Can Japanese People Pass JLPT1? (Japanese-language Proficiency Test N1)) (Interview)

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N1 is the highest level of the Japanese-Language Proficiency Test. But how difficult/easy is it for Japanese people? In this video, we asked random Japanese people to try sample questions from the JLPT website.
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[@ThatJapaneseManYuta]

Bracing myself for Japanese people's "You make Japanese people look bad" comments... ...but honestly, I was pretty shocked by some of their answers. Maybe いたわる was a bit tricky, but the reading comprehension one was supposed to be easy. None of those questions are difficult for me. I guess some people just can't understand simple texts. And it's the same in any language. There are international tests that give basic reading comprehension tests to people in different countries, and there's always a surprisingly large number of people who can't find the right answers. On the other hand, your reading comprehension skills will translate to other languages. I remember doing well in reading comprehension tests in English when I didn't speak a lot of English. It was easy for me to understand what the texts wanted to say from the context, even though I didn't know all the words. And you can totally be like me in Japanese. So if you want to learn Japanese with me, I can teach you the kind of practical Japanese that actual Japanese people use, which can be quite different from "textbook" Japanese. Click here and subscribe bit.ly/3oCwDE4

[@uncleouch9795]

It's the same with English here in the U.S. unfortunately. Wait a minute, do you mean my Kamakura era Nihongo is effectively uneffective? Or is it Ineffective. I failed. ☺

[@Arc_Noir]

I was able to get the right answer to that question after looking up the meaning of the word いたわる

[@catherinebutler4819]

"It is important to sympathise with the vulnerable." Would that be a reasonable translation? A more literal translation isn't making too much sense to me...

[@alexspat7248]

I mean itawaru 労る　is not that hard... I remember that the JLPT N1 that I passed 3 years ago was more harder than those questions... especially the long text reading were more texts about surgery or machinery... with tons of words that are used only at specific niches... But I believe that reading is just one thing of using a language it is just the theoretical part... For myself I feel it realy awkward that the JLPT does not include any practical situations like speaking and writing exercises.. which are more beneficial especially for people who want to move to japan... まぁ、「労る」に戸惑った人もあったねぇ そんなに難しかなかったのにねぇ。まぁ、日常生活で使うかどうは別の話だけどね。３年前に一級を４回目でやっと受かったの時に当初の質問がよっぽど難しかったのにねぇ。。。特に、読解で長い文章を読む時にはの時に手術の説明や機械の仕組みが挙げられている文章が多くて通常の一級を超えている表現も満載。特に、〜ならではの業界の専門用語がいっぱいだったからめっちゃ混乱した人が多かった・・・ ただでさえ、一級の「聴解、読解、語彙、文法の知識」の範囲はただの理論的な部分で、日本語のたったの一部に過ぎないと思うわ。それだったら、ロボットにハードディスクに全ての情報を入れるだけど、人間じゃなくても機械でも答える筈の質問ばっかりと思うわ。受かったり忘れって効果的ではないの感じ。従って、記述のテストや会話のテストがない、即ち日常生活でコミュニケーションを実践的にとれるエクササイズがないとは甚だ可笑しいと思いよ。だって、日本に引っ越したら、いくら日本の読解をわかっても、実際に自分は喋らない限りそれが梨の礫だなぁって思うわ

[@manchega15dg]

Maybe you're a good test taker Yuta-san. I'm very good at reading comprehension and vocabulary in English, but I would always be confused when I did it in Japanese. I probably have to study a lot more before I'm prepared for the JLPT!

[@drakan4769]

"What did you think of the test" "I learned that words can be used to hurt others" Me after any test

[@bakainu3559]

Comment 1

[@Cypekeh]

lol

[@Name-jw4sj]

I didn't understand why he said that?

[@anon38705]

@@Name-jw4sj あの人はなんか適当に答えてたっぽいです I felt like he wasn't really answering seriously, he was kinda saying stuff out loud without thinking too much.

[@hf205]

@@Name-jw4sj He is so stupid.

[@serenityq26]

us: its always c japan: its always 3 lol

[@joseadrianvaldes9792]

Soooooo relatable...

[@Gary_Lifts]

In highschool i always guessed "C" on questions that i didn't know. The reason why? "C" stands for "correct"

[@HappySwedishPancake]

*sanbansakusen

[@vivoai2831]

@@Gary_Lifts In japan it's the same, too. 3 in Japanese is "San", which has the S stands for "Seikai" (Correct Answer), lol

[@jacobscrackers98]

@@vivoai2831 But Japanese doesn't have an 's'. Or any Latin letters for that matter. (Or do they?)

[@spacepope69]

That one guy said he can't read and think at the same time, that was funny.

[@fineguy2696]

same with me hahahaha

[@felicenatasha877]

But I agree with him

[@Tony42654]

”わかんないけど” That's me doing the exam.

[@astral2048]

lol I somehow passed n3

[@SAIMONch]

Lmao same

[@Kaizoushin]

I passed N1 a few years ago and the reading comprehension part was the hardest for me. You have to think like a Japanese person while choosing "the best answer" even though several answers make sense.

[@istrasci]

おめでとう！

[@Sena-co1ug]

What was your score, if you don’t mind me asking?

[@vibegovernment9283]

@@istrasci omedetou!

[@kira_y]

Only one of them is correct though. I found the JLPT to have more logical elements than I had anticipated. If your Japanese is good enough you'll have enough time to think about it...if not too bad.

[@Kaizoushin]

@@Sena-co1ug 13:15-16:00 150/180 I got murdered on the reading. 60 on vocab/grammar, 35 on reading (blegh) and 55 on listening.

[@electronresonator8882]

2:35 Yuta : "are you good at Japanese?" the guys : " no, not at all" said the person who answered all the questions correctly I guess this is what they call as Japanese polite answer

[@weaselsdawg]

Electron Resonator It’s not exactly the most difficult test.

[@candrawiguna]

It's called Dunning Kruger Effect en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect

[@tickub]

Some people aren't good at school but can surprise even themselves in their proficiency outside a classroom environment.

[@delianaanais7851]

Sounds like they were joking to me

[@JettoDz]

It felt more like they had/have good logic reasoning, so they could deduct the answer. Like, using "checkpoints" made from other knowledge. At least I got that impression.

[@akari9145]

Just took the N1 last Sunday. I am half japanese born overseas, and I’ve been speaking japanese with my mom growing up. Personally I found it very hard, but the passing grade is pretty low (100/180) so I think I have a pretty good chance of making it. Good luck to anyone else who took the JLPT.

[@PrinceDolos]

So... How did it go?

[@OutcastYBJ]

@@PrinceDolos wym how’s it go it’s been a year and they haven’t responded they dead😟

[@OutcastYBJ]

Omg your right they probably dead✋😔

[@OutcastYBJ]

So sad 😞

[@ithidil]

rip akari

[@Sakamori14]

4:07 My thought process at every JLPT reading question.

[@thienkimnguyen1260]

Me too. Btw, I just took a N2 test last week and dear, it was hard

[@SakanaKuKuRu]

Thien Kim Nguyen there was a troll question when they asked what ハード meant. It was my opinion on the test difficulty

[@rrkyu4458]

"I cant read and think at the same time" Bruh same

[@BigPelikan]

I mean, even if they failed some of the questions, I'm pretty sure all of them could pass the test (albeit not with a perfect score).

[@junjunjamore7735]

ESL questions are the same way. "In what world do English speakers actually use this word?"

[@minako134]

Yeah, you only need like 60% right or something i think

[@Rokudaimedono]

@minako134 50%, actually. It's very lenient. Though you also need to get like 1/3 of the questions right on each of the three different sections, so even if you get every question right on the other two sections, and have a score of like 120/180 points, which is well above 50%, you'll still fail if you only have like 19/60 points on the final section. When I took the N3 a few days ago, I feel confident that I breezed through the vocabulary section and the listening section no problem, but I'm worried about the /grammar/reading section, since when they grade it the sections are divided differently, into vocabulary/grammar, reading, and listening, and I couldn't get through the reading part fast enough, because I'm too slow, and spent too much time on the grammar section, not realizing that the reading part would be graded separately even though they were in the same section on the test... :-/ Oh well, at least there's a 25% chance on each question to get it right even if you're guessing, since it's multiple choice with 4 alternatives every time. :-P

[@sydney2762]

@@Rokudaimedono I feel you. I took N5 (least difficult, yeah right!) and the grammar/reading part kicked my behind.

[@Rokudaimedono]

Sorry to hear that. Hope it goes better for you next time. The N5 IS the easiest though, and it really is quite easy, I know people who passed it without having studied first. :-P So just study more, and try again I guess. If you can afford it, language schools might help a lot, as what they put you through is generally way harder than the JLPT (unless it's a shitty school). I passed the N4 back in summer when I was in level 2 at my Japanese language school in Tokyo. I'm currently in level 4, though this is my last level since I don't have any more time (there are 8 levels in total). I'd really like to get the N3, but we'll see how it went...I'm confident I cleared the other sections, it'll all just come down to whether I got through the reading section or not...Anyway, good luck. :-)

[@walteradant7401]

日本人にとって、日本語能力試験N1はそんなに難しくないです。中学生でも合格出来そうです。日本語能力試験は日本語を母国語としてない方向けの試験ですから。でも日本語検定一級に合格💮出来ない日本人がたくさんいます。日本語検定と日本語能力試験を勘違いしない方が大事だと思います。個人的に来年こそ、N1に合格してみせます。

[@JorgetePanete]

"Pause if you want to try" Me, having learnt 0 words with kanji yet and no vocabulary: sure thing

[@Ryuzaki_1998]

I only know some kanji😂 but idk the meaning when it combine

[@JorgetePanete]

@@Ryuzaki_1998 same I know like the first 70 kanji in RTK only

[@LannasMissingLink]

Hows it going now?

[@JorgetePanete]

@@LannasMissingLink More or less the same, I learnt some grammar and syntax, had to stop to study other stuff

[@kiwoxgen9929]

Lmao the only kanji i know is just 私 & 何 even i haven't done memorizing katakana T_T

[@PrettyTranslatorSarahMoon]

I've been considering taking the N1 (passed N2 about 10 years ago), but I haven't gotten around to it. I took the practice test on the website and I found some of the questions were sort of "trick questions" in that 2 of the 4 possible answers were technically correct, but they were looking for the "best" answer...which sometimes falls onto personal judgement. It reminded me of some English tests I've taken. The listening sample questions were super-easy, though. Idk, I think the JLPT in general is overrated and doesn't do the best job at testing a foreigner's competency in Japanese. 🤷‍♀️

[@Scion141]

*I took the practice test on the website and I found some of the questions were sort of "trick questions" in that 2 of the 4 possible answers were technically correct, but they were looking for the "best" answer...* Isn't this all, or rather, the best/hardest, multiple choice questions? Multiple correct answers, but there's only one that's the most "correct".

[@deboramestieri]

I completely agree!

[@Kaizoushin]

Exactly. It's those "best answer" questions that sucked with the N1.

[@Lclhney]

Actual test is lot harder than practice test

[@cchiri]

My thoughts exactly. Not a very good way to measure Japanese proficiency but at least it helps you by giving you a goal of sorts.

[@Dave_thenerd]

6:10 Gaijin just chilling swearing in the background :P

[@3gyxijv3jqaheb]

and right after the "And I learned that words can be used to hurt others" line

[@kiwoxgen9929]

What does she said?

[@Dave_thenerd]

@@kiwoxgen9929It's hard to hear her perfectly but she said some like "...fucking shit, bitch..." Wish we got to see the rest of the conversation.

[@ink1018]

Loll just notice hah

[@kelele]

Interesting idea and it reminded me of a previous video you made about Japanese reading kanji. Love to see more of such videos

[@baronsamedi5741]

Even Japanese people have difficulty with the Test. This makes us Gaijin feel better and feel connected to the locals. Thank you Yuta

[@OjaysReel]

At least my headaches weren't unique lol!

[@mklives2]

Don’t be fooled by this video. 99% of Japanese people could pass JLPT level 1 without batting an eyelid. When you’re walking down the street with a camera in your face you are not in the mindset for solving linguistic problems. Plus this is unscientific. Who knows how many correct answers were filmed and ignored because they didn’t fit the theme of this video. The JLPT1 questions are drawn from an extraordinarily limited linguistic subset of the Japanese language. It is possible to study intensively for the test and pass it easily, yet still have massive difficulty reading Japanese newspapers and novels. I passed it easily 15 years ago but could not read newspapers at that point, and was only just beginning to read novels.

[@AfonsoPina]

​@@mklives2 Exactly. People are easily fooled by video compilations. For example, if you interview 30 people about something and 5 give a certain answer but are clearly a minority and you make a video using the answers from those 5 people and mix it with 4 normal answers, you can make it look like the opinions are very balanced when they actually not. It's like those videos where you throw a ball or some other object and do something impressive with it, like hiting the gargabe can from a big distance and closed eyes, etc and you upload on youtube the sucessful throws you had and make it look like you are a "pro" at doing that thing, but in fact you recorded yourself over 300 times trying to do it lol. Well, this kind of channels are the same. They show you what you want to see instead of the reality, so you feel better or just to drag views, I don't know... People talk like JLPT N1 is a very, very hard test and that if you pass it with an high score, it means you are fluent or something, when actually in most cases it just means you do have some knowledge. I know a guy (yeah I always hear those stories of "I know a guy who blablabla"), but I actually do know a guy from a japanese learning discord server who claimed to be fluent, he got a high score on the N1 test and even amongst international groups of other students, he was always one of the best, but he said himself he felt like shit when he started to actually communicate with natives because he would mess with the pitch accent, use words that are rarely used in daily life and other wouldn't understand him, and he struggled to understand them too because sometimes he would miss one or two words and that would be enough not to understand the whole sentence. Basically, there is a big gap between N1 and real life japanese and there is no doubt natives would pass it easily.

[@MidoriOtoko]

@@AfonsoPina regarding n1 Yeah i agree. I personally feel the same, being able to use Japanese to communicate and passing jlpt is a different thing. U can pass so many times and still not being able to talk like them. Since i personally think that to communicate with other u need more than just the language. Well that's just me

[@silencedkill13]

Any Japanese middle schooler has the Japanese ability to take N1. It's not a hard test.

[@scott-hr3hd]

Hello Yuta, hail from the USA. Good video. I think any language can do this given the complexity of the words can lead people to a given misperception. It’s how the tests are designed to put people to a challenge. This particularly displays how honest you are even though it doesn’t fit your path to encouraging watchers of your business. But does it really? Honesty goes a long way to displaying integrity. Again good job on the video. Ciao

[@nonyabuznes8606]

Very interesting video!! I would love to see more like this

[@sypim]

I watched this when it was just uploaded three years ago and I couldn’t understand anything. I like coming back to the video once in a while to see how my Japanese has improved !

[@slamdunk406]

HSK 6 is really hard for native Chinese speakers, too. So I’m not shocked that N1 is tough for native Japanese speakers. Thanks for sharing! Keep the good content coming!

[@raehik]

frickin love the guys who get everything right but when the answer's revealed they still go "what?" as if they didn't expect it LMAO mood

[@iPlayOnSpica]

It was definitely the highlight of this video for me. Maybe I should do that if I get asked a question on the streets and answer right

[@zackjames2409]

I started learning Japanese about 2 weeks ago and I learned all JLPT N5, N4 I put a lot of hours into it. Long way ahead. Good luck for all who are learning Japanese. And thank you for all the information and videos. They are good guide.

[@rhiajavier]

what an interesting experiment! thanks yuta!

[@jsil_]

Before even watching the actual content, I'm greatly appreciative that you put a disclaimer about this video not representing anybody at all, and it's completely random but also fully inclusive of all participants. I love that, an intelligent way to state your intentions, but so simple. I don't know why all street interview type videos have this message to begin with, so that ignorant viewers don't jump to conclusions

[@TheDobleQ]

Next up: "Can japanese people speak japanese?" *LET'S FIND OUT.*

[@emsm5733]

lol

[@irun_mon]

"Do Japanese speak like anime characters?"

[@jcd_1991]

The thing is, Japanese is not an easy language even for Japanese themselves. If you've watched a different video, Japanese have difficulty writing Kanji. Mostly, Japanese are N2 Tier. Even my Sensei when asked if she passed JLPT1, she just laughs and answers with a smile.

[@UltimateAlgorithm]

@@jcd_1991 formal language and everyday language is sometimes very different. I not even sure I can answer all correct in my native language highest level test.

[@mascar1lha]

@@UltimateAlgorithm I dont know if my language has level tests but I'm sure most natives would fail at high level lol

[@victortriump1563]

THIS IS A VERY INTERESTING VIDEO!!!!! MORE VIDEOS LIKE THIS PLEASE

[@christianhadinata5517]

ありがとうございます! Yutaさん!

[@canmufu3923]

Thanks for uploading this just to stroke my ego Yuta. Such a pal.

[@TheChickenRiceBowl]

Are you fluent? :o

[@canmufu3923]

@@TheChickenRiceBowl No just good at tests lol

[@TheChickenRiceBowl]

@@canmufu3923 Oh. 😂

[@SharapovaFan]

Probably feels good seeing even the Japanese themselves struggle with N1. Meaning it's hard.

[@canmufu3923]

​@@SharapovaFan Yeah, haha. Since it's frustrating not being able to speak or read Japanese as well as I'd like, it's gratifying when I can one-up actual Japanese people in a thing like this, as petty as it sounds.

[@CitizenOfSymphonia]

Even after watching this video, I highly doubt any Japanese high school graduate wouldn't pass N1 with flying colors. You have to keep in mind that being on the spot, in front of a camera, and standing on the side of a street are far from optimal test-taking conditions. Put them in a quiet room with time to think and I would wager even the people who got some questions wrong here would get almost a perfect score. Just putting myself in their shoes I know I would rush through and try to answer the question quickly if I was put on the spot like this.

[@DaddyDuckTown]

I was thinking the same thing! It's kind of like when you see those street interviews where people can't think of basic answers. It's hard to formulate an answer when you've been randomly picked off the street.

[@nekoryu7916]

Bro just take toiec or any English test at the highest level, most of the tests are unrealistic.

[@piotrwojtaszek4295]

Excellent point on communication skills overtaking the language skills, i liked it a lot

[@sesshi6908]

After watching the video and reading your comment below lol. As an American wanting and currently studying Japanese, i wanted to say that this is an awesome video! Im sure all 外人 want to know exactly where this JLPT really fits among a speaker of native Japanese. Ive come to the conclusion that all tests in general can be hard. Im American born, 38 yrs, a college level test would destroy me even in English. And as far how this video makes Japanese people look? Id say its a good thing, it really only opens our eyes to see real natives against this situation. I think sometimes the massive studying can feel almost robotic. Any ways sorry for rambling lol. じょまたね、次のビデオが楽しみです。

[@agnieszkamichalak6478]

at 6:12 ish the foreigner swearing into her phone i cracked up laughing coz that startled me haha (i'm trying to learn japanese, i was tryna focus on listening to everyone speaking.. that woman broke my concentration haha)

[@KayceeJonesCKiwas]

Lmao nice catch 😂

[@Sena-co1ug]

What kind of headphones do you use? Because it’s hard to pick up through speakers

[@agnieszkamichalak6478]

@@Sena-co1ug my headphones aren't that good lol but my ears are really "good" (had them tested, machine didn't find when my ears stop :s so even on rubbish headphones/speakers i still catch a lot of background noise whether i want to or not -.-" ). also i'm in australia, that lady sounds kinda aussie so the accent was wayyy too familiar :s lol

[@mutiyangpilingbabae9207]

This inspires me to study harder I don't care how many years will take as long as I'm improving each day. If the Japanese can do it so am I. This will be an extra challenge for me.

[@littlefishbigmountain]

That’s the attitude that leads to long-term achievement! Who says it needs to be easy, right? Most things worth doing in life aren’t

[@cc_ppur1334]

How are you doing now? Its being 2 year.

[@mutiyangpilingbabae9207]

@@cc_ppur1334 I only got little progress because of laziness and also busy schedule.

[@Mejjad]

@@mutiyangpilingbabae9207 A little progress is still progress! And a step backwards is still a step. がんばって!

[@amandavania9798]

wow the spirit 😄😄

[@brandonduarte8918]

Im just browsing through KZbin & found your channel....now I'm falling down the rabbit hole of japanese KZbin. Good stuff though I like how you give a different perspective on culture & the reactions of people who are from Japan as well as foreigners

[@brandonduarte8918]

@@lorax121323 100% you look back enough into Japan's history & whoo boy do they have some explaining to do. But I visited there twice & it's fine. I'm not a huge fan of cities & that's pretty much a huge part of Japan. Food is good, people are modest, & they have amazing sceneries.... And trains.....so many God damn trains

[@msspears8915]

Thanks. I enjoyed this video.

[@beardedpanda5086]

I was doing these questions for fun online with my Japanese roommate who was studying for Toefl so I tried JLPT 1 and got all these questions that popped up! This was just a week ago lol

[@bluekrazykris]

I’m just learning Japanese so I can read manga and light novels and just everyday Japanese. Such as going into Japanese sites and reading the stuff on it, or Japanese twitter.

[@GretSanDiego]

I remember you said you learned English on your own. Listening to you speak, it's hard to believe you did learn on your own. It's truly amazing!

[@FatTurdles]

Just my opinion, but I liked the little music tune you used to include in your older videos. It really makes the video more lively feeling. With no music at all it feels a bit more... dull.. but still great content!

[@ThomasNing]

"the correct answer was: your answers." 2 guys: "are?" "are?"

[@Anderson-ly9no]

I am pretty sure every Japanese who finished their high school education could easily pass JLPT N1

[@-l485]

well, N1 is supposed to be Japanese high school level equiv....

[@snesy]

True! The test is very easy for Japanese natives and educated natives would even be able to construct most of the sentences of the multiple choice tasks themselve. Anyone who doesn't want to cheat themselves should take a look into the Kanken and compare the tasks in it with the JLPT N1 ...

[@snesy]

Even younger people could pass the test easily. This kind of grammar can be found in nearly any book and game. After high school most people should even be able to construct similar tasks on the fly

[@user-ly9vg7bp6l]

elementary school*

[@vibegovernment9283]

@@user-ly9vg7bp6l really elementary school. now thats somethings else

[@onjahvah]

freakin hell, i love this guy's marketting. it just flows seemlessly

[@saiyajedi]

I passed the highest level ages ago, but now I’m working my way up the Nihongo Kentei (currently at level 3). I still think it has a lot of unfair questions (although the ones in the video are pretty straightforward).

[@gardawg]

Last week I just finished taking N3 test but I always feel nervous with my skill and probably it would be another failure, I don't have Japanese friend and its kinda difficult for me to learn speaking skill like you told so in the end of the video. But to be honest, I always didn't understand learning from Non-Japanese.

[@heyzopondo4545]

頑張って！

[@trevorgrover5619]

This really does apply to all languages. I know some native English speakers that aren't that good at English lol

[@ailuvmie]

WOW THIS IS GOOD CONTENT!

[@laxmangaire4012]

Knowledgeable Thank you

[@ZerudaDensetsu]

I probably wouldn’t be able to do a similar test for my fists language tbh, i suck at grammar there are a lot of rules and a lot of exceptions to the rules.

[@mrsucc2138]

Me over here trying to learn JLPT N5.

[@strauss7151]

Being on a busy and noisy street must have played a role in decreasing comprehension. I'm sure all of them would do well if they sat in a quiet room and were allowed to focus.

[@tanvirhasan1121]

Thank you brother for your survey...

[@KMO325]

I've always wondered about this. I guess now Yuta has to start offering his Japanese lessons to Japanese people lol. All joking aside, I think that these tests are designed that no one could truly get 100% on them-not even native speakers, so this was not surprising. Shoutout to purple shirt man keeping it real about not knowing half those questions.

[@Anderson-ly9no]

Getting 100% is not hard for Japanese at all if they try hard, the level of the questions aren't that high, it's probably like native English speaker getting 100% at toeic.

[@ysw9771]

Not true. N1 is not as difficult as you may think. There are hundreds of thousands non-native speakers with perfect remarks especially those from China, Taiwan, and Korea.

[@adriennigarashineszabo946]

I think the question "what was the author thinking" is a tricky one. It's more like a mind-reading game than an exam task. You'd better deduct the points for that one because you won't get them. So the final figure is likely to be 94 or 96 %.

[@an_impasse]

John Mearsheimer Source? Japanese and Korean are both agglutinative in grammar, but even then, they’re not mutually intelligible either so there will still be a significant learning curve. Mandarin, Cantonese etc belong to the Sinitic language family and although some characters are somewhat similar in meaning or pronunciation, they’re even less similar to Japanese than Korean is.

[@JelisW]

So I make a living prepping students for admissions tests like the SAT and the ACT, and here's what I think is the issue: very simply, tests like these test on a very specific set of grammar rules and vocabulary, and these rules and vocab may or may not necessarily be things that we pay attention to or use on a day-to-day basis. Native speakers, when looking at stuff like this, don't think about rules. They pick answers based on"it sounds right". Which means that when a question tests on things that don't often come up in normal conversation, it fails to trip off the "it sounds right/wrong" filter, and then people get the question wrong. For instance, "someone has left their phone on the table" is a sentence I'd happily use in a normal conversation, as would most people. However, this would be grammatically wrong in the SAT, as it insists that "their" is strictly a plural pronoun. "Someone" is singular. And so it can never be "Someone has left THEIR phone"; it has to be "someone has left HIS phone". Native speakers unfamiliar with the way the SAT tests often skip right over such "errors" in pronoun agreement, because in real life, _no one cares_ XD

[@StefandeJong1]

In my native language, Dutch, we have a weird thing where spelling is still kinda evolving and multiple writings of the same word is accepted. Dutch is like a mix of English, French, and German. It has many similar words - either written the same, pronounced the same, or both: with the same meaning. (School = school (but pronounced differently). Book = Boek (pronounced the same). Doctor = dokter (pronounced the same). Many (for us) foreign words with a 'C', become a 'K', or French words are simplified, but to where the pronunciation stays the same (bureau -> buro. cadeau (gift) -> kado. Product -> produkt.). All of these changes are valid, but the 'old ways' are also correct to write. Even with all this, apparently Dutch is the easier language to learn for native English speakers, so... never mind xP

[@MarianneExJohnson]

Well, Dutch is the English language's closest relative, so that helps. Dutch spelling has its quirks but it's way more regular than English. Dutch grammar is a bit more complicated than English but they're both fairly simple in that regard.

[@_aryyy]

@@MarianneExJohnson Actually English's closest relative is Frisian

[@Cuticatie]

@Stefan de Jong Indonesian language also has some very similar words with Dutch such as: abonemen/abonnement (subscription), dokter/dokter (medical doctor), afdruk/afdrukken (print), apotek(apotik)/apotheek (pharmacy), asbak/asbak (ashtray), bak/bak (container), beleid/beleid (policy), bioskop/bioscoop (cinema/movies), brankas/brandkast (safe), buku/boek (book), duit/duit (money/coin), faktur/factuur (invoice), etc.

[@aoveveryday1079]

so many words in bahasa same with dutch like kado, produk, handuk

[@mauramendes7722]

Merci de votre patience

[@johntiter2825]

I'm pretty sure I can get there sooner than later. I remember reviewing the n4 test about 2 or 3 months ago and seeing how easy it actually is. I've only really been practicing seriously for about 8 months now.

[@Colourisedspoon]

John Titer Well, N2 and N1 has a bigger gap than N2 and N5.

[@turnerwright]

This isn't surprising at all. Even native English speakers who don't have a good foundation in grammar and vocabulary would have a hard time getting over 900 on TOEIC.

[@aminaelkateb1147]

I absolutely hate studying English ._. Just because im a native speaker doesn't mean I'll get a full mark in English, they're many things i don't use in daily life like the IPA and rewrite

[@ink1018]

Yeah

[@ink1018]

But what is TOEIC tho???

[@mirzaahmed6589]

I grew up bilingual in Bengali and English, but still had to take the TOEFL when applying to colleges in the US, and got a perfect score (120 on the IBT). What's shocking to me is how many native speakers, even college-educated ones, make basic errors, e.g. with their/there/they're, affect/effect, saying things like "supposably" and "irregardless", etc. I don't doubt that many native speakers would struggle on the TOEFL, entirely due to their unwillingness to fix their basic grammar skills.

[@pondypoo]

No way man, TOEIC is super easy. Got 975/990 even though English isn't even considered a second language in my country. TOEFL is a bit harder, but it's mostly because it's time constricted. You don't have a lot of time to stop and think

[@felipechujoza9755]

Yeah. I'm a translator, so I know my native language pretty well. I've seen a C2 level exam (pretty much the same difficulty as JLPT 1) in my native language, and there are a lot of questions a typical person from my country wouldn't be able to answer. I guess the expected score for language learners in such exams is way less than 100%.

[@Scion141]

I honestly don't know why people thought this test would be easy for natives. It's not a language problem, they can read and understand it, it's a logic problem, and really, just a language test. One subject I've always hated in school was language. No one ever got 100% in language, even though we are native speakers of our language. People seem to think the JLPT is some special case, it's not. It's just a test, probably equivalent to high school tests at a certain level.

[@mattkaczmarek1152]

Some languages have a larger split between the informal and formal language. For example, in the video the one man says "it sounds weird" even with the correct answer, because he likely never hears people talk that way. The thing is that the language you find on these tests is higher level because they expect people to be studying. High school tests are for students who should have been studying for them, not the average person on the street.

[@indonesiar110]

Very tru... Thank you Yuta-san for pointing this one one out.... Noken is never easy for foreigner mostly because of those kanji and those English katakana

[@aldo1999red]

It would be interesting to see what happens with N2 questions

[@rubyrose7858]

ugh N1 is so difficult for me 😵 I took the test three times and always just needed 1 more correct question and then I would pass 😩 Idk how others can do it. I mean, I've been studying Japanese ever since I was in my mom's tummy lol. Maybe because a lot of the stuff on the test are things you don't use everyday. I mean, I rarely talk about politics or health with my family in Japanese 🤔😂

[@Mastealth]

@スパークル I'm guessing she didn't go to school in Japan where you'd be exposed to a lot of the more specialized and technical words, I've seen similar with a friend from Bangladesh she can speak it fluently when it comes to general conversations since she spoke it with her family but because she went to school in England she has no clue with any words relating to politics, science, etc.

[@dizzyantennae5883]

This reminds me of what many people say about the US Citizenship test. They ask so many specific questions that many natural born citizens wouldn't be able to answer. Kinda interesting.

[@tzukishiro]

Well duh, a natural citizen isn't someone trying to get into something.

[@mints7349]

I think they meant that its ironic that immigrants are expected to be better informed about US affairs compared with natural born citizens. Personally, I have come accross immigrants who have better English skills than people who's first language is English.

[@prezentoappr1171]

@@mints7349 thats the way its native vs 2nd lang stance ur 2nd is always first rank unless u research mother tongue to native lvl professor lvl

[@NightFoxx99]

Yuta, can your Japanese lessons help on all 5 of the jlpt tests?

[@user-kn3rr8qq3y]

Thank you , sir

[@jcoachnst9511]

So I guess Talking or Communicating in Japanese and being Good at some tests like JLPT is totally different... I met some people that passed JLPT 1 and couldn't have a descent conversation. And I've been helping a Japanese friend with a French Test which didn't make any sense 🙂

[@kamiko8021]

What's with these cute couples? I'm jealous

[@exploringtheworld6494]

Yuta would you ever post any behind the scenes of people declining interviews. I imagine if in Tokyo there'd be a lot of them declining. Just want to get a feel of the overall mood in japan. I know osaka would probably stop more to answer. I mainly wanted it in Order to see whether you get treated the same as when we say excuse me when asking for directions, sometimes ignored but usually that's in Tokyo. Then it would make me feel better if I know a local gets the same treatment.

[@spacebiggles]

It's a bit like a C1 level test of English reading comp. For people who don't have solid university entrance level reading comprehension skills, getting these kinds of passages right can be unexpectedly difficult but for people with decent reading comprehension skills, it should be pretty easy. However, to pass JLPT you don't need to get anywhere near all the answers right so from that perspective it's still pretty basic. JLPT basically tests proficiency in reading and listening to Japanese so if any level was hard for adult natives, it wouldn't be a very useful test. I do think that the listening section is a bit too easy over all though. It's really slow compared to any spoken Japanese from planet Earth and focuses on made up business situations instead of using authentic materials. Regardless, as someone who hates tests I have found JLPT study useful while in Japan because it's a way to force myself to improve my general language knowledge faster than what I'd pick up from my surrounding environment - at my job in my prefecture, certain language is very familiar, but there's other words floating around that I wouldn't notice if I weren't studying for N1. I would quite like it if there were a Japanese speaking exam and a written composition test (using IME) though. The only one that exists is for like business and stuff and I really have no interest in business communication at all. My brain hurts enough from having to hear it in English. Just hearing プラスアルファ gives me a fuckin stomachache already. On the other hand, the main reason I'll be happy when I pass N1 is that I'll be done with tests and all my study can focus on the language, food, and literature itself.

[@gustavoporto9886]

My wife (brazilian, grandpa japanese) passed JLPT1 with 14yo. We're living in Japan.

[@HululusLabs]

1:11 lmao that guy in the background deadpan peace sign into the camera

[@astral2048]

I was searching for this comment.

[@chainz983]

hey yuta can u do a video about facial hair in japan? someone i know said they kept getting weird looks with a full beard than when he had snake bite piercings

[@sabine7078]

I'm preparing for taking N1 in July and happily realized that I got them right too :D

[@amigojapan]

not sure if you had them do any 読解 problems, those are the hardest... also within a time limit...

[@gd131]

the guy with the cross earrings is such a cutie and smart too.

[@alfanidwiardiansah3947]

love these videos interviewing Japanese. それで、日本語学習者に役に立つ

[@AnnieB8844]

they did better than I thought they would. In any case, my problem with Japanese has always been twofold: so many kanji that differ only slightly (which makes it easy to mistake one for the other) and as in all languages the nuance. Sometimes I learned a word and after a year I found out actually it is slightly different from another one, although I never knew that. And those slight nuances are rarely well explained in my classes or in papers, because all explanations were also in Japanese. So I found that the nuances were difficult for me to see through. And in these tests, I did N2, there is not so much time, while there are several answers that are very similar and only differ slightly (with the nuance). That is what I found very difficult. I wonder if the people in the video would do as well when under pressure and with limited time.

[@3seren]

Just passed my N4 exam (I say passed cause I'm sure I did even though the results go out in February) Can't wait for N3!! N1 seems so hard..even Japanese people are thinking about the answers

[@themasked_senshi4521]

3seren do you when the next JLPT test will be . And is there an age requirement

[@irenepst]

N3 is very hard, huge gap between N4 and N3 😢 I took the N3 exam but I'm not sure whether I have passed or not.. Either way, 頑張ってね！

[@darununya7048]

I took N4 in 2014 and just took N3 in 2019. I took the test without learning the material for N3, I think I did well but kinda messed up in Kanji section

[@mrchips7262]

N3 is not that hard and it was the first jlpt i ever took. Goodluck

[@lyrafiel76]

@@darununya7048 what took you so long? Did you take a break perhaps? Just curious.

[@StefandeJong1]

In my native language (Dutch), many people say things the wrong way. So many people in fact, that wrong things are becoming normalized. I am that one annoying person who will correct your grammar or vocabulary when having a conversation or chat.

[@mattkaczmarek1152]

It's the same with English. "This test is hard" is incorrect English, you should say "This test is difficult" but the first one is so common that nobody corrects it anymore. Another example is "My bad", but some of these "mistakes" are so common that they are accepted now.

[@mohammedabahussain4562]

Oh, MAN! I just remembered the good old days; the IELTS test days.

[@ryotakus.1560]

I've been suffering that I cannot do well in the English conversation (especially when chatting with many people). But I recalled that I could not communicate well even in Japanese... So you are true... If you are 'not' good at the communication in your language then, you will 'not' good at in another... 英語での雑談についていけないことが多くて悩んでたけど、よくよく考えると日本語でもしょっちゅう上の空で会話についていけてなかったことに気づく。。母語で意思疎通できる(ない)ことは外国語でも意思疎通できる(ない)。ほんとやね()

[@Zerbey]

People who speak a second language will often have a deeper understanding of that language than a native speaker, I've had my English corrected by ESL speakers on several occasions.

[@Menion98]

I guess I know not to use いたわる in everyday conversation. I hate how n1 has so many obscure stuff that I don’t know is obscure

[@FlowUrbanFlow]

This is why talking to native speakers is the best way to learn more common phrasing. Tests I'm America have lots of obscure English and such, but we know it's obscure. There's a thing when learning another language where you think you need to know everything and it becomes daunting, but think about how much you don't know about your own language. How many times do you go, "What does that mean?" or "How do you spell that?"

[@thibaud75014]

引っ掛け問題だからだよ。 一般的に「ねぎらう」をよく使うから回答者が一瞬混同するのを狙った様な問題。

[@salade99]

Yeah we don’t use it in everyday life and that question was actually difficult even to me

[@takuyamatsuda7214]

thibaud75014 俺的にはねぎらうよりいたわるの方を使ってると思うw

[@thibaud75014]

Stuart Avvampato それは相手次第だからじゃん？w ニュースは労働者関係の話とかが多いからねぎらうが多いし、会社人間とかの仕事主体も環境的にそう。 対していたわるを使う人は気を使う仕事か周りにいたわる対象がいるんじゃないかな。 老いた両親はいたわるけど配達で疲れた郵便局員はねぎらう。 俺の使い方が間違ってるのかもしれんが( ^ω^ )

[@Naruke2011]

6年間日本語を勉強した結果、12月にN1に合格した僕ですが、最後の問題は間違えた。 Passed N1 on the December test after learning Japanese for 6 years. Still got the last one wrong.

[@PeterTamura]

They only offer proficiency once a year overseas in December, it's bad timing for me because I don't have enough time to prepare. Next year!

[@user-ru2lc9hp5l]

正解しとるのに毎回「あれ？」っていうのなんなん

[@Hdhfcugihuguffugugufyfyfy]

だいたい小学校とか中学校で習うようなレベルですね。つまり俺らが大学受験で解いてる早稲田とか慶應の英語とかも英語ネイティブからしたらその程度の難易度ってことか。

[@jacobscrackers98]

Does this test mostly things like communication and comprehension skills or things like knowledge of grammer, words, pronunciation, kanji etc. If the latter, is it testing a standard, "correct" version of Japanese that the majority of native speakers don't actually speak?

[@LeonardoFerreira-cc8ev]

First of all I would like to say that I came because of the title... It let me very interested 😂😂

[@pianistNorganist]

Like to see that timeless military rule of, "When in doubt, charlie (C) it out" lives in Japan

[@HappySwedishPancake]

８年前私、一点でN1に落ちた。今までも思い出すと泣きたくなるわ。 今は多分N2も合格できない。日本語は、敬語と漢字と語彙が難しいな。。。

[@HY-oz4li]

あなたの日本語めっちゃ上手ですよ。 あと1点で落ちるなんて悔しいですよね。 自分は1年間勉強したのに英検の準1級に合格できなかったときはしばらく立ち直れなかったです。 なので、今は2級の勉強中です。

[@GanonV]

I passed level 1 of the JLPT in 2003 at age 20 and I'm from the USA. It was a major goal for me and I worked hard for it. When I was studying for it even my Japanese friends had trouble explaining certain parts. Back then there was JLPT levels 1 - 4. 3 and 4 were easy, there was a big gap between 2 (1,000 kanji) - 3 and then another large gap between 1 (2,000 kanji) - 2.

[@abilmut]

Salam senpai 🙏

[@user-wh1hv8ft5r]

すげぇ

[@edmundtan3545]

I could get a few right. Passed N4 few years ago. I do remember N1 being harder than this

[@APTX4968]

I've been learning Japanese for almost 3 years , I still cant talk in japanese smoothly , but I can read Japanese novels , and passed the JLPT 2 at the first year I began .

[@xiangminlu7285]

0:48の兄ちゃん片寄涼太さんと似てない？

[@Bottledbugcomics]

When you take the JLPT overseas you are awarded a letter sized certificate, is it the same case with the certificate obtained in Japan? or do they only award you the small wallet sized certificate with the photo ID on it? Thank you

[@moshi9800]

Pretty much what I expected, "textbook/exam writing" is *much* different and more difficult than normal writing, even formal writing.

[@NK-pu8xi]

As a Japanese, I'm shocked people couldn't answer those questions right away.😥

[@mmmyo9667]

Wano daily i having trouble in n2 lmo

[@dmand2353]

Most English speakers would probably not ace an "ELPT1" especially after not actively studying for years.

[@kylanoble8669]

I didn’t think the TOEIC was hard

[@AkiNoTsuki]

@@kylanoble8669 Have you tried TOEFL? That stuff isn't easy, man.

[@kylanoble8669]

AkiNoTsuki I mean, to be fair, English has always been my best subject lol

[@spacebiggles]

First year university students and people who have been one should register C2 on basically any test that includes it as a possibility if they take an ungraded practice test first. Unfortunately some English tests contain questions on prescriptive grammar rather than on the reality of English so it is possible for there to be minor differences. Still, I doubt it's possible to get lower than C1 unless intoxicated, assuming any personal difficulties in test taking are accounted for.

[@-l485]

well, as a native english speaker, i find the grammar in my native language the hardest to comprehend... you get what i mean? its because we are so used to the language, and in just a few years in living in japan, now i get insulted by others saying my english is ESL-ish (english as a second language). IS IT THAT BAD?! I wondered... esp considering it was one of my best subject back in school, i consistently get an A, and I also took classic lit so, yeah, what im trying to say is, i definitely feel my English level deteriorated and its like I have to second guess myself these days in my native language. @_@

[@acammaruko7083]

i was test in jlpt in N2 and very difficult 😆むずかしよ

[@doggypi1532]

I just took n4 exam last week and... Dang its not that I can't get it it's just that it takes time for me to understand the whole thing lol~ and the choices can be so close that I'm not sure what to pick >.< ... I hope I pass though~ (not exactly feeling confident about it lol)~