JLPT in Charts

Countries/areas where JLPT is administered (2009 second [December] test figures)The JLPT can be taken at various locations around the world.Japan: 33 prefectures Overseas: 173 cities in 53 countries/areas Changes in number of examinees (1984-2009)The number of examinees has been increased dramatically along with an increase in the number of Japanese learners.Changes in registrants and examinees (PDF/81KB) "Survey of Overseas Japanese-Language Educational Organizations" conducted by the Japan Foundation shows that the number of Japanese learners overseas has increased from 580,000 in 1984 to 3,650,000 in 2009. The JLPT has been offered twice a year since 2009. Attributes of applicantsJLPT applicants...

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Should a STRINGENT IQ test be imposed in order to acquire a driving License?

With the coming of major festive seasons like Hari Raya and Chinese New Year especially in Malaysia, it is usual here that people associated it with higher rate of road accidents. Plus, with availability of affordable vehicles in the market nowadays, the roads are seriously being bombarded with cars/MPVs/SUVs and whatever you want to call them. With more affordable societies, not only working adults have possession of cars, but even a large number of university undergrad students have possession on them nowadays. This trend is somewhat true if you really observe. i.e: There were not many students driving to class when I was in my first year of study. But, suddenly when I was in my third year, parking space issues started to occur. When I was...

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ラマダンと 断食【サウム】: 日本人のため

TN: Ramadan and Fasting: For Japanese 『英語が分からない？ さいごのノットー見せて下さい』 Kobe Mosque, Kobe Islam is still considered as a minority religion in Japan. It was estimated in year 2000 alone the number of ethnic Japanese Muslims in Japan are 63,552, and around 70,000 - 100,000 foreign Muslims residing in the country. The true figure is still speculative as the Japan government does not keep the religious records of people residing in Japan. However, based on the population distribution, the large numbers of Muslims are concentrated around major cities like Tokyo, Osaka and Hiroshima. Among the biggest Mosques in Japan are Tokyo Mosque (built in 1938) and Kobe Mosque (built in 1935). Interestingly, both of my previous Japanese teachers (which are...

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My Road to JLPT

   As a Japanese learner, JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test or 日本語能力試験) is not something new. Every year thousands of people worldwide are taking this exam to prove their ability in Japanese Statistics from Japanese Foundation (JF)*, in 2009 it was approx. around 770,000 people were taking JLPT in 54 countries around the globe. In Malaysia, based on my observation, most of the JLPT candidates consist of Chinese candidates. This, without a doubt is due to the vast similarities (but not exactly the same) as well as connection between Japanese Kanji and Chinese hanzi. Because of that fact, I really have a very high respect to the determination shown by those non-Chinese candidates that sit for this exam. Learning Japanese is...

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