I am not taking the JLPT this year
why?
Basically, 2020 has been a disaster, the last thing that needs to happen is that I get sick and spread it to all my 400-500 students. I don’t want to take the test if that would mean that I would infect so many people, but also for my own health. Since moving to Japan I have been sick quite a lot. I don’t know why exactly, maybe because of the food, different living conditions, maybe because Japan wants to make me sick. ^^”
But the whole situation has leveled at around 2000 people a day now, here in Japan. If you travel far or spend a lot of time in busy places, trains and/or busses, the chance is big that you will catch something. I don’t really have a lot of good luck so my chances are even higher than for other people to catch the virus. ^^” I get sick easily nowadays, and my immune system is quite bad at the moment. So I’m not taking any chances.
What I don’t understand
So it has been some days after the test, and we are still in code red here in Osaka. This basically means that you should not go out if you don’t have to go out. The numbers are around 2000-2500 people a day who are catching the virus and that apparently doesn’t worry the people who hold the JLPT here in Japan. The only extra requirement was that people have to install an app… The health sheet and such that they had to prepare didn’t even get checked in some locations of what I’ve heard from test-takers.
I know that it would be bad to not have any JLPT test for a whole year, but what they did now … I personally find it a little irresponsible. Also, here in Japan, you have to pay 5500 JPY to join the JLPT. But even with this whole situation, they didn’t offer any refund for people who can not risk it to go out. As I said, I didn’t want to go because of my own health and that of my students. For them, that’s my own fault so no refund. :/ When my wife called them they were very short about this.
The future?
As disappointed as I am in the people arranging the JLPT test, I will still have to take it, as it is the only test that companies accept. Even if we would have a whole interview in Japanese, they will still require that because I’m a foreigner/foreign-looking. Not much to do about that. My original plan was to try the JLPT N3 in July and JLPT N2 in December next year. But after they already took 5500 JPY that they don’t want to return… Well yeah, I decided to only go for the JLPT N2 in December 2021.
Do I hate the JLPT?
There’s no hiding that I find the JLPT a bad representation of actual fluency, but that’s not what the test was designed for. I actually find it a good guideline to follow as you don’t have to figure out yourself what to study next. But I wish there was a better test which also tests on actually having conversations, writing, no multiple-choice,… I have a love, hate relationship with the JLPT. It’s not a perfect test, but not sure if there is even something like a perfect test. It’s a nice guideline to follow, and a nice way to know how good your Japanese is. But I don’t think it should be the only test that companies accept when trying to find work here in Japan.
This is just my opinion. :p
