# It's that time of year! - JLPT

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-that-time-of-year-jlpt/511657>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [September 26, 2009, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-that-time-of-year-jlpt/511657 "2009-09-26T17:23:22Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\
**Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-that-time-of-year-jlpt/511657/1 "2009-09-26T17:23:22Z")

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皆さん、こんにちは。 初めまして。 私はオノと申します。 私は４８歳で、アメリカ人です。 趣味は日本語とスペイン語とフランス語を勉強するのです。

I’ll be taking 四級. I’m a little nervous but がんばります。

Here’s a list of my study materials.

- 皆の日本語１ - Coursebook
- 皆の日本語１- Workbook
- 皆の日本語本やく- Translation and Grammatical Notes
- 元気１- Coursebook
- 元気１- Workbook
- White Rabbit Press Kanji 1 Flashcards (covers all kanji for 四級 and 三級).
- Kodansha’s Furigana Dictionary

I’m also using a great little program called [NihongoUP](http://nihongoup.com) to build up my reading speed.

I’ve tried going total immersion, but can’t find enough online Japanese programming , i.e., ドラマ, to make it work for me.

Anyone else here taking 四級 in December? Anyone who’s taken it previously, what were your experiences? Did you pass it on the first try?

I’ve been told I should start with 三級, but I’m not that confident yet, and 四級 will be a good gauge of my current level of proficiency.

宜しく皆さん！

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**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\
**Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-that-time-of-year-jlpt/511657/2 "2009-09-26T18:03:42Z")

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[From the Rules of the SDMB:](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=7697021#post7697021)

> [@](#):
>
> The Straight Dope Message Board is owned by a publication based in the USA. The common language of all the moderators of this message board is English. For that reason we ask that all posts on this message board be made in English. The staff members need to be able to read and understand posts made at the message board.
> 
> Exceptions include requests for help with translation, explanation of foreign language words or expressions, foreign words or phrases that have come into English, etc.

I’m going to lock this; if you’d like to start it again, in English, that would be fine.

twickster, MPSIMS moderator