For students trying to leap the cavernous divide between Level 3 and Level 2 of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) (日本語能力試験), a new test being held for the first time on July 4 breaks the task into two smaller, more manageable hops. Other students, though, might find that progress through the test’s levels is about to get harder.
The newly added N3 stage pushes the number of levels in the revised test — for which applications close April 30 — from four to five. Each level gets a new name, from N5 at the bottom of the scale of difficulty to N1 at the top. (The "N" stands for both nihongo and "new," according to Japan Educational and Exchanges Services [JEES], which administers the test.) Only levels N3-N1 will be tested in July each year; the lower two levels join the list when the test is held again every December.
The new test is an attempt to address complaints some examinees have made about the big gap in difficulty between the old Level 3 and Level 2 tests, but the extra level is just part of a bigger overhaul of the JLPT that JEES says should lead to results that better measure a person’s ability to perform the communication tasks expected of those who pass each level. In response to complaints test-takers have voiced that tests taken at different times for the same level have varied widely in difficulty, JEES promises to scrutinize the tests more closely from year to year to minimize the impact of differences. Furthermore, JEES says the material from which questions are drawn will also get a face-lift, but a scan of information on the JEES Web site and in the official test guidebook suggests this is mostly cosmetic surgery — with the sections simply rearranged.