I understand that some of you are interested in taking JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) after completing Living Language Japanese course.

Here’s JLPT in a nutshell as stated in their official website:

"The Japanese-Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) has been offered by the Japan Foundation and Japan Educational Exchanges and Services (formerly Association of International Education, Japan) since 1984 as a reliable means of evaluating and certifying the Japanese proficiency of non-native speakers. At the beginning, there were approximately 7,000 examinees worldwide. In 2011, there were as many as 610,000 examinees around the globe, making JLPT the largest-scale Japanese-language test in the world."

(Cited from http://www.jlpt.jp/e/about/purpose.html)

If you live in the United States, you can take the test in the following cities: Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Honolulu, Atlanta, San Francisco, Washington D.C., Seattle, Fayetteville (Arkansas), Philadelphia, Boston, Houston, and Ann Arbor.

There are five levels, from N5 to N1. N5 is the easiest and N1 is the hardest. After completing Living Language Advanced Japanese, you can definitely take N5. In order to take N4 and above, you will need to build your vocabulary. Living Language Japanese gives you a solid base, including essential vocabulary and grammar. After that, you can easily expand your vocabulary and idiomatic expressions on your own.

You’ll also need to be able to read/write kanji. This is also something you can study at home.

Check out the following websites if you’d like to know more about JLPT or if you’re looking for a preparation guide.

JLPT official website:
http://www.jlpt.jp/e/index.html

JLPT preparation guide (unofficial site, but very informative):
http://www.tanos.co.uk/jlpt/aboutjlpt/

Don’t forget that if you follow us on Twitter (@LL_Japanese), you get a few Japanese words every day, and this is a very good way to expand your vocabulary. Most of the words you see on Twitter are JLPT words.