Miscellaneous

This section discusses miscellaneous things that did not fit in any of the other main categories directly.

Technical explanation of input and immersion

To understand what input-driven immersion-based language learning is, we must first consider the traditional approach to learning a language.

Traditional language-learning methods

Suppose Alice decides to learn French. She asks her friend Eve learning French what options she has. Here are the options given:

Go to a library near her and look for French textbooks.
Sign up to her local French classes.
Find a private tutor.

All of the methods above have their pros and cons. For instance, the first method has the advantage of not being too expensive in comparison to the other two, and it doesn't require other people to interact with. The second one is less expensive than getting a tutor, but you still get guidance from an expert (hopefully) who is both skilled at the language and at teaching the language. The third option is the most expensive, but you get exclusive time with a teacher that can focus all their attention on you. Yet, many people go through language-learning classes and never reach fluency in a timely manner or at all. This is true even for school children, some of which genuinely want to learn the language but never go beyond a basic or intermediate grasp of the language. Some people get nowhere at all.

It is easy to dismiss this issue by saying that those people are not talented at learning languages, whatever that might mean. It's not clear what talented at learning languages means. A better possible reason is that some people realize they do not want to put in the amount of work necessary to learn a language, or simply do not like language learning as a whole. This is fair but let's put this aside for now because there is nothing we can do about it. Why do some students learn better than others, and why does it seem like it usually has little to do with learning the language in school?

The answer is simpler than it seems. The students who end up using the language outside of class are usually those that retain the language. While this is anecdotal evidence, one particularly good example of this is students whose native language is not English. Those that engage in video games, discuss on social media (such as Discord or Reddit) and actively engage in those communities tend to have a better grasp of the language than those that simply passively learn the language in school. This should be of surprise to no one, yet it is not clear whether they are learning more in the classroom or on their own.

The Input Hypothesis

The core principle behind this guide will be the input hypothesis. We emphasize the following three core tenets of this hypothesis:

Input (reading and listening) is more important than output (writing and speaking) for a beginner, and should be the main focus of language learning.
It is best to confront material that is only slightly more difficult than one currently knows.
Language learning and language acquisition are two separate things, and mastery of the language comes from acquisition first and foremost.

In its original formulation, the input hypothesis theory developed by Stephen Krashen in this paper does not discuss output too much, although it doesn't consider it harmful either unless it is forced on the students. Yet input alone does not lead to proper language production. What this means is that just reading is not enough to be able to write well, but being able to read well is necessary to be able to write well. In other words, input is necessary but not sufficient for proper output.

Language acquisition and language learning

One major point of the theory that needs further explanation is the idea of language acquisition as opposed to language learning. Language learning is the traditional way people learn languages: by studying vocabulary, grammar and syntax. In other words, they are studying the shape of the language, what it looks like, what it sounds like. Language acquisition is the part of language that is concerned with meaning itself, and is developed subconsciously as one starts to interact with the language. The main thesis of the theory is the following:

Comprehensible output and language mastery is the result of language acquisition.

What this means is that one needs to get as much language input as possible, in order to speed up language acquisition which leads to proper mastery of the language, including proper output (talking and writing). I strongly believe that comprehensible output does matter, but it is also much harder to come by. If you have a friend who speaks the language you're trying to learn natively, interacting with them in the language has great positive effects provided they are willing to correct you. Similarly, if you can get your writing checked by natives, it helps get much better at writing well. The thing is, it's much easier to get a lot of input than it is to get your output corrected. Picking up any book or listening to any kind of audio in the target language technically counts as input, so it's cheaper to find. This explains the first part of the method, input driven.

Immersion

The second part of the method is immersion-based. As we saw in the section above, getting a lot of input seems to be the key to learn languages effectively and what better way to get this necessary input than to immerse yourself in the language everyday? This is the idea behind the All Japanese All The Time method. Basically, what the author figured out is that by spending all his time in a Japanese environment, he would be getting input constantly. One way to achieve this is by setting all your appliances in your target language, reading, watching and listening only to content in your target language and using it as much as possible. This is why many people believe that you can't truly learn the language unless you go live in a country that speaks it. But this is not true. You can artificially create immersion. Effectively, you are forcing your brain to consume large amounts of native media in your target language and thus get the input necessary to start acquiring that language.

While such a drastic method is not necessarily practical for everybody, the idea behind it is a powerful force that we can harness to quickly get better, at least relative to the traditional textbook methods. Setting your phone in Japanese aside, what we need is large amounts of native material to read, watch and listen. Media recommendations can be found on this page.

Certifications

There are multiple Japanese certifications a learner might be interested in.

Japanese Language Proficiency Test

Perhaps the most popular Japanese language certification, the JLPT has 5 levels testing Japanese proficiency, from N5 (lowest) to N1 (highest). The N2 level is required by many Japanese universities in order to study there. The N1 level can be used to get points in order to get a visa in the country. I suggest you go straight for N1.

Is it worth getting the JLPT for a level lower than N2?

I would only consider doing that in two very specific cases. The first one is the most obvious, you require a certain certificate (under N2) for some administrative reason. I think in this case it's very valid, but I am not sure what such a certificate would be useful for, outside of maybe Japanese courses at a university. I am not a huge fan, but you do you. The second case is for extra motivation. This one I would advise against, because motivation should come from wanting to read, listen, speak or write Japanese. If neither of these is motivating to you, why are you learning the language? This is especially true for the N4 and N5 levels.

How should I study for the JLPT?

The JLPT examines your basic Japanese level, thus you should be able to read and listen well. There is no output section. This means that if you can read and listen to just about anything, you can pass N1. You can and you should prioritize reading and listening through immersion, especially through a variety of immersion media. That being said, it might be interesting to grind out the SKM books before the exam, perhaps a month before. This is especially true in my opinion of the grammar books, though you should already be familiar with advanced grammar by the time you consider taking the N1.

漢字検定

The 漢字検定, usually referred to as Kanken is a test made for natives to test their kanji knowledge. The test has a variety of level with the easiest being 10級 and the hardest being 1級. The higher levels are noticeably hard, so much so that there's a very short list of non-natives who have passed 1級. One such person is the amazing Bret Mayer. The 2級 tests all 常用漢字, but it includes 四字熟語 as well as more obscure readings. The higher levels also include ことわざ and the like. If these terms do not mean anything to you, I suggest you skip this section for now. If these do mean anything to you, I still suggests you skip this section unless you are somehow really interested in writing kanji at a very high level, then keep reading.

What level should I aim for?

Up to you, but I personally don't think I'd ever aim for more than 2級, maybe 準2級. Keep in mind, you need to be able to write all of these kanji. It is not sufficient to know the reading of 魑魅魍魎, you need to be able to write it perfectly. Overall, I recommend interested learners to aim between 3級 and 2級. See this classification below:

Kanken levels and what they correspond to

How should I study for Kanken?

I am not an expert on the subject but the preferred method in the community seems to be doing this deck (both parts). Some people like to grind the 3DS game 漢検トレーニング2, usually via emulation. Another way is using books made for natives. The ナツメ社 series, 旺文社 series and Kanken's own quick study series are great if you already know how to write. The ステップ series on the other hand is better if you don't. If you go with 旺文社, consider the pocket edition. More generally, Kanken textbooks are listed here. Either way, make sure you check out this list.

Other certifications

I do not know much about the other kinds of certifications people can take. A famous one is the Business Japanese Proficiency Test, usually written BJT. A few years ago, the J-CAT was a pretty popular test. I am not sure if it's still well-known nowadays but it's pretty good. Finally, the 日本語検定 is a test made for natives to test their Japanese ability. If you just wanna do fun certifications in Japanese, see this.