🈴 How I got 180/180 on the N3 🈴

My study plan and recommended resources to ace this JLPT level

Hi there! 🤗

It’s been a while, but I finally submitted my manuscript for a conference two weeks ago, so I have some mental space to write a new post! 😃

Today, I want to address a question I get often:

"How did you prepare for the JLPT N3?”

To answer it, I will first talk about the plan I followed and how long I studied every day. Then, I will describe the resources I used for each of different sections of the JLPT so you can check out those that interest you the most.

Let’s get started then! 💪

Note: I used many resources to prepare for this exam, but I believe it is not necessary to this many.
Keep reading to find out which ones are the best or read the summary at the end of this post.

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✍ My study plan ✍

I began preparing for the N3 exam in November 2021 with the goal of taking it in July 2022. This gave me 8 months to prepare for it. After choosing which resources I wanted to use, I created the following study plan to get a clear idea of what I had to do everyday to make it in time (if you want to learn how to make your own study plan, check out this post):

The light colors indicate when I reviewed a resource.

During this time, I was pursuing my master’s in biomedical engineering full-time, which kept me busy throughout the day 😵‍. To get the extra time I needed to prepare for the exam, I began waking up at 6 a.m. each morning. This allowed me to study for 30-45 minutes before attending classes, enough to cover half a chapter of 新完全マスター文法 or complete one or two drills 😇. I also dedicated another 30 minutes in the evening (usually between sets while exercising). On weekends and holidays, I did longer study sessions lasting two to three hours each to work on my “non-daily textbooks”, which were typically on reading, vocabulary and listening.

For immersion, I spent two to three hours daily on activities involving listening 👂 practice and at least 15 minutes reading 📖.

🧩 Grammar 🧩

To prepare this section, I employed the thorough 新完全マスター文法N3 textbook. Initially, the grammar explanations were a bit hard to understand, but after doing the exercises, the correct way to use each expression became much clearer ✨. In total, I went through this book three times.

To reinforce what I studied, I reviewed grammar on Anki as well (you can read more about this on my previous post).

Next, I worked through several drill books (links to each review included):

• ドリル&ドリルN3文法: this one is the best for this level, in my opinion, with a detailed answer key and many new grammar structures.

• パワードリルN3文法: a great supplement with additional grammar points.

• 新日本語500問 N3: easy to carry around and quite complete. It includes vocabulary and kanji questions. You will encounter some new grammar structures on it too.

• 日本語能力試験N3直前対策ドリル&模試 文字・語彙・文法: good for extra practice.

• パターン別徹底ドリル 日本語能力試験N3: I would not recommend it, as it has few exercises that felt easier than the first two drill books I mentioned.

For more on how I reviewed these books (I went through the first four three times each), read my post on how to study using post-its.

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🔠 Kanji & vocabulary 🔠

I had actually started studying N3 vocabulary during the pandemic using Anki, learning 15 new words per day. While you don't need to start that early, this gave me a very solid foundation to tackle the test 🔥.

By July 2022, I had completed the following Anki decks:

• JLPT Tango N3: Highly recommended, as it includes audio and example sentences. Since the original disappeared from AnkiWeb, I've uploaded my version on Google Drive. It includes example sentences for all words, which is very helpful to better understand in what context they are used. (Edit 12/09/2024: I found another alternative to this deck, Ankidrone Essentials, containing the same information.)

• Shin Kanzen Master Vocabulary JLPT N3: I cannot really recommend this onebecause it lacks example sentences, but it's useful if you prefer not to make your own cards from the textbook.

• Nukemarine’s Tango N2 deck: another very high quality deck, great to begin learning N2 words. To access it, you need to show Nukemarine proof of ownership of the book はじめての日本語能力試験 N2単語 2500. (Edit 12/09/2024: I found a free alternative, the Ankidrone Essentials deck, containing the same information.)

• 日本語単語スピードマスター Standard 2400: I also added words from this book, but I do not think it was that necessary. (You can check out the messy anki deck I made for it here.)

On the side, I did the exercises on 新完全マスター語彙N3 and 新完全マスター漢字N3. I also used the vocabulary equivalents of ドリル&ドリルN3 and パワードリルN3 along the vocabulary exercises on the other dill books.

Finally, for a short while I did some quizzes I found on Quizziz.

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👂 Listening 👂

When I began studying for the N3, I was not satisfied with my listening level and I was worried it would be insufficient for the exam 🙁.

Previously, during the pandemic, I watched 犬夜叉 only with Japanese subtitles and, even though this helped quite a lot, I still relied too much on the subtitles themselves to follow the story. So, when I discovered onomappu's YouTube Channel, I knew this would be the next resource I should use to level up my listening. I aimed to watch one of his videos per day during my lunch break and managed to do so until I went through all of them.

On the side, I was also listening to Let’s Talk in Japanese’s podcasts while walking. These are particularly suitable for N3, as the host, Tomo, always writes down an estimate of the level of difficulty of each episode and it is quite accurate. In my case, I listened to all episodes from N5 to N3 during this period.

Lastly, I went through 新完全マスター聴解N3 twice, which helped me prepare for the format of the exam’s questions, of which I knew nothing about. It introduces key expressions used in conversation, so I highly recommend it. I also completed the listening section of パターン別徹底ドリル 日本語能力試験N3, which was okay.

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📖 Reading 📖

To boost my reading speed and comprehension, in 2022 I took the bold decision of beginning to read for pleasure exclusively in Japanese 😮.

At first, I was extremely slow and it felt quite frustrating… I could barely read one page per day. However, eventually my brain got used to it and my speed improved 👏. Here are some of the novels I read, along with links to my reviews:

• コンビニ人間

• 鏡の独城 (quite long and the first 80% is veery slow)

• カラフル

• 蜘蛛の糸

• ホームレス中学生 (this one was in August but I think it would be a great first book)

Additionally, I was reading 日本の歴史366 daily. However, it was honestly way above my level. I would recommend to maybe reach the N2 before you attempt it. Instead, I think 日本の都市伝説大辞典 can serve as a good daily read.

For textbooks, I relied on the comprehensive 新完全マスター読解N3 to get exposure to various text types found on the exam. I also used the reading section of パターン別徹底ドリル 日本語能力試験N3, which felt easier.

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🔖 Summary 🔖

Overall, I recommend taking your time preparing for the test so you can review all the resources you used ad least onces. Although I used many textbooks, I believe it's more important to review again and again the same materials to actually learn from your mistakes.

If I had to choose again which JLPT-specific resources to use to pass this the N3, I would buy all of 新完全マスター along with the drill books パワードリル and ドリル＆ドリル for grammar. Then, I would look up vocabulary questions online (the Sun and Moon YouTube channel has questions for all levels). Finally, do not forget to use Anki and do immersion on the side to make sure the things you study stick!

That’s it for today! I hope you found my recommendations useful ☺️

If you have any further questions let me know in the comments and I will try my best to reply to you! 😉

See you soon with more valuable content,

~𝙽𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚊