JLPT N5 Japanese Reading Examples

One type of question that you might see pop up on the reading section of the N5 are picture questions.  Here you might see a short passage of text and then have to choose a drawing that best matches what is described.  For example, in the JLPT N5 Official Workbook, they have a question that goes over the orientation of some items in a room.

General speaking, these questions are probably going to check your understanding of directions and words that describe the locations of things.  They will be testing your ability to visualize what is written down.

A good way to practice for this is to do some of your own writing, of course.  I always feel like the best way to study for a passive skill like reading or listening is to do some production.  In that way, you are able to test your understanding of the language so that you won’t run into any surprises on test day.

Picture Writing

Getting some writing practice in is pretty easy of course.  All you really need is a few good interesting pictures and a little bit of time to do some writing.  You’ll surprised how much easier it is to get the ball rolling when you have a picture to look at.

Don’t know where to find some good pictures?  You can try flickr.com of course or if you are looking for something more artistic you can check 500px.com.  Both places offer a lot of inspiration to create something from.

After you have chosen a good picture.  You can write a quick snippet and send it off to a service like lang-8.com that will check it for you.  Keep in mind that these checks can be a little misleading.  There have been a lot of times when I will get material back that makes sense but is a bit strange.  So it might be useful to consulate a trusty Japanese friend or possibly go with a more premium service like Jpod101’s premium+ that provides a professional instructor that can answer any questions you might have.

Here is a quick sample of questions to get you started.  Can you choose the sentence that best describes the picture?  Pay attention to the slight differences in the sentences.

1) 男おとこの人ひとはフライパンをもっています。

2) 男おとこの人ひとはすわっています。

3) 男おとこの人ひとはパンを食たべています。

4) 男おとこの人ひとはぼうしをかぶっています。

 

 

1) かさは　二つしか　ありません。

2) ゆきが　ふっています。

3) 男おとこの人ひとは　かさを　もっていません。

4) 店みせが　あいています。

 

 

 

1) チーズバーガーを　食たべた後あとで　うんてんします。

2) チーズバーガーを　食たべる前まえに　うんてんします。

3) チーズバーガーを　食たべながら　うんてんします。

4) チーズバーガーを　食たべる時とき　うんてんします。

 

1) 花はなは　ブーツの下したに　ある。

2) 花はなは　ブーツの前まえに　ある。

3) 花はなは　ブーツの上うえに　ある。

4) 花はなは　ブーツの中なかに　ある。

 

Can you choose the correct sentences?  What was the most difficult question?

Answers: 4, 1, 3, 4