I’ve been semi-casually studying Japanese for around 5 years. I currently live in Japan, but since I already have a remote job for an English-speaking software company, I’ve never had an interest in getting a job for a Japanese company, and having a good level of Japanese was really only ever a matter of convenience and personal achievement.
On a whim, I participated in a mock JLPT session that was held by a local university. To my surprise, I passed the N2 level. Not with flying colors, but with enough margin that if it were the real thing, I probably would have passed.
This is a win, because I have never passed the JLPT before, and haven’t done any test preparation. I mostly just read books and participate in daily life. I have some Anki flashcards, but I’m far from consistent with it.
I signed up for the December test!
That’s really great! Almost 25 years ago I passed level 2, after what I thought was quite a lot of work. The reading comprehension was definitely the hardest part for me, because of kanji, of course. Having left Japan more than 20 years ago, of course I have lost most of what I knew. But I’ve learned lots of other things, so it’s all good.
Good luck in December!
The most difficult part for me was the listening, but reading comprehension was also tough, mostly due to the time constraints. I’m not fabulous at skimming text, especially in a foreign language.
Thanks for sharing your experience!