The latest round of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) was held yesterday — congratulations to the test takers! A couple of readers wrote to us about the exam after last week's Community Page published an article by Jun Hongo titled "Is the JLPT really worth it?"
VP is studying Japanese overseas and was due to sit the second-easiest level, known as the N4. He knows people who sat the exam under the old system, when there were four levels. He wonders how the current system, which was revamped into five levels in 2010, equates with the old. According to the JLPT's official site (www.jlpt.jp), the main difference is that a new level, N3, has been inserted in the middle, as a bridge between the old Level 2 and Level 3. This was in response to many test takers' concerns about the large gap in difficulty between the old Level 2 and Level 3. The new and old levels line up something like this: New N5 = Old Level 4, N4 = Level 3, N3 = Easy stuff on Level 2 N2 = More difficult stuff on Level 2, N1 = Level 1.
Incidentally, there seems to be a general feeling that the N1 is harder than the old Level 1, and some people have told me that they now wonder if their "old" qualifications are no longer relevant. The JLPT website says the two levels are the same, so those of us who sat the old Level 1 can be confident that we could probably pass the new version, too. It is generally suggested, though, that you update your qualifications every three years.