JLPT equals fluency ?

I am currently studying Japanese. I've went through JLPT lvl 4 and 3 within one month and am refreshing those two levels ( my study software hasn't updated to the new lists if any that i heard about .. 5 levels now ? ). I pretty much know the words I'd say about 80% for 4 and 60% for 3, and it'll take me less than a week to get through both of them ( I don't work and school doesn't start till august ) and as of today I'm halfway through with level 4 restudying. If I learn all the Levels of JLPT and am able to understand most Japanese shows, movies, news casts, does that count as somewhat fluent in Japanese ? I won't be able to take any tests anytime soon since I'm honestly baffled by the spaced out testing months xD, but that's all I'm wondering. And why is it that people take so long to study the JLPT. I am NOT smart and am a failure at my last college but it only took me one month ( actually about 2 weeks ) to get through 2 levels and I read it takes people up to 3 just to surpass one level. is it because I have so much time on my hand or what ? I plan to KNOW all the JLPT levels by the middle of July, I have nothing else to do so I'll be going the pace I went. Is this unrealistic ?

Dude.

...*Dude.*

You are *not* going to be able to get up to the old L1 proficiency in one month. There is a *big* jump in difficulty between - well, the old L3 and L2, not to mention L2 and L1. Even if you can master the vocabulary with perfect recall in that time frame, it's not just vocabulary that you need to know for the highest-level test. You need to know grammar inside and out; you need to have, considering the test's time constraints, very swift reading comprehension; you need to have very sharp listening skills, which is probably the most problematic part of the test. Outside of the test, you also need to know (for your own benefit) how to write the kanji using proper stroke order and how to write and compose sentences naturally in Japanese, a tougher skill that just reading comprehension.

You have remarkable memory skills, but please take this a bit more slowly.

The thing is that the word "fluency" in any real sense refers mostly to spoken fluency, and that is not tested at all in JLPT.

I can read a newspaper in both French and Spanish, and can follow the news and movies quite well, but I am very rusty with speaking both of them due to having been in Japan for most of the last 10 years, so I don't consider myself fluent at all.

I also know Japanese people who get very high scores on English tests but can barely hold a basic conversation with a native speaker.

JLPT tests reading and listening skills, but is not a test of fluency in my opinion. How is your spoken Japanese?

As for why it takes people so long to reach JLPT 1, that is because there was an enormous leap between old levels 3 and 2 and then again from 2 to 1- that is one of the reasons there are now 5 levels, to have something in between 3 and 2 that represents an intermediate step. If you know around 60% of the vocab for level 3, I'm afraid you are a very long way off being able to pass old or new 2, and much, much further from level 1, which as I said is a huge jump from 2. Levels 4 and 3 are still very basic.

Have you looked at texts for levels 1 and 2 (old or new)? How soon do you think you will be at that level? If your speaking skills match your reading/listening skills, then you will have reached a good level of fluency (but not native speaker level).

Good luck with your studies.

And I agree with Blenheim above- you are certainly not going to have memorised the almost 2,000 kanji needed to pass level 1 within the next month, or most likely even within the next 6 months. Listening skills also do not improve that quickly, even if you live in Japan. Then there is all the grammar...

Have a good look at the texts for level 1 before you start telling people you are going to have finished all the levels by the end of July :-)

Thank you both for the advise. Maybe I needed a reality check xD I finished re-studying the Level 4 last night and am currently re-studying the Level 3. It's safe to say I pretty much know the Level 4 about a higher percent now. I have memorized 7 out of 10 in the first level. The words do seem a big big to me yes, but I always figured it'd be okay since I was able to remember these with not too much problem - I just calculated time and stuff.

Also, I am able to listen to Japanese Drama and understand bits and pieces and get the point down - but I don't want to hear it like a toddler would :/. I understand the extra components that I need to take into consideration thanks to you guys (or girls?). I will slow it down a bit and not make too high goals, I guess where I'll be is where I'll be.

I don't plan on taking the test anytime soon though. I have apps on my iphone and extra programs and software that I've not yet used because I'm waiting on the vocabulary. My study plan: Learn all the JLPT vocabulary and Kanji, then learn more grammar ( I actually know quite a few grammar points - but I can't brag on how good I am because I have been corrected on my sentence structure ), and at the same time if not after, I'll be using my software to help me with listening comprehension cause know matter how much I learn I still have that 'foreign' feel to it xD My iphone apps help me greatly with studying throughout the day ( and I was serious when I said I have a lot of leisure time, I do nothing all day xD but study ).

Oh and I know I'll be studying the Level 2 words by tomorrow; I know a pretty high percentage of words from Level 3 but I am re-studying so I'll relearn everything plus re-introduce what I've forgotten, just as I did in level one. I write the vocabulary and two sentences from each with vocabulary I've already learned and the word 5 times each. I take the same steps that I used in school to help me.

Uhm, this is just a rant though xD and thank you all really really for putting me in a reality check - I was really up in the clouds with my Pride xD

To pass the new JLPT 4 or 3 you definately would have to understand the structure of Japanese sentences = being able to construct whole sentences and not always in the same pattern.

But nontheless grats on being able to learn so much in such a short time. But please be reminded - learning in such a speed has the biggest danger of being forgot in a blink of an eye. If you don't intend to do a test this year and you are not in a rush for job etc pp. - take some time!

And have FUN while learning - that's one of the most important points ;)

Do you intend to study or work in Japan???

Yes. I want to be an english teacher but want to be able to get around and enjoy japan. If I can I want to try to get into Temple University. I know I don't have yo know it but for me to enjoy my visit I have to be able to communicate and read. I want to be immersed.

You are studying grammar structure as well, right? It doesn't matter how much vocab you know, due to the differences between Japanese and English grammar you won't be able to get more than the gist of a sentence or conversation (other than in JLPT 4-3 level texts, which is not natural conversation) unless you put in some intensive grammar study.

To some extent with languages like Spanish and French you can understand what you read/hear just by learning vocab due to the similarities with English grammar structure. Not so with Japanese, and many Japanese people are a very good example of that- they spend years at school memorising huge amounts of vocab, but end up completely unable to string those words together into a proper sentence by the end of those years of study- don't fall into the same trap, study in a balanced way.

Learning lots of vocab will not even get you past JLPT 3 if you don't know the grammar structures that go with the words.

I understand thanks so much. I want to try to immerse myself, i was told i should get a job at a restaurant for japanese but i'm not sure yet. I doubt I'd get hired but yeah. And the grammar is actually kind of easy to me ( but who knows, i may be doing it all wrong so i need an overseer ). I hope to take classes at college in august to help. If i feel confident enough, after a semester or two i will try to transfer. :) wish me luck people and thank you all for the help x) didn't expect such fast replies.

Look memorizing just temporarily teaches you the words then you forget them after the test. Really, the best way to learn is just through life. Which is why I suggest the best way to learn vocabulary is to just write a journal in Japanese daily. (Lang-8 is a great site).

You work on Grammar, Vocab (Jisho is a great online free dictionary for eng to jap and jap to eng), and more.

Another great tool is rikaichan (for firefox add-ons).

Systematically learning things is boring, repetitive and likely to have you burn out. Please for the love of god just do something that you find interesting and fun.

For me that's translating Japanese comedy shows from Japanese into English. That involves kanji through the subtitles Japanese shows put on for effect, and it also improves listening comprehension (insanely... it is ridiculous how much more I can understand when Japanese speak to each other).

As for writing... this one is tough to avoid the monotonus style, but if you really wanted you could handwrite your diary entries.

Speaking practice, skype is a great resource. Find Japanese friends and you can often find yourself practicing Japanese a lot assuming you have the sleep schedule that fits. You can meet them through Lang-8 too! xD. If you need a break from speaking Japanese (as it gets very mentally tiring) you can just ask to talk in English and they'll be more than happy as they want to practice too, but be ready to explain complex words or phrases. So basically you take turns being teacher and student.