It’s great that you already know some Japanese! Placement tests cover every two courses so there may be material that you don’t recognize and that’s perfectly fine. It’ll let me know where to start you.
course topics
Beginner Japanese track
| Beginner I | pronunciation, self-introduction, numbers, ages, school/work, basic sentences, essay writing |
|---|---|
| Beginner II | i-adjectives, future/general verb conjugation, particles, some common verbs, basic sentences with verbs |
| Beginner III | more verbs, participle verb conjugation, na-adjectives, expressing wants and thoughts, greetings, feelings |
| Beginner IV | conjunctions, honorifics, becoming, greetings and feelings continued, essay writing practice |
| Beginner V | where you’re from, transitive/intransitive verbs, getting specific, reasons, more verbs, potential verb conjugation, paper play |
| Beginner VI | more particles, connecting nouns, languages, general counting, giving and receiving, directions, more verbs, volitional verb conjugation |
Intermediate Beginner Japanese track
| Intermediate Beginner I | how to read, write and recognize かんじ; number かんじ; 20 common counters; conversation practice; understanding and making nouns created from verbs and adjectives |
|---|---|
| Intermediate Beginner II | expressing abilities; ways to compare and rank things; かんじ that describe the state of things |
| Intermediate Beginner III | dates; telling time; days-of-the-week かんじ; time-related grammar |
| Intermediate Beginner IV | food; meals; ordering in a restaurant; ways to say ‘maybe’; animal and plant かんじ |
| Intermediate Beginner V | weather; temperature; sources; hearsay and appearance; extremes; nature かんじ |
| Intermediate Beginner VI | anatomy; medicine; being sick and symptoms; body かんじ; trying things |
| Intermediate Beginner VI | asking permission; asking for something; passive, causative, causative-passive verb conjugation; more verbs; culture かんじ |
| Intermediate Beginner VI | action かんじ; reading comprehension; English translation; conditionals |
know which course?
If you know which course you’d like to get into, you can jump down to the placement test for that course.
Beginner Japanese I & II
Beginner Japanese III & IV
Beginner Japanese V & VI
Intermediate Beginner Japanese I & II – Coming soon.
don’t know which course?
If you’re not sure, then just start with the first placement test and work your way down. When you get to a test where you can’t complete most of it, turn that one (and the others before it) in and stop there. You don’t need to take the next test.
placement tests
Each test takes about an hour. The test is timed to see how well you know it. There may be material that you don’t recognize and that’s perfectly fine. It’ll let me know where to start you.
how to take the test
- View the test and write your answers on a separate sheet of paper—just don’t forget to number them! OR Print out the test and write your answers on there.
- Email me when you start the test.
- Read the instructions carefully.
- Write in Japanese if you can. This shows me what characters you know without you having to take a separate test.
- If you’re taking any of the Beginner Japanese placement tests, use only ひらがな and カタカナ. I’m checking for spelling.
- If you get stuck or are spending too much time on something, skip around.
- If there’s a listening component, listen to the audio all the way to the end. Fill in the answers/take notes while you’re listening.
- At the end of one hour, just take a photo or scan it and send it to me.
Beginner Japanese I & II
Note: The positive and negative form of a verb is when you do it and when you don’t. So, for example, the verb ‘to touch’ => positive is “I will touch” and negative is “I will not touch.”
View/Print the placement test.
Beginner Japanese III & IV
Note: The instructions at the bottom of the first page tell you what to do on the second page. The last audio clip covers all the sections on the second page.
View/Print the placement test.
Listen to audio for Adjectives three times. (The sentences are randomized; you have to find the matching one on the test.)
Listen to audio for Verbs three times. Participle form is also known as the English ‘ing’ for verbs.
Listen to audio for all of page T2-2 three times.
Beginner Japanese V & VI
View/Print the placement test.
Intermediate Beginner Japanese I & II
Coming soon.