JLPT doesn't follow Japanese school system?

[meowcarrot]

My students are all very excited that I will be taking 2-kyu in December. Since I have to know the same number of kanji as the 6th graders they've taken it upon themselves to teach me what they know. But, I was taking a look at the list for 2-kyu and it looks like the kanji don't match up with what my students learn.

For example: for 4-kyu you have to learn the kanji for mother and father. This isn't in the first 100 kanji Japanese children learn. They are well into 2nd year.

So my concern is that I am not learning the kanji I need to be studying. Is my concern unfounded?Are they all there, just in a different order? Or are us JLPTers just supposed to know different kanji?

[ebear215]

First of all. There are several different types of writing for the language. Are u shure it was kangi you where looking at?

[meowcarrot]

Wow.
I'm studying for 2-kyu. Of course I can tell the difference between kanji and hiragana/katakana.

[Harisenbon]

Ebear, I don't quite understand your comment. It doesn't seem to fit with the question.

meowCarrot, the JPLT does not follow the standard curriculum for Japanese students, as foreigners and native speakers learn langauge differently. I can't comment on 3 kyu and 4kyu, but I know that the kanji that you will need for 2 kyu is rather different from what 6th graders are learning. It's more geared towards business and politics than most of the kanji that your students are learning. I had some words and kanji on my test that my 3rd grade Jr High school students didn't know.

I would pick up a copy of one of the 2kyu practice books by unicom (not the pink one), and use that to study from. I studied from that last year and was able to learn all the kanji and grammar I needed for the test.

Good luck!

[meowcarrot]

Thanks a ton. Well, I guess I won't be using the drill books the kids showered me with

[mcanangel]

that's sweet though how they all wanted to help you. ^__^

[Supergrunch]

Harisenbon, do you have 1kyu?

[Harisenbon]

I'm going to be taking 1kyu this year (only a month and a half! EEK!), and got my 2kyu certification last year.

Ikyu is freaking hard. I was showing some of the kanji I had to learn to my ex students (now HS students) and they missed about 20 percent of them. :/

[Supergrunch]

So 1kyu is basically fluent then is it?

Anyway... I'll probably take 4kyu in about a year...

[skrhgh3b]

Harisenbon wrote:
I'm going to be taking 1kyu this year (only a month and a half! EEK!), and got my 2kyu certification last year.

Ikyu is freaking hard. I was showing some of the kanji I had to learn to my ex students (now HS students) and they missed about 20 percent of them. :/

dang. you're going from 2 kyu to 1 kyu after only one year? that's impressive. it tests you over twice the knowledge, right? but then again, you are immersed in the language and culture, so you shouldn't expect any less. 頑張って下さいね！

[Harisenbon]

The JLPT (in my mind) is not a good test of fluency as it does not test your ability to speak, only your reading and listening. Even if I pass 1kkyu, I doubt I'd call myself fluent. I doubt I'd ever call myself fluent, but that's just me.

Skrhgh,
Well, I took 2kyuu last year, so really, there's nothing else I can take in the interum. I don't think I'm going to pass it, but my wife will hit me if she hears me say that again. So yes, of course I'm going to pass. *grin* 頑張ります！