With less than a month before the December JLPT it’s time to start doing some JLPT practice questions!
Many people will go to the JLPT website and try their tiny quantity of sample questions. But these are often easier than what you’ll actually be given on the day.
Then there are JLPT practice questions from textbooks you can use. Although these are useful they also cost a fair amount because they’re imported from Japan.
Another solution is to use online quiz programs that test you with practice questions. Although there are a few out there I’d have to say JPDrills is probably the best one.
JLPT Practice Questions with JPDrills
JPDrills is probably the best free online program out there for practice questions for the JLPT.
JPDrills offers a lot of practice questions for all levels. Not just the JLPT but also quizzes and flashcards for kana, basic numbers, grammar, Minna no Nihongo vocabulary, and more!
If you create an account you can keep track of your scores and the programming on the site will make sure to bring up questions you got wrong more often.
New features are always being added to it including a ranking system. So similar to Anki you can try and out-quiz other users of the site and get a higher score than them.
Flashcards
JPDrills has a number of flashcard possibilities that you can play around with. Not just the JLPT but decks from Minna no Nihongo, anime and Barrons 501 Japanese Verbs.
The flashcards can also be learnt with kanji to kana or English, or the normal mode which is kanji (with furigana) to English.
The flashcards will run through some cards, repeating ones over and over and showing ones you get wrong more often.
It’s incredibly easy to guess the answer with the flashcards so it’s up to you to make sure you choose the wrong answer if you don’t know it.
I also found that sometimes the answers were a little slow to react to clicks so make sure you click it only once!
All in all the flashcards feature is a nice little feature, but I don’t think it’ll be replacing my customization flashcard decks any time soon.
Quizzes
But the flashcards are not why I love JPDrills – it’s the quizzes!
Quizzes are broken down into vocabulary, grammar and kanji. All of them with real JLPT-esk questions. (Can’t get real, real, questions because they don’t release past papers). But they’re all questions from practice exams.
When you select a quiz it provides you with 5 questions that you can answer. When that’s done you can answer more and more until you’ve gone through all the practice questions (if you like).
If you’re signed up (which is free*) the system tracks what you got right and what you got wrong, and will bring up past questions you got wrong to answer again. – This is great because you’re forced to focus on questions you found hard.
I strongly suggest that if you don’t know an answer don’t guess but leave it blank. It will be marked as wrong, however it’s more likely to turn up again later on. You can make a note of words, kanji, grammar, etc, you didn’t know and study them on the side!
*But the free account limits how many questions and flashcards you can access and has ads.
Why Practice Questions are SO Important
Doing practice exams and practice questions for the JLPT is SO incredibly important!
It’s easy to say you know something when you’re used to seeing it in a certain textbook or in your flashcards. But seeing it in context can throw you off. Especially grammar!
With grammar you will often learn theory without much practice. Also, the forms will often be mixed together on the actual exam to throw you off even more. Doing practice questions will prepare you for the kinds of tricks they’ll try to use to trick you on the actual exam.
Practice questions can also reveal material you haven’t studied in your text books as well as your weak points!
Which is why I strongly suggest you start practicing questions early rather than the week before the exam. Because if there’s something you didn’t study you won’t have time to learn it all just before the exam!
Summary
JPDrills is one of those great websites that’s had hours and hours poured into its development by a single person. It’s a great system that is still being improves, with new features and new content!
It’s free but you can support the site and get access to more context if you pay a monthly subscription, which is actually pretty good value! If you pay for a year at $2.99 per month (which is only $35.88 for the year ) you can access 6500+ practice questions, answer explanations, and a community. They offer an easy 7-day money back guarantee if you’re not happy. JPDrills Pricing Page Here
I want to note that this isn’t a sponsored article. I honestly think JPDrills is a great program and a fantastic resource for acing the JLPT for ANY level! So give it a try!
Tried it out or use it already? What do you think? What do you like/not like?