For us here in Asia (and some places in Europe and North America), we are lucky enough to be able to take the JLPT in July.  Lucky for us, the rainy season ended just in time to give us a hot and humid weekend to take the test.  I hope everyone had a good test-taking [...]

 This is 5 Minute Kanji, and today we are going to go over a fairly easy kanji this time, the kanji for five. Mnemonic: The other day, I’m watching a ROKU and roller play the 6 string, but then my wife MUTSU the channel. Life is so unfair. Onyomi: ろく roku Kunyomi: む、む.つ, むっ.つ [...]

 Welcome everyone, this is Mac with another N5 Grammar Lesson from JLPT Boot Camp. Last episode, we learned how to use adjectives to talk about things in the past casually. Today, we are going learn how to use adjectives to talk about things in the past politely. We are going to look at a [...]

 This is 5 Minute Kanji, and today we are going to go over a fairly easy kanji this time, the kanji for five. Mnemonic: IT’S a GO! We GO in 5 minITSU! Onyomi: ご go Kunyomi: いつ、いつ.つ itsu,     itsutsu Like the other number kanji, the onyomi is used when counting up in Japanese, [...]

 Welcome everyone, this is Mac with another N5 Grammar Lesson from JLPT Boot Camp. Last episode, we learned how to describe things with adjectives. Today, we are going to take that one step further by describing how things were in the past with the past casual form of adjectives. We are going to look [...]

 This is 5 Minute Kanji, and today we are going to go over another simple kanji, the kanji for four. Mnemonic: My mom was strict. Every morning at 4, SHE would say “YO! Wake up!” And then she would say “Eat YO OATS!” We could never stop YONing. Onyomi: し shi Kunyomi: よ、よん、よっ.つ yo,  [...]

 Welcome everyone, this is Mac with another N5 Grammar Lesson from JLPT Boot Camp. Today, we are learning how to describe things with adjectives. To do that, we will be looking at a few, very short exchanges. Let’s get started. Our friend Matt is meeting up with his girlfriend Yu to go to the [...]

J-Research has a few books available for the N5 level. A few weeks ago, I reviewed their mock test book for the N5 level. It offers up a few extra questions to help you prepare for the N5. Although not perfectly on level, it could be helpful in preparing you for the exam. Today, I’m [...]

The JLPT can sometimes come down to how well you can answer questions about Japanese. As I talked about in my earlier review, test anxiety and just, in general, how well you can test, can greatly affect your score. You should at least try to take one practice test before the big day, and if [...]

 This is 5 Minute Kanji, and today we are going to go over another simple kanji, the kanji for three. Mnemonic: SANta regularly MEETSU with his 3 most important elves, ME included. Onyomi: さん san Kunyomi: み, みっ.つ mi, mittsu If you recall from our previous lesson on the kanji for one and two, the [...]

For people that don’t take tests all day, which is hopefully the vast majority of you, the JLPT can be intimidating at first. If you have taken an organic, natural approach to learning Japanese, trying to answer questions about the grammar can be a bit daunting. Maybe you are perfectly capable of communicating the main [...]