Hi, I would have picked answer 3 (2000円) because the way i understood it, the price reduction starts at above 500g, but it got marked as wrong, with 2 being the correct answer. Is 以上　used to mean X and above?
Im super locked in and N4 trust :3

I did a year-long exchange in Japan about 2 years ago, when I was 17/18, and learnt most of my Japanese through everyday conversations and interacting with people. Because of that, I feel like I can hold conversations with people pretty confidently, but I struggle with more complex topics, grammar, and understanding why certain things are said a particular way.

One of my biggest problems is that I can usually understand what a grammar point means when someone uses it or explains it to me, but when I actually want to use it myself, my mind goes completely blank. I struggle to remember how to structure sentences and apply grammar naturally when writing, even if I understand it when reading or listening.

My knowledge is also really random 😭 I might know some surprisingly complex phrases or grammar because I’ve heard them in conversation, but then I’ll struggle with something relatively basic that I’ve never properly learnt. Because of this, I find it really hard to find apps or resources that match my level. Beginner resources can feel too easy majority of the time but there are still the odd things that is completely new to me.

I really want to improve my Japanese properly, especially my grammar, reading, and writing, without losing my conversational ability.
What methods or resources actually made a difference for you? Are there any apps, websites, textbooks, YouTube channels, or study techniques you’d genuinely recommend? Free resources would be ideal, but I’m open to hearing about anything that worked for you!

I’d especially love to hear from people who were in a similar situation, where they could speak Japanese fairly well but struggled with grammar, writing, or the more academic side of the language. How did you bridge that gap? Did you follow a particular study routine, or did certain resources make a massive difference?

Finally decided to start learning Japanese from zero a while back, and I spent my first few days reading through the starter wiki and old threads here. Honestly, the more I read, the more overwhelmed I got because everyone swears by a different method.
Some say you must master Hiragana and Katakana before touching anything else, while others say to jump into basic grammar at the same time. Then there is the textbook vs app debate, figuring out when to start kanji, and whether I should already be watching anime for immersion when I barely catch a single word.
After a lot of trial and error, I finally found a solid foundation that didn't burn me out in month one. If you are starting over from zero and feeling lost, here is the exact roadmap I followed:

Weeks 1-2: Kana Foundation (Hiragana & Katakana) Used Tofugu's free guides and simple flashcards to knock out the alphabets first.

Months 2-4: Core Grammar (Genki I + Tokini Andy) I went through each chapter of Genki but paired it with Tokini Andy's video lectures on YouTube. Having someone explain the grammar thoroughly in an easy-to-understand way helps it sink in naturally without putting you to sleep.

Months 2-6 (Daily Habit): Practical Practice with HeyJapan I used the HeyJapan app for about 15-20 minutes during my commute or lunch break. What kept me hooked was that the lessons are categorized by practical topics (travel, ordering food, daily life situations) instead of random vocab lists. Plus, the short anime dubbing and speaking practice features helped me get used to pronouncing full sentences early on.

Month 4 and Beyond: Early Immersion Started exposing myself to actual Japanese media to practice listening.

Hope this post helps anyone who is drowning in information overload save some time and avoid the confusion I went through!

Currently studying at a Japanese language school, the program I'm in is kind of a cram course to make sure we pass the JLPT N2 in December, and the N1 next July.

I spend time doing N2 mock tests, yet I often see words that we somehow didn't cover during classes. For example, I don't know why I don't have too much issue with the kanji but I often get confused at the hiragana words (がらがら、すかすか、とうとう、こそこそ、すっかり、いったん、ごろごろ、ばっ、etc). Weirdly, we don't study them much, and a lot of them, I don't find that often in books. I also find some nuances with the grammar easy to confuse.

I was wondering whether to build an anki deck specifically for the words I encounter but what if on the test, I see words I didn't study for? I could use a pre-made deck but there will be a lot of stuff I already know. I have multiple study apps and textbooks but I kind of shot myself in the food because I'm often confused what to read from.

So far, I'm passing the mock tests but I'm worried the real test will be a lot harder. Any advice how to prepare best in the last month before the test?

Hello Reddit

My name is S111117 and this October on the 18th, I am goiing to be retaking my Kanji Kentei 2 exam!

Many people have asked if I passed this test, the answer is yes, I did do that last year,

BUT this time I am taking it for fun and for a better score. I only passed with a 160 last year, so I am aiming for a better score.
I have studied, analyzed contents from Kanji Kentei 10-2, and particiularily kanji kentei 2 for a very long time, and these are some of the conclusions, thoughts and feeings I can make after studying for so long. My Kanji Kentei 2 studies will probably end after I take the test, and i'll move on.

I will give very deep insight on the Kanji Kentei 2, and I invite other people who attemped the level to share experiences. I will make it short, and easy so everyone can understand.

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1. It isnt really mostly on HOW you study, it's on how much you study.

The Kanji Kentei doesnt just require japanese ability, but requires absolute brute memorization. Especially for non native speakers. You must have the ability to write all 2136 characters correctly, use them in context and sentences appropirately, and memorize patterns.

People have told me it has taken them months of study and memorization of vocab and yojis to pass. For me, it took 7 months to get my first one. It's insane and brute memorization along with actual japanese abilities such as reading.

Some people were criticizing me for this advice, but keep in mind that is is my opinion, and to pass the test you need to study for the test, and odviously have knowledge in kanji.

2) Some of your friends will fail 2kyuu, or you, and its completely ok.

2 friends of mine fell very short on the test. One by 2 pts one by 5. When they were telling me about their experience in the test, they were sharing their regrets on what they were getting wrong Plus the pass bar is higher by 15-20 pts so examinees are demanded more skill.

The reason why people fail is not content knowledge, but its the lack of stamina or quality of your characters. 2kyuu itself, writing sections on the test cover 50%+ of the final score.

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Hard sections in my opinion on 2kyuu and my thoughts.

誤字訂正 and 熟語構成: This section demands more of your japanese ability.

For 誤字訂正 you need to read a text and find error in the text and correct it. You need to know vocabulary as well. There is no partial credit, so you need to complete the entire problem. 熟語構成 asks you about composure of Japanese words, so you must understand kanji meanings, and how they connect. For example 巧拙 is opposite meanings so you would select イ.

What I found very helpful was putting everything through kunyomi. You would consider 上棟 to be エ because as a 目的語, you can assume 棟を上げる.

同音同訓語: Unlike j2k, you need to write the entire word out. You need to read the sentence and find out which is best in context**. But what is the harder thing about this is that theres so many possible questions and answers that can appear on the test.** Like 「かんしょう」 itself has 5 very possible answers.

読み and 書取り and 四字熟語 are easy to me, these type of problems frequently appear in question books but the hononym part (同音同訓語) is more sparce.

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Books: I tried many Japanese books and sites for kanken, and I can have a sense of which is very good and not very good. (No DS game though!)

BAD SOURCES: Kanken Step (shocking), kanken jitenon, and this verision 頻出度順 (hinshutsudojyun)

The main deficient point of these is that they give you content that will rarely come out on the real test. They are good for testing your kanji, or aiming for a rly good score but this should not be your priority. Also the 頻出度順 here does not give appropriate questions that will appear on the test at all.

GOOD SOURCES: Kanken's books themselves (outside of step), takashi shoten's version of the 頻出度順, mock tests from kanken and oubunsha.

Compared to the real test, i found many of these books to accurately analyze kanken's patterns on the test.

------

My 2 recommendations for kanken studying

1. Write on paper, not digital: Writing on digital is a little bit messy, and characters you write digitally would be acccepted despite it not being okay on the paper exam. You could write 渉 sloppy and still get that as a search, but it would not look good in writing.
2. Register early, don't wait last minute: The more quicker you register, the more you'll feel locked . You will know you will challenge that level, so you can go into study stuff immediately. Do not study last minute. Kanken is a heavy memorization test, so you want more time to memorize and lock in.
3. Mock tests are your savior: Dig in as much mock tests as needed. Do it either on a blank paper, or on an answer sheet printed. Try to mimic the test conditions as much as posssible.

PART 2: Yours truely has finished taking Kanji Kentei 2 for the second time last Sunday.

As the answer key released today I will talk more about my reflection taking Kanji Kentei and more on my future plans when studying Kanji and what I wanna do in the future.

Answer Key: https://www.kanken.or.jp/kanken/result/data/kanken_hyoujun_kaitou20261018.pdf

I will also answer many frequently asked questions as well.

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Reflection: So I took the Kanken test in the states (yes a saturday school hosts it), went into the exam room on Sunday, and completed it really fast and easily. But I was erasing some characters and writing it over and over and over.

I know for sure that I will get a really good score.

My expected score (maximum) is 194 points. I only know I missed three questions. (Guaranteed miss).

1. 鬼籍に入る
2. 中核「wrote 殻」
3. 朗らかに 「did not know」

However I'm unsure about 窮、秘、覆, 胸.

I KNOW I wrote these on the test with correct stroke order, but its a little unbalanced and a bit hard to write. But I do hope (and think) the kanken gods will be nice.

So in summary, I didn't really even have to try since I passed last time with 160 pts, but I wanted to try for some self improvement. It was great taking that, so I can get my kanji back in shape, AND I can crush the heck outta it.

Now I am very comfortable about my score, it is definitely a pass based on my interpretation.

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Future plans (of kanken) and FAQs (people asked me)

-Will you take J1K or 1k?: The answer is YES, but if I study abroad in Japan (i am an american college student)

-Why did I retake it despite passing?: It's fun, and I wanted to do better, and it was good refresh. Plus I cannot take j1k here.
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Things I wanna do in the future that I haven't done yet? (aside from kanken, and relate more on kanji)

-Go to the Kanji Museum in Kyoto. I have been in kyoto before but I didn't have time to visit the kanji museum before. The kanken foundation organized this museum and there are murals and artifacts consisting kanji. PLUS they display the exact paper (and the writings) used in the kotoshi no kanji ceremony.

-Research more on kanji: I am a linguist (major) in college. And studying Japanese got me interested in linguistics. I want to hop more into Japanese lingusitics and research the origins of kanji and trace down these informations. I am also taking Chinese,

The Kanji Kentei acted as the gateway to my interest in kanij, and I intend on continuing to pursue my love for kanji.

-Study Nandokus and enjoy these trivias

Nandoku stuff is fun, and when I wanna relax I can view these nandoku quizzes and videos and read along. I also wanna unlock KDG's void mode in the future.

-Study CLASSICAL literature

A majority of kanji in kobun kanbun comes from pre 1-1 so knowing the meanings of these kanji while tackling down this literature, is going to be very important.

I'll send my pass results here when I get them back next month :)

I'm reading a Japanese podcast transcript, and I came across this sentence (see screenshots):

名前の付け方を歴史を遡って見ていくと、とても面白いことがわかります。

I understand the general meaning: if you look back through history at how names are given, you discover some very interesting things.

But why are there two を particles??

My current understanding is that:

• 名前の付け方を marks what we're looking at or examining.
• 歴史を遡って means to go back or trace something back, so I assume 歴史を means going back through history.

But I'm confused about how these two phrases fit together. Is the idea that 名前の付け方を is the object of 見ていく, while 歴史を marks the path or span through which we go back with 遡る?

Once again, I'd appreciate it if someone could explain how a native speaker would parse this sentence grammatically. I'm trying to build a more intuitive understanding of Japanese sentence structure instead of just translating the sentence into English.

hello! i'm a student learning japanese who has to have a 5-7min presentation about something interesting about the language (日本語の面白いところ）to my class (about N3-N2).

I've done some research, and thought about things like onomatopoeias, homonyms, honorifics, particles etc., but these are all topics that are not that unique to the language, or not that particularly interesting to my classmates, who are all quite well-versed in the language. i'd like to know what you personally find interesting to get my cogs turning. thanks!

Hello/ こんばんは

(English follows)

ボスキーです

彼氏と日本語を話せるために、今年の九月に東京にきた。
友だちがない、だから、友だちをさがしています。一方では日本語をれんしゅうしたい、他方では新しい友だちにあそびたい。

しゅみは：

・ジョギング を、まちと新しいカフェをたんけんするこ、代々木公園にさんぽする、ゲーム （Switch： スーパーマリオやキングダム ハーツやファイナルファンタジー）開、ちょっとテニスができる。もっとAIを勉強したいの

少し日本語を話せるよう。それでもよかったら、話しかけてください。

よろしくお願いします。ありがとうございました。

I am Bowski :)

I came to Japan, this year September, to live with my boyfriend and study Japanese. Since I do not have friends, I'm looking for some. On the one hand, I want to practice Japanese. On the other hand, I want to hang out with new friends.

My hobbies are:

Running, exploring new coffee spots and neighbourhoods, going for a walk in yoyogi park, playing videos games (Mario games, kingdom hearts, final fantasy), I know a bit how to play tennis, and I want to know more about Al.

I speak a big of Japanese, but fluently English. If it is ok for you, please reach out to me.

Nice to meet you, thank you so much.

I took a beginner course in conversational Japanese, but even after it, I am still clueless besides "hajimemashite" and "yoroshiku onegaishimasu", and going "watashi wa o-namae", and that's about it.

I’d like to read a novel that is still relatively simple, something equivalent to a Goosebumps book

So I know absolutely nothing about Japanese and I was wondering what I should to to learn to speak and read it I only have about an hour a day to practice because of school and Im really just trying to learn it to watch anime and read manga not available in English and also to listen to ado and vocaloid while actually understanding it "note I refuse to let AI teach me or sign up for any subscriptions" so really I want to know if this is achievable doing this and how long it might take for someone as stupid as me

My husband is a third generation Japanese American. His family has a tradition of giving each child a Japanese middle name and this is something we’d like to continue. I don’t know much about Japanese language and don’t want to give my child an eccentric or unusual name. We’re discussed a few options like Fumiko, Fuyuko, and Yuki. Are any of these crazy names? Do they sound pretentious? I really like Narumi but it seems to be a more modern first name so is it like the equivalent of naming your child Jennifer? Not that there’s anything wrong with that, I’d just like to know what I’m signing my child up for. Any other recommendations would be appreciated. We do like Fu- names. We’d also be open to any names that relate to peace and calmness in a more religious sense. Thanks!

Hi all,

Was jsut wondering if anyone could vrey very simply explain how to use those words in the context of "This is a magazine" (for example).

I understand the part about distance, but I don't get how to add the noun into the sentence.

Help will be greatly appreciated.

hi there! not exactly learning japanese but i know a little bit about it and am curious to learn more about it as an amateur linguist. i tried googling the question and searching it up on this subreddit but found nothing. to the best of my understanding, which evidently is wrong, "ou" and "ō" are different because the first is the closest to how "oh" is pronounced in english (kind of, that's the best i can do without ipa haha), and the second is just a long "o", but then why the inconsistency? if it's pronounced "ou" then i don't understand where "ō" came from, and vice versa. once again i probably made a mistake somewhere in this post but i'm just curious honestly, if that's the case please correct me. thanks so much!

I’ve been doing anki for a few months now and despite not studying it I’ve been noticing patterns with the kanji and what they mean so it makes me want to learn the radicals and how they come together but idk how to

It's not mandatory to sign up for

But my college is starting a new Japanese class in the next semester for 60 contact hours and get me to N5 level proficiency

Not sure if that's worth it cuz that's all the class does and I can only take it one semester but I'm a CS student and Japan is kinda the engineer hub in a sense i think - no plans to go there but it'd be great to know it if I get into a company that outsources Japanese production in India

The other options are french and German

I’ve recently been using tadoku to practice my Japanese reading skills, and I’ve been enjoying the short stories available there.

I’d like to branch out into reading Manga in Japanese, but I’m not sure where to look. Does anyone know any good websites where I can read manga in Japanese ? Ideally, I’d love to find something like tadoku, where I can read at my own level.

Thanks in advance!

So I learned this kanji some time ago: 𪚥

It’s 4 dragons in a single kanji, and I found the Chinese pronunciation but not the Japanese one. I’m pretty sure it must exist cause even if it is an archaic and obsolete term in Japanese, it was still used a long long time ago. If it helps in any way, the kanji means someone who is very talkative (won’t shut up).

hi im a malaysian student who needs a japanese citizen for my assignment, it doesnt matter if youre not good at English, it will be just a simple questions. it will be an interview, a quick less than 10 minutes interview. we can do the interview on discord if you want. i really appreciate it. thank you in advance 🫶🏼