The JLPT Study Page

I set out to take the JLPT Level 4 exam in 2004, and was a bit confused about where to start.

Although some information about JLPT exams was available on the internet, the information was rarely formatted or organised in a way I was able to use and I was never quite sure what was in the official list or whether an official list even existed.

So, despite being void of artistic talent, I decided to create the sort of web site I was originally hoping to find. I wanted all the lists (Kanji, Vocab and the largely unknown Expression List) and in particular I wanted a list of required Grammar. I also wanted to make sure the lists were up to date - since a lot of JLPT requirements were updated in 2002.

I passed level 4 (2004) and then level 3 (2005), and started to create web pages as part of my study regime. Later, I decided to purchase the official Test Content Specification book to make sure that everything was correct and up to date. I found that a lot of lists available on the internet were either out of date (especially kanji lists) and/or contained a lot of mistakes. So I typed them up myself and checked everything - which is where www.jlptstudy.com comes in - it is a compendium of all my study efforts and a bit of extra stuff - just for the fun of maintaining a web site.

Although I'm studying toward Level 2 now, I like revising a lot and so often work on material (such as quizzes) for Levels 3 and 4. There is also the JLPT Study Forum where our small community can answer questions.

I often felt that there is a certain mystery surrounding the JLPT exams, perhaps due to the relative secrecy that surrounds the test content (the Test Content Specification book is only meant for Japanese examiners). With this page and forum, I hope to clarify and give people confidence about what to expect.

My name is Peter van der Woude - in Japanese:

ピーターバンダウッド

The JLPT is changing - after 2010 there is an extra level between 2 & 3 and there will be no past exam guides or predefined lists. See The New JLPT Announcement.
In the meantime, it would seem that the materials on this site are still relevant & useful, just not quite matching up exactly with the levels. I will be looking into doing something about this.