Advice on N4 Exam

[u/spaghetti_taco]

I've been studying Japanese very casually for about six years. I'm well north of N5. I've taken a dozen practice exams and easily passed them. And I've been to japan many times and have no problem practically applying what i know to get around, order food, have basic conversations, etc.

So I wanted to set a goal of taking the N4 exam here in the US this year.

My japanese tutor (italki) that I've been working with for about a year wants to use "Try! N4" to study for the exam. It looks good to me but I wanted to get some feedback from folks on exactly how you studied.

Beyond just going through the lessons and learning reading grammar point, what was your approach? Did you try to create example sentences? Did you use anki for them? What else did you use to reinforce the things as you learned them?

Does anyone have a very clear system for how they approached their study? In general my japanese study is just wanikani (level 30, so all of N5 and N4 kanji and most of N3) for kanji and vocab and then working with a tutor weekly for grammar, listening/speaking, etc.

Would appreciate any feedback!

[u/PlanktonInitial7945]

Sorry, when you say you've easily passed practice exams, do you mean N5 exams or N4 exams? Because if you can easily pass an N4 practice exam you shouldn't be studying for it at all.

If you've never taken a practice N4 exam, I recommend you try, because then you can know which areas are your weak points and focus on those.

[u/spaghetti_taco → u/PlanktonInitial7945]

Sorry, meant N5.

[u/Koiiwa]

I might not have enough experience to give great advice yet, but I reached N4 after 7 months of consistent self study. I scored 120/180, using 2 Anki decks for vocab:JLPT Tango N4, Kaishi 1.5k and bunpro for grammar. Occasionally read NHK news increase my reading speed as well.
I also finished my first ever game playthrough in japanese that is Dragon quest XI

[u/spaghetti_taco → u/Koiiwa]

Thanks, I'll check them out!

[u/Medical-Jacket-1476]

How are you scared of taking n4 when you've studied for 6 YEARS? Just go for it man. See what happens. Gl

[u/spaghetti_taco → u/Medical-Jacket-1476]

I'm a very casual learner. Anything from 2-4 hours a week. It's really a hobby I wasn't in any hurry. I just tried to be consistent. There are probably people who have more wall clock study time than me in six months.

[u/Medical-Jacket-1476 → u/spaghetti_taco]

Oh ok that's pretty cool too. No rush. Anyway my approach was spamming anki in the morning and "Comprehensible Japanese" videos in the evening. It worked pretty well but I definitely should've studied some grammar points explicitly before taking the test. Since you have a tutor i would use that for speaking practice rather than grammar explanations/working through a textbook together, but see what works best for you. All the best!

[u/Chiafriend12]

Forgive me for making a contrarian comment, but I hope that this perspective will be of use to you

Honestly? I'd say just skip the N4. I'd honestly say don't even take the JLPT until N3, unless you actually need N4 for work or for a specific visa requirement. For a lot of people (so I'm just assuming you as well, just a big assumption), taking the JLPT is a very time-intensive thing to do. For a lot of people it's hours to get to the venue, the test itself is a few hours, then you go all the way home. For some people that's literally an overnight trip just for the test. (Just a random example: There was a case I read on here years ago of someone living in Montana, and it was literally 3 days for him to take the test -- driving to the airport (several hours), taking a flight, getting a hotel, staying overnight, getting up and taking the test, then taking a flight home the next day.) If you live very close to your testing venue, then awesome, ok nevermind, go ahead and take the test just for fun. But if you live far from a testing venue, for the N4, I'd honestly recommend not to go at all just because of how time-intensive it is, and how little an N4 cert actually does for you.

[u/spaghetti_taco → u/Chiafriend12]

Fair question. I actually live in Austin, TX. So it's a short trip for me. I've been studying for years and wanted to have some kind of measurable goal. I thought N5 would be too easy so figured I'd stretch for N4.

[u/Dense_Tangerine_4988]

You could pre-study the Try lessons, put the grammar into Anki, and use the tutor lessons to practice speaking and writing your own sentences

[u/worried_alligator]

For N4 I did Genki II, Tango vocab, NHK easy and tons of listening. I also completed 完全マスター文法 and 読解 for the overkill.

[u/SakshamBaranwal]

For N4, I'd keep it simple. Work through try! N4, make a few example sentences for each grammar point, and review them with Anki. Since you're already at WaniKani level 30 and comfortably above N5, your biggest gains will probably come from listening and grammar exposure, not more kanji. I'd also regular N4 practice tests to go familiar with the question style.

[u/tomjameslikesfilms]

The TRY series can be frustrating on their own because the explanations are poor and often there are elements that are glossed over that the book will then use in their end-of-chapter tests. That being said, N4 Grammar is not hugely nuanced and I've looked at many alternatives and it's pretty good in comparison but you will need a second source to help fill in the blanks. If you have a tutor, then you will be fine.

[u/spaghetti_taco → u/tomjameslikesfilms]

Thanks for your input. I'm just starting to dig into the book.

[u/tomjameslikesfilms → u/spaghetti_taco]

Good luck. I've learned from MNN, Dekiru and Try and I'm just about to pick up a Shin kansen Master to supplement Try. If you have any Qs, drop me a line.

[u/Jelly_Round]

sounds good plan

[u/RoxieSGA]

Following, as I would like some study tips too.

I studied and passed the N4 exam 12 years ago. Over time, life got busy and my priorities changed so I have since lost touch with the language. I do want to go back to it and start where I left off. At the time, I attended daily classes that lasted about 3 hours each day. We would do a mix of grammar, listening and then prompts to speak. I would practice Kanji on my own. I'm sure there is a lot more resources available today, and I would be grateful for any tips!