Japanese

Why Take The JLPT

The JLPT is the official Japanese language exam. That’s all very well you might be thinking but why should I consider taking it?

There are lots of reasons that the JLPt could be useful to you. Some for career reasons, others for the purpose of studying and some just for personal gain. Let’s take a look at some of the reasons why you should consider taking the JLPT.

To Study At A Japanese University

If you want to study a course taught in Japanese at a Japanese university then you will be required to take the JLPT beforehand to prove that you will be able to understand the material and keep up in lectures. If you want to study at a university in your own country but the subject will be taught in Japanese then you might also need to take the JLPt for this.

To Work For A Japanese Company

This one really depends on your job but if you want to work for a Japanese company where your role will require you to speak or at least understand Japanese then you might find that the JLPT is necessary to achieve this. Not all roles will require this but on the job description of some there will be a minimum proficiency expectation that you will need to prove via a certificate to a specific level of JLPT.

To Get A Job As A Translator

In order to become a translator you need to demonstrate a certain level of proficiency in Japanese. Therefore even if you don’t want to work for a Japanese company but you want to do translation or interpretation work then the JLPT will be necessary for you as you will have to demonstrate a certain ability in Japanese.

To Improve Your Japanese

If you don’t have a career goal, a studying goal and you don’t really want to live in Japan either then don’t worry, taking the JLPT can be a great way just to improve your Japanese. If you set yourself the goal of a language exam then you just are going to learn the material in order to pass. If you’ve been stagnating with your Japanese learning, then booking in for the JLPT can be the perfect boost you need in order to ramp up that studying.

To Live In Japan

You can live in Japan without having taken the JLPT, but if you’re looking for a more permanent residence then you may want to consider doing this exam to help with your residency application. After all what makes you look like a better candidate for living in a country than having learnt the language spoken there.

No matter your reasons for deciding to take the JLPT, if you’re going to do it then make sure you learn about the JLPT so you know what to expect. It’s important to know ‘how long is the JLPT?’ ‘what does it compromise of?’ ‘will I need a JLPT textbook?’ and more. That way you can be best prepared to take the exam.

How To Study For The JLPT

The JLPt is the official Japanese language exam which is used to demonstrate your level of proficiency in Japanese. There are lots of reasons why you should take the JLPT, but if you’re reading this article then we can probably assume you’ve already decided to take the exam and now you’re looking at how to study for the JLPT so you’re as prepared as you can possibly be.

Buy A JLPT Textbook

One of the best things you can do to help yourself is to invest in a JLPT textbook. Even if you’re taking a class already a textbook can be a great resource to help you study and work through the material at a pace that suits you.

Study For The JLPT Every Day

When you’re in the weeks leading up to the JLPT exam it’s important you study every day, even if it’s only for half an hour. The exam can be difficult and in order to ensure success, it would make a big difference it you were able to study once a day every day.

If you study every day then your rate of recall improves. Instead of having to revise what you looked at the day before you can move onto new material straight away because the information is fresh in your head.

Start Studying For The JLPT Two Months Before

A good amount of time to give yourself before the exam to start studying is two months. By this we don’t mean start learning the material two months before. By the time those two months begin you should already have learnt everything that you need to take the exam and these two months should be spent revising the material and doing practise papers to make sure you’re ready.

Which leads us onto our next tip…

Do JLPT Practise Papers

Make sure you do practise papers. It’s not enough to know the material, you need to understand the format of the exam and know what to expect on the day. Or you could lose silly points that you don’t need to. Understanding the format of the exam before the day helps you to know what to expect, prevents you from wasting time and will help you to stay calm because you’ll know exactly what to expect.

Try To Live Your Life In Japanese

In addition to general tips about studying and past exams, one of the most effective ways that you can prepare for the JLPT is to try to live as much of your life in Japanese as possible during the lead up to your exam. This means relaxing in Japanese as well as studying in it, so watching movies, television, listening to music and even trying to read. You can obviously take a break and relax in your own language as well but the more Japanese you expose yourself to, the more prepared you’re going to be when the exam comes around and the more attuned you’ll be to hearing Japanese.

These are the best tips we have to help you prepare for the JLPT, now what you need to do is to start studying!

How To Find A Good Japanese Translator App

When looking for a Japanese translation app you don’t want to waste your time scouring through models that are difficult to use, have too many ads or crash often. You also don’t want to find ones that give you incorrect translations too often because it can get you into bother and it can also hinder your Japanese learning.

So you want to know how to find a good Japanese translator app to help you communicate effectively in Japanese or to enhance your learning. Well don’t worry we can help you out with that.

Our Japanese Translation Apps

We’ve looked at all of the Japanese translation apps currently available and come with our list of the top ones. Make sure you take a look and find out which ones we recommend, and which ones we don’t.

How To Select A Good Japanese Translation App

• Check out the reviews. It’s important to check out the reviews that other users have left. You don’t want to be downloading an app that has loads of negative reviews otherwise you’ll be wasting your time
• Check out the features. Different apps have different features available that may or may not be beneficial to you. Take a look at the features the different apps offer when choosing which one to download and see which one works for you.
• Remember they’re free. It’s important to remember that the majority of the apps are actually free. So it’s not like you pick one and then you’re stuck with it. You can always try one out and then delete it at a later date.
• Check out your app stores. The app stores for your phones have algorithms which will push up the more popular apps to the top so chances are if you’re on the app store you’ll be able to find the best quality apps relatively quickly.
• Test out a couple. Why not download a couple of different apps and test them out. Then you can compare them yourself and see which one works for you. Make sure you leave reviews after you’ve tested them out so you can help out other people with the same question.
• Ask on forums. Another thing you can do is ask other Japanese learners which app works best for them. Getting recommendations from other people who are learning can be one of the most useful ways to find the best quality apps as the chances are they’ve already tested out a few for themselves.
• Double check the translations. Don’t just blindly accept the translation from the first app you choose. Translate it across more than one different platform to make sure the translation is accurate.

The best thing for you to do would be to check out our list of recommended Japanese apps, but don’t worry if the one you choose isn’t the same as the ones we’re recommending, it’s important that you find something that works for you and everyone has different language learning requirements. And remember! If you don’t like the app you’ve downloaded, you can just download a different one because the majority are free!

Next is learning how to use a Japanese translator app to ensure the best translations.

Will Using A Japanese Translation App Stop Me From Learning Japanese?

A Japanese translation app can be incredibly useful. In Japan the level of English isn’t great and Japanese is quite a difficult language for a native English speaker to master. Not only that but Japan is a fascinating country with an amazing culture and so much to see. So with that in mind lots of people are downloading Japanese translation apps to help them out.

However one of the big concerns of these apps is that fi you download one and start using it will it stop you from actually learning Japanese? Or could it harm your Japanese if you’re currently studying? The simple answer for that is no.

If the app could stop you learning Japanese then you realistically probably weren’t going to learn Japanese in the first place. People who want to learn a foreign language won’t be stopped from doing so just because they’ve downloaded a translation app.

In fact, a translation app could greatly help someone to learn Japanese. It doesn’t have to be you speak Japanese or you use the app, you can do both. When you’re out and about having conversations in Japanese you can use the app to look up single words and add them into your conversation. Then put your phone away and continue the conversation.

Also when you’re walking around Japanese and you see a word that you don’t know, you can use the app to find out what that word means and add it to your vocabulary list. Then you can look at your list later in the day and memorise all of the new words you’ve learned.

The only way that a Japanese translation app could harm your learning was if you were to use it instead of speaking. If every time you had the chance to have a conversation with someone you held up your phone to show them a typed out message and then asked them to type back their response then you might have problems. However, assuming you don’t do this there is no reason a translation app should harm your learning at all. It should really only help you to learn more and improve your Japanese.

Of course there are two main reasons people download one of these apps:

• To improve their Japanese
• To communicate when travelling around Japan

If you’re in the second camp then there’s nothing wrong with using one of these apps for a purely communicative function. It’s just important to remember that this isn’t the only way you have to use the app. And even if you’re not actively studying Japanese you can still use the app to pick up a few new words for fun.

So should I use a Japanese translation app? Yes you should! If you’re still not convinced then read here to find out why but hopefully we’ve managed to show you why it won’t harm your Japanese learning and how instead it can actually help you.

How To Use A Japanese Translator App

Although language translation apps are becoming more and more advanced, they still aren’t perfect. And there are certain ways you can use them to prevent embarrassing translations and also to get the most out of your translations.

Ways To Use Your Japanese Translation App To Avoid Mistakes

• Keep it simple. Don’t type in long, complicated sentences that need translating completely. If you do this you’re setting yourself up for problems. Instead you’re more likely to have translation success if you keep it simple. Instead of a whole sentence, try using words or short simple sentences to translate. The more simple the sentence the less chance of mistake the translator will have to make.
• Give the translator some context. Some words in English can have different meanings depending on the context. With this in mind, if a word has several definitions the translator doesn’t always know which translation to choose. A way to get around this is to give your translator some context. For example if I wanted to translate the word atmosphere, my translator doesn’t know if I mean the Earth’s atmosphere or the party’s atmosphere. So when you type in atmosphere, also type in Earth atmosphere and party atmosphere to check if they have different words. Then from the context given, you’ll know which one to choose.
• Cross compare. If you really need a translation to be accurate then there’s nothing wrong with doing a cross compare. Put the same word into more than one Japanese translation app to see if each app says the same thing. That should give you a good idea of how accurate your translation is and it should also show you which translators function in the most effective manner and which translators are going to get you in trouble.
• Try more than one. Before you settle on just one Japanese translation app try a couple to see what works for you. You may find that some are easier to use or that some have better translations than others. there’s nothing wrong with shopping around before you find the translation app that works for your Japanese needs.
• Use it as a supplement to your Japanese not as a replacement. You don’t want to shove your phone in people’s faces every time you need to translate something. It’s impersonal and it won’t help with your Japanese learning. Instead use it to look up the odd word that you then add to a sentence when you try to talk to someone. You’ll have much more personal experiences and be happier with your Japanese this way.

Another question that lots of people ask when they’re deciding whether or not to download one of these apps and working out how to use one is: will a Japanese translator app help my Japanese? If used well then the answer can be yes, very much so but make sure you read our article to find out how it can help with your Japanese learning.

Now you know how to use a Japanese translator app, it’s time to find one. Don’t worry about not finding the perfect one straight away. Most of the apps currently available are free, which means you can download and delete as many as you want until you find the one that fits your needs.