I started learning japanese about a year ago mostly to make playing games with my some online japanese friends go smoother. As such I have basically only learned the spoken, casual language.
To give an idea of where I'm at, I have 3000 words in anki but I only go out of my way to add words that stand out to me as very useful so I might know a bit more than 3000. I feel like my friends and I have adapted to each other in the sense that I'm familiar with the words and phrases they tend to use and they mine so there are basically no hiccups when talking to/messaging them but when I speak in japanese with new people sometimes its like its back to baby speech.
Recently due to unexpected developments in my life I now have nothing tying me down to where I currently live and have therefore been more open to the possibility of working/living in japan. As such I thought it might be good to start prepping to take the N2 in 1.5(?) years. However I understand what the JLPT tests for is about the opposite of casual spoken language so I have some questions:
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Is the JLPT a valuable investment of my time if I want to work in japan? Is there anything else that should be a high priority ie keigo sonkeigo
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I often hear advice like "If you read a lot, you'll pass". Is this advice from the standpoint of "Consume media you're passionate about and the study will follow" or does this also apply to people that don't have a strong interest in reading.
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If the answer is "Just read.", what should I read given that I don't have any particular penchant with regards to reading? News, novels, essays, wikipedia?
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My only knowledge of the JLPT comes from lurking in this sub so I'm a bit unclear on some of the procedures. I heard that you need to be refreshing the website the minute registration opens or you're SOL, esp if you're taking it in LA. And the test is only once a year in the summer. Is that true? Other than that, is there any crucial information about the procedures of the JLPT that I'm missing?
by Seal7160