese, focusing on communication will help your goals more than studying for the JLPT. Hope this helps!

Hi Weki!

I have some bad news. If you can’t read kanji very well, you’ll have a very hard time with the N2. I thought the reading section of the N2 was the most difficult…it was both mentally draining and took the most time. There was quite a lot of passages you needed to read in that section. In order to finish in time, you need to be able to read through the passages and questions rather quickly. There are also a few kanji questions in the first section of the test. Do you know about how many kanji you can read now? Can you read simple Japanese books? I would definitely start studying more kanji, but more importantly, I would practice reading. Read everything that you can in Japanese, and study it. Find blogs online about topics that interest you. Read these over look up any kanji or words you don’t understand. This can be fun to do while increasing your reading speed and comprehension.

Hope this helps! Good luck on the JLPT Weki!

Hi Faye!

If you’re Chinese, the force is strong with you! haha. That definitely will help you with the kanji sections of the test. As for being able to pass the JLPT N2 in 3 months, the short answer is yes. If you passed the N3 and have a good kanji base (especially reading), a good studying schedule can help you pass the N2 level in 3 months. But this is just a general statement. The JLPT N2 is quite a big jump in level from the N3. Taking a practice example can give you more accurate feedback on your Japanese level.

However…

The most important thing you want to consider is the reason why you are taking the JLPT. It’s great you want to pass the N1 by next year, but why do you want to pass it? Is it to test your level, or do you need to pass it for a qualification to work at a job in Japan? My best advice is to concentrate on what you want out of learning Japanese. If you want to improve and become good at Japanese, especially speaking and listening, the JLPT isn’t the best for that. Your Japanese speaking and listening and overall ability would improve much faster if you were to concentrate your efforts on communication instead of taking a test. I think a lot of people (myself included) want to take the JLPT just as a challenge. We wrote an article on which level of the JLPT you should take. We also talk about the reasons why you should take the JLPT. Check it out when you have a chance.

Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions. Good luck with your studies Faye! 🙂