For many people the reading section is the toughest section of the JLPT. You will encounter a few different question types (see JLPT test sections for details on each question type) and having a couple of good test taking strategies in your toolbox can go a long way towards getting a few more questions correct and boosting your overall score.
Before I get into some strategies that are specific to each question type, I want to give a couple of overall strategies.
Overall Strategies
1. Watch your time.
It is easy to get caught up in one difficult reading passage. You need to remember that there are many passages and questions in this section. If you spend all of your time on one passage, you won’t have enough time to devote to the other ones. I like to start this section by flipping through the test booklet to see how many questions/passages there are total. This allows me to get a rough idea of how much time I should be spending on each question.
I then look at my watch–yes, you need to bring a watch to the test because there won’t always be a clock to look at–at the beginning of each passage to gauge if i need to speed up.
2. Don’t rush.
If this sounds like the opposite of the previous strategy, you’re right. Succeeding in the JLPT reading section, and the test in general, requires going through the questions quickly but thoroughly. What I mean is that you need to devote enough time to each passage and do your best at answering each question.
I talked above about looking at my watch. I intentionally only look at the beginning of each passage and not in the middle of a passage. First, looking while I’m reading a passage breaks my concentration. Second, looking at my watch too much makes me unnecessarily panicked. I find that a quick check at the beginning of each passage is just right.
3. ×,△,◯ the choices in the test booklet.
A quick note for those unfamiliar with the symbols: I use × (batsu) for incorrect, △ (sankaku) for maybe, and ◯ (maru) for correct.
We’ve all been in a situation where we’re unsure of the answer to a question and go back to read the choices trying to figure it out. Speaking bluntly, that’s a waste of time. On your first pass, there will be choices you know to be completely incorrect, and some that are iffy. You should be marking the test booklet as you read each choice the first time. This will save a lot of time and focus your deliberation.
I like to mark each choice as I read it. If it is incorrect, I mark it with a ×, putting the × right on top of the word/phrase that makes the choice incorrect. This way you not only know that the choice is incorrect, but you know exactly why. Same goes for △ and ◯. Now when you go back to think about which choice is correct, you can easily see what to double check in the passage. Usually you are looking to confirm or deny any △ in choices that were not already eliminated.
Strategies Per Question Type
Now I’ll get into some specific strategies that you can use for each question type.
1. Comprehension
Read a question first, then search for the answer.
Depending on the length of the passage, reading comprehension questions can be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. I definitely recommend that you read the question before you start the passage. This will let you know what to look for as you read the passage and help you to ignore irrelevant information.
Be prepared for typically asked questions.
The reading section is very predictable. The passages change every year, but the style of questions you encounter are very similar. I have noticed that–at least in the higher levels–there are a couple question styles that always make an appearance on the exam.
Overall meaning. This question comes in a couple of forms. Typically it is something like “Which of the following best represents the author’s opinion?” or “Which of the following can you conclude from the passage?” If you get one of these, it is often the first question following the passage. I often like to answer the other questions first and save this one until last.
Targeting a keyword or phrase. This question goes something like “There is this sentence in the passage, what does it mean?” or “There is this word in the passage, what does it refer to?” These questions refer to an underlined word or phrase in the passage, so it is easy to know exactly where to look for the answer. I like to read the sentence with the underlined word plus one sentence before. This usually gives me enough information to figure out the answer.
Don’t get caught up in reading (pronouncing) the Japanese.
Don’t focus on reading to yourself in Japanese. You don’t get any points for knowing the reading for the kanji in this section. If I don’t know the reading of a kanji, I just say it in English. Sometimes I find it better to think totally in English (insert your native language here). You don’t have to do an exact, word for word translation, just something that conveys the general meaning. Where you don’t know the meaning for a word, guess based on the individual kanji.
2. Information Retrieval
Read a question, then search for the answer
As the name suggests, the entire point of this question is to search for a specific piece of information in the passage. It is difficult to know what you are searching for if you don’t read the question first.
3. Integrated Comprehension
(N1-N2 Only)
These questions only appear at the upper levels and ask you to compare and contrast two passages.
Read all questions first, then look for the answers
Slightly different from the above two question types, I suggest you tackle integrated comprehension by reading all questions first. The reason is that to answer each question you have to read/skim both passages. It is difficult to find the exact spot in each passage you need to read to answer any given question. So, I read all of the questions and keep them in the back of my mind as I skim the passages.
Be prepared for typically asked questions
Like above, the integrated comprehension passage are often followed by very predictable questions. Typically there is one question about a common opinion expressed in each passage and one about the difference of opinions.
4. Thematic Comprehension
(N1-N2 Only)
I personally find this question type to be the most difficult. You have to answer a question about the overall meaning of a very long passage.
Go back and forth between question and passage
The best way I have found to deal with this type of question is to read the question first, including the answer choices. This gives you an idea of what the passage is about and the likely terms you will encounter.
Next, I go to the passage and skim it. By skim I mean read the first sentence of each paragraph and each sentence that contains any specific terms you saw in the answer choices. Usually at this point I have a pretty good idea of what the passage is about.
Now, I read each answer choice in detail, marking each with a combination of ×, △, ◯.
Finally, I search the passage for clues I can use to eliminate or validate each △.
Going back and forth might sound like a lot of work, but usually the passage is too long for me to spend the time reading it from beginning to end. This is true of all questions in the reading section, but you only get points for answering the question correctly, not for reading the passage well.
Checkout the rest of the JLPT Playbook