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Reference books for JLPT Training

 

JLPT N5          JLPT N4          JLPT N3          JLPT N2          JLPT N1

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JLPT N5 

Being the most elementary level of the 5 levels of proficiency test, JLPT N5 is probably the first JLPT exam that you will take. It's certainly an exciting time and you are highly likely to pass it if you revise using the following methods: 

  1. Learn particles again but systematically this time

  2. Do review of grammar that  you have already learned

  3. Learn new grammar of JLPT 5

  4. Check pronunciation of 100 kanji and the meaning of 800 words

  5. For a futher boost in your skills, try doing exercise books of Grammar, Vocabulary , Kanji , Reading and Listenin

  6. Try mock tests or past year papers at least 3 times

This is an ideal textbook for self-study. Grammar is well-explanined not only in Japanese but also in English and Chinese.
Example sentences are worth reading many times because they include essential vocabulary as well as grammar.

After you have understood particles and grammar by this book, you need one more book to practice with.

This is a complete book of kanji tested in JLPT N5. 


After you have completed this book, you wouldn't see any other new kanji  for JLPT N5. However, if you are confident with kanji, it is not necessary to use this book. 

This book consists of 3 parts, namely:

  1. Word list (with many pictures)

  2. Exercises

  3. Mock test


At first, read through the entire list of vocabulary. And just 'see' words that you don't know everyday for at least 3 weeks. After doing so, you should be able to remember all of them.

Practice what you have learned with this book. With this book, you can try every part of JLPT N5 one by one.

  1. Vocabulary

  2. Kanji

  3. Grammar

  4. Listening 

  5. Grammar

This book consists of mock tests. As it's possibly your first time to take JLPT, please try mock tests or past year papers at least 3 times so that you will feel more confident when taking JLPT.

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JLPT N4

If you're taking JLPT N4, you must have deepened your interest in learning Japanese and is willing to learn beyond the basics. Keep up the good work!


By now, you would probably have completed intermediate-level class in Tomo Japanese Language Centre or another Japanese language school. Now, it's time to review the many gramamr you've learned (Potential verb, Ukemi, Shieki, Keigo, etc). If you find them confusing, don't worry about that. It's natural for students to find grammar confusing at first, but you will feel confident about them after you've prepared for JLPT 4 using the following methods:

  1. Learn all particles again and clarify any doubt you have with your teacher

  2. Review grammar that you have learned

  3. Learn new grammar of JLPT 4 (including Shieki and ukemi verb)

  4. Check pronunciation of 300 kanji and meaning of 1500 vocabulary (You can skip this section if you remember vocabulary in your textbook) 


If you'd like to prepare even more for the exam:

  1. Read some simple stories to improve reading. And reading out the stories is very effective

  2. Try exercise books of Grammar, Vocabulary, and kanji

  3. Try mock test or past year papers at least 3 times

A Dictionary of Japanese Particles

Strictly speaking, this is a dictionary and not a textbook.

 

When you have any questions about particles, please refer to this dictionary. But the best way to improve your understanding of particles is to ask your teacher many questions =)

実力アップ　日本語能力試験　N4　読む

This is an ideal reference book to learn grammar by yourself. The explanation is clearly described not only in Japanese but also in English and Chinese.

 

Each example sentece is worth reading out many times, so you will learn not only gramamr but also important vocabulary .

漢字マスターN4

Most people can read kanji for JLPT N4, but if you would like to get a perfect score in kanji section, please use this book.

きらり日本語N4

Though there are just 300 words required to pass JLPT N5, you need to know 1500 words to pass JLPT N4. Howeverm typically, students who have completed an intermediate-level class can remember about 1000 vocabularies and they pass JLPT N4 without focusing on vocabulary. If you think that you don't remember the words in your textbook, then this book is a good way to improve your vocabulary.

Japanese Graded Readers level 2

Learning Japanese is fun, isn't it? Many students like to speak Japanese, but what about reading?


Now you can read not only textbooks but also interesting stories in Japanese!
 

Japanese Graded Readers Level 2 contains 5 books, and each of the books contains 4 to 6 stories. Each story is very interesting and you won't feel stressed to read them in Japanese!

日本語500問　初級

In this book, there are 3 questions in one page, which are questions on:

  1. Kanji

  2. Vocabulary

  3. Grammar

 

Then on next page is explanation of the questions in English. It does not take long to complete this book (less than 4 weeks) and you will feel confident with kanji and vocabulary. And when you read out sentences many times in the grammar section, you can feel confident in scoring well for the grammar section too!

パターン別 徹底ドリル 日本語能力試験N4

If you need more practice, then try this exercise book to improve every section in JLPT, including kanji, Vocabulary, Listening, Grammar and Reading

日本語能力試験　完全模試　N4

This book contains 3 mock tests with detailed explanation in English and Chinese. Most questions in JLPT N4 are very similar to the ones in this book, so don't be surprised to see similar questions when you are taking the exam.

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JLPT N3

 

 By the time you're taking JLPT N3, you must have progressed substantially in mastering Japanese language. As the level of difficulty between JLPT N4 and N3 are not too far apart, it's possible to pass JLPT N3 six months after you've pass JLPT N4. Here is what you need to do to prepare yourself:

  1. Learn all particles again and clarify any doubt you have with your teacher.

  2. Review the grammar that you have learne

  3. Learn new grammar for JLPT 3 (including Shieki and ukemi verb

  4. Check pronunciation of 600 kanji and the meaning of 3000 vocabulary (you can skip this section if you remember the vocabulary in your textbook)

  5. The Listening section of JLPT 3 is more challenging which you can improve with the help of a reference book

 

If you'd like to prepare even more for the exam: 

 

  1. Read some simple stories to improve reading. And reading out the stories is very effective

  2. Try exercise books of Grammar, Vocabulary, and kanji

  3. Try mock test or past year papers at least 3 times 

A dictionary of Japanese Particles

Strictly speaking, this is a dictionary and not a textbook.

 

When you have any questions about particles, please refer to this dictionary. But the best way to improve your understanding of particles is to ask your teacher many questions =)

実力アップ 日本語能力試験 N３ 文のルール

This is an ideal reference book for learning grammar by yourself. The explanation is clearly described not only in Japanese but also in English and Chinese.

 

Each example sentences is worth reading out many times, so you will learn not only gramamr but also important vocabulary.

実力アップ　日本語能力試験　N3　読む

Though its not nessary to prepare for the reading section in JLPT N4 and N5 , it is required to prepare for this section before taking JLPT N3 because you need to read much longer passages .

This book is ideal for improving your reading skill and also vocabulary by the good vocabulary list.

実力アップ　N3　聞く

How can you improve your listening skill?

FIrst, it's very important to speak a lot in class, becuase speaking skill improves your listening skill, too. But if you are studying Japanese by yourself. please follow to steps bellow.

  1. Listen to CD without script

  2. Listen to CD, reading script

  3. Read out the script

  4. Listen to CD without script again

  5. Try the questions of the listening section while listening to CD

漢字マスターN３

Most people can read kanji for JLPT N3, but if you would like to get a perfect score in the kanji section, please use this book.

耳から覚える　語彙トレーニングN3

You need to remember 3000 vocabulary to pass JLPT N3.


That's a lot more than what you learn in your basic textbook (eg, 日本語大地, みんなの日本語, etc)

 

But knowing more words is a good chance to improve your vocabulary so that you can read Japanese books and manga after you have remembered many more words. And of course, that can help you to pass JLPT N3.


What's more, you can improve your listening skill too by this book.

短期マスター　N３

Practise what you have learned with this book. You can try every section of JLPT N5 one by one. 

  1. Vocabulary

  2. Kanji

  3. Grammar

  4. Listening 

 

日本語能力試験　模試と対策 N3 Vol 1

This book contains 2 mock tests with detailed explanation in English and Chinese. Most questions in JLPT N3 are very similar to the ones in this book, so don't be surprised if you see similar questions when taking the exam. 

 

And if you need more practice, please try Volume 2

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JLPT N2

JLPT 2 might be the most challenging grade for Japanese learners for two main reasons:

  1. Grammar: 60% of grammar for this grade is just for writing. That means you won't be able to learn them just by conversation

  2. Almost everyone can't complete the Reading section as there are many long passages with many unknown words

 

So it's very important to focus on grammar and reading to pass this grade. There are many reference books published recently which you can use to help yourself, so you don't need to take a year-long JLPT preparatory course. That may be a bit too long a course just to pass an exam. Moreover, many Japanese learners lose motivation to learn after they have finally passed the exam. Instead, let's enjoy learning with the following strategies:

  1. Review grammar that you have already learned. I think its important to learn grammar of JLPT 3 because some questions in JLPT 2 is almost similar with that of JLPT 3

  2. Learn new grammar of JLPT 2. There are around 100 expressions that you need to learn

  3. Check pronunciation of 1000 kanji and the meaning of 6000 vocabulary. To help you with this, you can carry reference books of vocabulary with you wherever you go so that you can read it whenever you have the time

  4. Listening part of JLPT 2 is a bit unique like that of JLPT 3. You need to learn some conversational expressions. And understanding of keigo is a must for this part

  5. Read some long stories to improve reading. And reading out the stories can be very effective

  6. Try exercise books of  Grammar, Vocabulary and Kanji. Please try at least 2 books and remember all of the questions.

  7. And please try to remember suffix like '〜始める、〜難い、〜的' as you can expect questions on the

  8. Try mock test or past year papers at least 5 times

どんなときどう使う　日本語表現文型辞典

This is a dictionary for grammar. Everytime you see an unknown grammar, consult this dictionary. There are many example sentences and that might make you understand grammar more.

実力アップ日本語能力試験　N2　文のルール

This is an ideal reference book to learn grammar by yourself. Explanation is clearly described not only in Japanese but also in English and Chinese.

 

Each example sentece is worth reading out many times. So you will learn not only gramamr but also important vocabulary.
And please check other grammar dictionary if you have any doubt.

実力アップ　日本語能力試験　N2　読む

The most challenging part of JLPT 2 is the Reading section because there are many more passages than in JLPT 3, and some of them are in very formal Japanese.

This book is ideal for you to improve your reading skill. There are many types of passages for JLPT 2.

 

You can improve not only reading skill but also vocabulary by its good vocabulary list.

実力アップ　N２　聞く

How can you improve your listening skill?

FIrst, it's very important to speak a lot in class, becuase speaking skill improves your listening skill, too. But if you are studying Japanese by yourself. please follow to steps bellow.

  1. Listen to CD without script

  2. Listen to CD, reading script

  3. Read out the script

  4. Listen to CD without script again

  5. Try the questions of the listening section while listening to CD

  6. Remember the conversational expressions in this book

日本語能力試験ターゲット2000　N2単語

Though there are 6000 words that you need to know to pass JLPT 2, you probably know more than half of them by the time you are preparing for JLPT N2. And there are some very rare words within the 6000 words. Remember unknow words in this book and that would be sufficient to pass JLPT N2. To help yourself remember the words better:

After you've checked each word, mark with a tick next to the word.

  1. Read examples sentences of unknown words and imagine the situation stated in the sentence.

  2. It's also very important and effective to imagine the situation stated in the sentence to remember words.

  3. Simply read all the unknown words; you don't need to try to remember them, but just see them many times

  4. Listen to audio files of every example sentences to remember words and improve your listening skill

にほんご　敬語トレーニング

It's not difficult to master keigo at all. Many people think they are weak in keigo probably because they have not learned keigo systematically .

 

Now, to pass JLPT N2, it's time to learn keigo well.


You need to learn keigo not only for Grammar section but also Listening section. It's important to master keigo if you want to pass JLPT N2 because you need to guess who is a speaker by keigo.

 

You can master keigo with very practical passages in this textbook. And as most involve two persons, it's effective to practice with a friend.

ドリル＆ドリル 日本語能力試験N2 聴解読解

If you need one more exercise book for listening and reading, this book is highly recommended.

 

The explanation for each question is very detailed.

ドリル＆ドリル 日本語能力試験N2 文字語彙

There are many vocabulary that you need to know to pass JLPT N2, but there are some very common words in vocabulary section.

This book is not for improving your vocabulary for reading . This is for you to get a higher score in the vocabulary questions in the reading section.

日本語能力試験 スーパー模試 N2

You can improve your Japanese by trying many questions of JLPT N2. After trying, please don't forget to understand the questions you did not get right.

 
You can still improve your reading and listening skills by mock tests. Also, read out the reading passages and listen to the CD for the listening section many times.

ゼッタイ合格 日本語能力試験 完全模試 N2

If you still have time after you have finished some mock tests, then please try more mock test papers in this book.

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JLPT N1

最後のJLPTですね。もうこの級を受ける人は日本語で書いてもわかると思います（分からなかったら、もう一度JLPT2の勉強をしてね）

 

今までJLPTの勉強は大変だったと思うけど、これで最後です。一回で受かることは難しいですけど、ちゃんと勉強すれば合格することは可能です。そしてJLPT 1 の勉強が終わったら、もうそこからは「本当に楽しい」日本語の勉強の始まりです：）

 

  1. 今までの全ての文法の復習と新しい文法の勉強。

  2. ２０００字の漢字と１００００語の単語。副詞もしっかりと覚える。

  3. 長い文章を早く読む練習。

  4. ドラマがわかるぐらいまで、聴解の勉強。

  5. 問題集や模試で何度も練習。初めて見た文法や単語、言葉は今まで自分が使った本に書いて覚える。

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中級日本語文法要点整理　ポイント２０

この本は同じ意味の文法を一緒に勉強できます。例えば依頼の表現の「〜していただけませんか」「〜してもらえませんか」など。

だから今までたくさん勉強してきた文法を復習するときにとても役に立ちます。頭の中がすっきりします。

できれば授業で使えればいいんですが、一人でもできます。その時は、自分の先生にたくさん質問してくださいね。

実力アップ　日本語能力試験N1　文のルール

JLPT１の文法を全部勉強することはできませんが、この本の文法をちゃんと勉強すれば、文法の問題の８０％はわかるようになります。

実力アップ日本語能力試験N1　読む

JLPTは読解の量が多いです。

でも練習の時はゆっくりと読んでください。

１）辞書を使わずに最後まで一度読む

２）もう一度読む

３）分からない単語本に書いている単語リストを見て、もう一度読む

４）辞書を使いながら読む

５）辞書を使わないで読む６）問題を解く

７）わからないところは先生に聞く８）声を出して読む５回読む

実力アップ日本語能力試験　N1　聞く

JLPT 1 で一番簡単なセクションは聴解です。

JLPTのpreparation course ではなく、ちゃんと会話のクラスで日本語を勉強してきた人は、特別な準備をしなくても半分ぐらいの点数を聴解で取ることができます。

 

しかし、更に点数が欲しい人やあまり会話の勉強を学校で勉強してこなかった人は、この本を使って聴解の練習をしましょう。

日本語能力試験ターゲット2000　N1単語

この本はJLPT　N1の読解で必要な単語を

2000集めています。この本の単語をちゃんと覚えると、読解で分からない単語はあまり見なくなります。でも、この本の単語は読解のためです。「文字・語彙」の問題で得点を取るためには、他の単語の本も使ってください。

日本語能力試験ターゲット1000 N1漢字

この本はJLPTの読解と語彙で必要な漢字が1017もあります。

でも全部覚えるのは本当に難しいと思います。５００ぐらい覚えるだけで十分合格できます。

日本語能力試験N1に出る重要単語集

この本は読解のためではなく、「文字、語彙」の問題のためです。JLPT　１では似た意味の単語や副詞の問題が本当にたくさんあります。そしてそれが一番難しい。その問題で点数を取るために、此の本で勉強しましょう。

ドリル＆ドリル　日本語能力試験N1文字語彙

単語集を使って単語を覚えたら、この本を使って練習問題をしてみましょう。

この本はJLPTの２ヶ月ぐらい前から始めるといいです。１年前から始めても、JLPTの時には忘れているかもしれませんから。

ドリル＆ドリル　日本語能力試験N1文法

JLPT 1の文法を勉強して、もっと練習したい人はこの本を使ってください。

解説もとても詳しくてわかりやすいです。

 

しかしJLPT 1 に合格するためには、読解や聴解に時間をかけたほうがいいです。文法だけの問題は、点数が少ないですから。

Read Real Japanese Essays

もしかしたらこの本はJLPT 1 よりも難しいかもしれません。

でも左のページに英語、右のページに日本語が書いてあるので、辞書を使わないで読むことができます。そしてこの本を全部読み終わったころには、日本語の読解に自信がついて、自分でいろんな本を読みたくなると思います。できればあと２冊ほど、面白そうな本を自分で選んで読んでみてください。

パターン別徹底ドリル　日本語能力試験N1

今までたくさん勉強してきましたが、自分が苦手な分野がわかりましたか。この本で全ての分野の練習をしましょう。そして難しいと思う分野は、私が紹介した他の本を使ってもっとれんしゅうしてください。

耳から覚える　日本語能力試験 聴解トレーニング　N1

もし中国語が苦手で日本語の漢字がなかなか覚えられない人は、聴解で８０％ぐらいの点数を取って合格しましょう。聴解だけの本を２〜３冊ぐらいすれば、きっと十分な点数が取れます。この本は聞きにくい日本語の言葉も、覚えられるようになる練習がたくさんあります。全部するのは時間がかかりますけど、JLPT

１のために最初に使う聴解の本としては一番いいです。

日本語能力試験　模試と対策　N1

もうJLPTの問題はよくわかったと思います。

しかしまだまだ新しい問題があるかもしれません。この本を使って今までの総復習をしましょう。そして分からない問題は、前に使った本を調べたり先生に聞いたりしてくださいね。

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