Most of you probably already know this, but the JLPT is the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, and it's something that students of Japanese love to stress about.

Originally, I was planning to write a whole big section about studying for, taking, and passing the JLPT, but I don't think I'm really the best-suited person for the job… because, quite frankly, I don't care about the JLPT.

Yeah, I took and passed the JLPT. I took and passed N2 in December 2012. Then in July 2014 I took and passed N1, the highest level. But just because I passed the tests does not mean that I am qualified to be giving advice about studying for them, especially seeing as how I never explicitly studied for them.

Saying I never studied for the JLPT is both true and not true. I mean, I studied Japanese vocabulary, grammar, and listening a lot, as I've described in this guide. And sometimes I did that using JLPT textbooks, because they seemed to have concise info about study topics I needed to focus on. But I never read up on question format, test-taking strategies, or any of that stuff which actually will improve your score.

I always figured that I should be able to pass the test without studying for it specifically, because surely a native Japanese speaker would have no problem passing it, right? That's why I just walked into the test blindly to see how I fared. And, lucky me, I was 2 for 2! Sweet!

But maybe you want to pass the JLPT because you want to work for a Japanese company or get a scholarship or something. In that case, I would definitely recommend studying up on it ahead of time. For example, when I first took JLPT N2, I didn't really know anything about the test, so I ran out of time on the reading section, because I wasn't expecting the reading passages to get longer towards the end of the test. I still passed, but I would have passed by a much larger margin had I been more prepared. Oops.

Preparing for a test is also an awesome way to motivate yourself to study and to track your progress. So that's a benefit, too.

For more information, you should check out these other websites by people who are a lot more familiar with the test than I am:

• The Japan Foundation: This is the official site for the JLPT.
• Wikipedia – JLPT: This is the Wikipedia article about the test.
• The Japan Foundation, Los Angeles: The official US site for the JLPT.
• JLPT Boot Camp: This site is totally dedicated to studying for the JLPT.
• White Rabbit Japan: This online bookstore has a wide array of excellent JLPT texts.
• Nihongo Shark's JLPT Posts: I also occasionally post JLPT-related word lists, flashcard decks, grammar tips, etc.

Good luck, test takers!