N2 study goals

Unlike my chaotic N3 study planning (still amazed that I passed), I plan to go into N2 feeling 100% prepared. I originally planned to take N2 in December but due to some life changes, work commitments and other goals I’m changing this to July 2024, which gives me just over a year. This is very achievable for me if I stick to my plan!

I’m approaching it methodically and splitting my plan into four phases.

Phase 1 – Acquisition (June to September)
During this phase I will be learning knowledge for the first time via a textbook, and getting broad coverage of what N2 entails across the five skills. I won’t be focussing too much on remembering as this is the first phase, so I don’t plan on using specific revision textbooks here.

Phase 2 – Reinforcement (October – January/February)
During this phase I will be going over everything covered in Phase 1 but using a different set of resources so I can see what has stuck and what hasn’t. I will keep a note of what hasn’t and spend more time on these. I will most likely be using the 新完全マスター series here as they are quite tough and excellent for revision. I’m not sure about the timing of this phase yet, but I’ll see how Phase 1 goes – I’ve already allowed plenty of time!

Phase 3 – Revision (February – May)
Self-explanatory! Here I will be revising everything in Phases 1-2 and working on technique building. By this I mean exam skills such as learning to read faster, practicing pesky grammar questions, and anything else that I have issues with. I plan to use drill books here to get myself used to the exam format again, as well as the 総まとめ series.

Phase 4 – Practice (May – June)
This is a short phase, where I focus on taking mock tests. I have one of the N2 practice exam books and am missing the second, but I won’t be buying any until I’m close to this phase.

Underpinning all of these phases are things I do anyway – lessons with my teacher, watching native content, listening to podcasts, reading books and my regular conversation practice sessions. Whilst immersion can get you a long way, with any exam it’s good to know who your enemy is and have all of your bases covered so you feel prepared to take it on. I’m lucky in that many of my N2 books were inherited from a family friend after she did JET, so I’ve not had to buy too many.

My next post will be all about Phase 1, which has already started!