How I Got My JLPT N1 In 2 Years

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In this video, I share my journey of mastering Japanese and achieving JLPT N1 certification in just two years. I'll discuss the strategies, resources, and mindset that led to my success.
In my first year, I used 'Minna no Nihongo' and 'Anki', focusing on the 'Heisig's Remembering the Kanji' method. This phase was about building a strong foundation in Kanji and basic grammar.
The second year brought the challenge of real-world immersion in Japan. Living in Kobe, I transformed my passive knowledge into active fluency, facing and overcoming the hurdles of speaking and listening.
I detail my journey through the JLPT levels, including how I passed N2 and my two attempts at N1. The experience taught me valuable lessons in perseverance and targeted studying.
Finally, I reveal the single most important factor that propelled my language learning journey. This isn't just about the methods or resources used, but something more fundamental and impactful.
Join me as I uncover these insights and provide practical tips for anyone looking to enhance their Japanese language skills or embark on a similar journey.

[@Ryyza7]

ただ2年間はすごいですね！おめでとうございます

[@SewaYou]

ありがとうございます！🙏

[@jinjurbreadman]

at 3:45 I think the japanese and english differ. I think the english is supposed to be 'I almost never went a full day without using anki'

[@SewaYou]

Indeed, spot on! Thanks for the correction! 🙏

[@ivangg378]

I stopped the video when he said 50 words a day.

[@SewaYou]

Haha that's what it takes if you want to get it there fast! But it was definitely worth it!

[@Katatonya]

How did you even do that? It seems impossible, sounds like you'd have to review 1000 a day after a while of 50 new ones. How much time do you spend on Anki everyday? I spend about 45 minutes to an hour and that's for only 13 new words per day. (with about 125 review cards, which drop to 80 if I have a good streak for a few days, or rises to even 170 if I have a bad streak of retaining new words). Do you have some process that you do that lets you retain the majority of those 50? do you not instantly forget them the next day? I sometimes have trouble remembering some words I learned months ago, they just don't enter my memory. I'd die with 50.

[@ivangg378]

@@Katatonya turns out with a million of willpower and free time you're able to do it. But it's a recipe for hating the language. I just do 15-30 min in the morning (while I watch some videos). And maybe on the train. You definitely forget them the next day. I don't think all of the words are supposed to stick. But if you have 15 words and 3-5 stick...you're winning. Be happy of those few words you do remember.

[@SewaYou]

@Katatonya Yes, JLPT deck is different than the RTK deck since words are composed of the kanjis that you already know the meaning, so it goes pretty fast. No trick here, just exposing myself to Japanese every day, so that I often learn a new word from the deck and on the same day, I see it appear in a drama/anime I watch or something, and that word is guaranteed to almost stick forever! There are days where I spend two hours+ just Ankiing, but omg, just knowing that in X days, i get to see ALL the JLPT words, and after that it’s just pure revisions, is itself a motivating factor! For the math part, I stick with 100 news and 100 revisions per day, but I used a lot the custom study, to increase the revision cap (never decreasing) when I feel like still having energy left! Hope that clarifies!

[@Katatonya]

@@SewaYou So you're limiting Anki to not show you more than 100 reviews, doesn't that break the whole algorithm though? Though if you're spending 2 hours, you're definitely doing more than 100 reviews aren't you?

[@geralddevera7536]

Congratulations on your journey to learning Japanese. I would like to clarify when you mentioned that in 3 months you learned Kanji, you mean each flash card consist of one Kanji only (and you did this for 3 months)?

[@SewaYou]

Yes correct! 20 new kanjis every single day, so 1800 kanjis in 3 months! Afterward, I doubled down only on reviews for the next month or two to get it to stick!

[@geralddevera2882]

@@SewaYou Thank you Philippe for the confirmation. I am on my 9th or 10th day now of just reading the Jouyou Kanji one by one every day, and I found it a bit challenging and hard to stick as day goes by. I ended up making my own mnemonic which is also difficult to remember as the list of Kanjis increases. I was wondering if you prefer me to (1) still continue grinding with these one Kanjis 20 new Kanjis per day with English translation, (2) or use WaniKani which has mnemonics ready (3) or both?

[@SewaYou]

Well, depend on your end goal and timeline..! Back then, I wanted to finish it ASAP and my end goal was simply just to go work in Japan, that alone just fueled me and keep the motivation high 😀 If you feel it’s too overwhelming, then you can reduce it to 10 new kanjis a day or lower. Also, Heisig only has (if I remember well) mnemonic stories only for the first 500 kanjis. Afterward, it’s up to you to make your own. Then I found a deck somewhere online (a pretty popular one, so should be in the top ranking on Anki decks repository) of the remaining 1500-ish kanjis stories made up by the community (I think it was Tofugu community?). That helped a lot! And I believe WaniKani is a product from Tofugu the company, so you can give it a try and see how you like it! I was just a poor student not wanting to pay to learn back then 😂 it helps to be scrappy and resourceful haha

[@geralddevera2882]

@@SewaYou You're really a force to be reckoned with Philippe. I admire your perseverance and dedication to studying and learning. Your resourcefulness yielded to success. I will do my best to learn step by step and follow your wonderful advices. When the time comes that I reach my goals, I will surely thank you in person. :) Please stay strong and healthy with your business and family. :)

[@SewaYou]

​@@geralddevera2882 Appreciate your kind words! 🙏🏻 likewise! best of luck and, you got this! 💪🏻😃

[@Vivi-mp9nn]

I‘ve been studying since 2018, i lived in tokyo for 10month (2019-20) and achieved about N3 level, while learning like 50kanji a day for one year. and while i kinda stopped aktively studying japanese after i came back to germany, since the end of 2023 i am learning again, N2 grammar and N1 Kanji (i think i actually know like 90% of the jouyou kanji) but i just seem to not get better? Like i watch anime, japapanese dramas, news, do all the JLPT related excerises but like i just don’t improve. I can talk comfortably and if i continue studying like 1 year i am sure i can pass the N1 but it seems japanese will never become intuitive like english did. Any tips? :) thanks

[@SewaYou]

Great to hear you haven't given up your Japanese study even after returning back to Germany! From my personal experience, moving from intermediate to advanced level is a multiple "steps function". You'll plateau for a while (with not much progress, at least that's how you'll feel), but when you keep hitting and breaking through every stiff slope to get to the next plateau, that's when you make the most progress! And that's just a repeating cycle. When you get exposed to difficult material in Japanese (in any of the listening/speaking/reading/writing skills), that's a sign that there's room for improvement! So enjoy the struggle while you can, once you pass that stage, looking back, it will be easier than the first time you encounter it. You just have to repeat that again and again. Try doing things you've never done before, like completely remove subtitle from anime/dramas you watch, or hanging on Japan Twitter, make yourself feel uncomfortable! Also you can chat with Japanese natives and absorb as many idioms, slang etc... as you can. That's the best way to level up naturally! I recommend my app SewaYou for that haha there're plenty of Japanese friends waiting for you! :) Hope that helps!

[@Vivi-mp9nn]

@@SewaYou yeah thanks alot that was actually very helpful and encouraging:))

[@runningriot7963]

DId you learn the meaning of the kanji in English or Japanese at first? I'm currently trying to learn all the joyo kanji with English meaning, and then after I plan to learn the japanese tango, do you think this is a good idea?

[@SewaYou]

In English first! The goal was really to know the meaning of the said kanji in the simplest way! Memorizing Japanese “with” Japanese (and not English) can come a bit later, at least when I crunched the Anki, the only goal was to just memorize their meaning! So yeah your idea is good 👍

[@runningriot7963]

sugoi! thanks for your reply and great video btw

[@siddharthb2633]

Did you write and practice the Kanji? I prefer writing. Just asking.

[@SewaYou]

I do practice writing for new kanjis/components on my phone screen (like invisible writing with my finger, not using digital drawing tool) to remember the strokes order! But if I see a new kanji but composed of two different keys that I already knew how to write, then I’ll just skip the writing part!

[@jinjurbreadman]

where did you find your anime with japanese subtitles?

[@SewaYou]

There used to be a website called Kitsunekko, but now it’s shut down I believe… I guess you gotta dig online to find alternatives 😅

[@jinjurbreadman]

@@SewaYou did that involve downloading the anime, then the subtitles, then setting up both in VLC media player?

[@SewaYou]

Oh forgot to mention, but yeah those subtitles files are just .srt files (with the right timestamps) that you gotta add to a video file!

[@jinjurbreadman]

@@SewaYou where did you find your video files?

[@runningriot7963]

I wanna know this, I found out that on crunchyroll you can take out the english subtitles but there is no Japanese subtitles available. Also on things like Netflix and a Japanese VPN connection you can access audio and subtitles in Japanese, but I've found out that the subtitles don't match, they give a similar meaning, but not what the characters are saying word for word which makes it hard to study. It would be nice to be able to read along with the audio but I havn't found anything yet. :(

[@jinjurbreadman]

what year did you pass N1?

[@SewaYou]

It was in Feb 2017!

[@jinjurbreadman]

9:22

[@Katatonya]

50 NEW WORDS A DAY???

[@Katatonya]

Pardon, 100 NEW WORDS PER DAY?????

[@Katatonya]

How do you even have only 100 words to review per day after 100 new ones? Seems to be breaking math.

[@SewaYou]

@Katatonya I replied to your other comment on the most upvoted comment!