The SOAS web site hasn’t updated for this information as yet, but the contact details are there to request information and/or an application pack.

This is fantastic news. Unfortunately I doubt I am ready to sit a test in 4 months time. I think it’ll be December for me. I have a month to ponder spending £70 on a trial run… Maybe if I work really hard.

Related posts:

1. London JLPT 2007
2. New JLPT – more information
3. Kanken London 2010

This year’s kanjikentei will be held on Sunday 31st of October at SOAS UCL London.
They have a Google webform this year for candidates to request application forms. The deadline is the 28th September. You can sit more than one level if you want but this year I’ll only be attempting 8 kyu. It may take me a few years to reach my 5 kyu goal of the 1006 primary school kanji. It’s not the kanji so much as the vocabulary and usage.

Be aware that British Summer Time ends on the 31st, so make sure you turn up on time for the test!

(I had a rather interesting search term in my blog stats today. “Heisig classes in Tokyo” Good Luck with that, Heisig seemed very anti-teacher and only an individual could manage his method. And only the Internet has kept his book in print… )

Also open for applications is the 2010 JLPT held at SOAS. This year they have online application and are again limiting candidates to 1000 across all levels. I must get back on track with JLPT. The leap to 2 was too daunting, but now there is the intermediate N3 I should give it a go. Just not this year!

Related posts:

1. Kanken Kanji Aptitude Test London 2009
2. After Kanken 2009
3. July JLPT in London

Firstly it seems not every exam centre will have twice yearly exams. It looks as if only centres in Japan,China and Korea will definitely offer it twice a year. SOAS in London seems to be keeping to December only. It’ll be worth checking with your nearest centre. It may also help them gauge interest and encourage them to offer it biannually. Hopefully the Japan Foundation will update its listings soon.

More interestingly, although official workbooks won’t appear until 2012 according to the official JLPT site, Bonjinsha already has a few textbooks available for the new JLPT specifications. They aren’t part of the full listing on Bonjinsha’s site. However I did find them under their (unweildy) Japanese title 新しい「日本語能力試験」ガイドブック概要版と問題例集 (New Japanese-Language Proficiency Test Guidebook: An Executive Summary, and Sample Questions).

Finally, although this isn’t exactly new, Ireland now has it’s own JLPT exam centre at DCU. Although they have the typically rubbish websites common to a lot of universities.

Related posts:

1. New JLPT specifications
2. JLPT Mock Test Level 3
3. JLPT Changes from 2010

I read an interesting document about the new JLPT specifications for the test starting in 2010 from the Japan Foundation.

Considering the search terms people use in Google these points are a big departure from the old test:

There are no plans to publish collections of complete copies of tests administered in past years.

and

The goal of learning Japanese is not to memorize vocabulary, kanji, and grammar, but to become capable of using them as a means of communication. The new test is to measure both “Japanese language knowledge, including vocabulary and grammar,” and “the competence required to perform communicative tasks using language knowledge.” Therefore, we determined that it is not appropriate to publish “Test Content Specifications” which includes the lists of vocabulary, kanji, and grammar.

and

Failure to exceed the minimum acceptable score in any scoring sections will result in a fail for the entire test, even if your total score is above the minimum acceptable score.

While the old levels 1 through 4 map more or less onto the new N1, N2, N4, and N5, figuring out N3 will be a challenge in the beginning. I wonder if people won’t just study for the old level 2 and take N3 if they don’t feel confident.

I suppose the many and varied JLPT sites with lists of kanji and grammar points will still exist. Maybe many unchanged. Publishing companies may start publishing their own guesses at what material is required or re-jigging their old books in new covers perhaps. I do predict a fair amount of confusion in the short term, until the Japan Foundation starts publishing some example tests or textbooks.

The requirement to pass each section in order to pass overall is new. No longer can your kanji ability carry your weak listening ability. Although the score requirements have yet to be published, I think the pass requirement might be lowered and two pass levels Weak and Good will be introduced from what I see in the booklet.

Overall it’s a more modern sounding test. The emphasis has changed to testing real world abilities rather than memorisation and exam technique. The main guideline is now the “Linguistic Competence Required”.
Ideally an oral exam and written exam would also be offered but within it’s limits (multi-choice and thousands of candidates) JLPT is trying to keep up with modern ideas about language teaching and learning.

I wonder if I’ll attempt N3 this June. I reckon I have “the ability to understand Japanese used in everyday situations to a certain degree.” What that certain degree is I’m not sure!
I wonder if SOAS will offer it.
In the meantime here’s a link to sample questions on the new JLPT test.

Related posts:

1. JLPT Mock Test Level 3
2. New JLPT – more information
3. JLPT past exam papers

I quite welcome that the test can be sat at 2 different times. The July date puts it more in line with European academic cycles. The best part is the new level 3. I was feeling lacklustre about starting towards Level 2 because the jump was so high. I was looking at at least 2 maybe 3 years work I think. I’m still looking at that amount of work it seems for a test in 2010 but now it seems more achievable if I work towards the new level 3. I wonder how long it will take to find out the exam syllabus in terms of kanji, vocabulary lists and grammar points.
So it looks like I’ll stit JLPT3 again in 2010, except now it’s N3
The pdf annoucing the changes is linked on JEES’s home page.
–update 13Sep08–
Here’s a direct link to a pdf in English of the June Progress Report on the changes.

Related posts:

1. New JLPT specifications
2. JLPT past exam papers
3. JLPT Mock Test Level 3