JLPT 2005

December 4, Sunday – At around 9.40am, Kevin, Poong, Yen Ching and I departed to Kuala Lumpur (KL) for our Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT). This examination is conducted by the Education Department of Japan. It is worldwide recognized. There are 4 levels. Level 4 is like the beginners’ level and Level 1 is the toughest. Not many pure Japanese are able to pass the Level 1 exam. This examination is held on the first Saturday of December annually. The examination is divided into 3 parts – “kanji” (Chinese-like Japanese characters), listening and grammar. The allocation of marks is “kanji” (100 marks), listening (100 marks) and grammar (200 marks), totaling up to 400 marks. It is 100% objectives. The passing rate for this examination is 60%, meaning 240 marks. The registration for the examination is normally open around September to October. There are a few test centers around Malaysia, such as Penang, KL and Johor Bharu.

Kevin was driving at around 120 km/hour. We reached KL at around 11.30pm. It was the first time Level 2 test was held in UTM, City Campus. We were looking around, finding our way to the campus. Luckily there are signboards around to Jalan Semarak. It is located near Ampang Park. We managed to find the campus easily. The place is relatively small and badly maintain. There were no signboards on JLPT exam at the entrance. Instead, huge signboards on a wedding were placed at the entrance. We were quite disappointed with the location of this examination. The air-conditioned was rather noisy and the place is not well maintained. Previous years, it was held at UIA.

We had our lunch at a small eating place opposite the campus. The food there does not look very fresh and tasty. The place is quite dirty. But, the price is quite okay. I ordered a plate of chicken rice at RM3.00. Then, we each ate a small packet of rice crackers given by our Japanese teacher before we departed. Yen Ching did not eat it as she had a sore throat. It tasted almost like the local rice crackers, but it is not salty and harder. It was like a good luck charm for us.

We waited there for around 1.5 hour before entering the examination hall. The other examinees were quite anxious but 4 of us seemed to be relaxing ourselves. We saw two kids, around 12 years old and below taking the exam as well. It is like a sort of humiliation to us, taking the same level exam with kids. There were more than 200 examinees for the Level 2 exam, much more than I anticipated.

The exam started at 3pm. The first paper was quite okay for us. But, the second and third paper was a huge disaster for us. It was quite tough for paper 2. As for paper 3, we did not have enough time to finish all the questions. For Level 2, this paper is rather different from Level 3 and 4. There are around 50 questions on comprehension, with a few passages. Each passage is quite lengthy. Comparatively, only a small number of questions are on grammar. I managed to do the grammar part better than I expected, maybe due to the effort that I had put in for my intensive revision.

After the exam, we headed to Suria KLCC for dinner. I ordered a bowl of Chicken Teppanyaki at the food court. It was not nice. There was way too much water for the rice, making it sticky. The chicken was not that nice as well. I strongly discouraged anyone from trying it. I heard that Genki Sushi is quite nice but more expensive. Maybe I will try it during my future visits to KLCC.

After 1.5 hour, we went back to Malacca using Jalan Tun Razak. There was a jam along the way because a car was spoilt. There was another serious jam at Seremban on the highway. We were stuck there for almost an hour, for no valid reasons. The lights of the cars from both sides of the highway were really nice. One side is yellow and the other side is red. It was like fire-flies lining up.

We reached Malacca at around 11pm. All of us were really exhausted. Even though most likely I will not pass for this paper, it was a nice memory attending the exam with everyone. If I really pass this paper, it must have been a miracle ^^