HAVA-RAVA wrote: I wonder if there's any opportunity to take the JLPT exams here in Finland?
I'm only starting to study (officially) Japanese next week and I'd like to take the exams someday...
But I don't know if we have those here in Finland :OOO
The JLPT has two tests a year in Japan (July and December). Outside of the Asia/Oceania area, international test sites usually offer only one of those (most often Dec), but there are a lot of countries that offer at least one, and Finland is indeed one of them. It is offered in Helsinki.
This is the link to the JLPT's homepage's list of testing sites with links to the individual organizations that sponsor the test.
http://www.jlpt.jp/e/application/overseas_list.html
If you have the luxury of taking a class, personally I would recommend not studying "for the test," at least in the beginning. Learn how to speak and read and listen and write, follow your teacher and don't worry about the JLPT. Your class will probably cover what you need to know, and unless there is some reason you need N3 "now" cramming just for a test is never the best way to learn a language.
The JLPT is good for self-studiers who want a goal, some gauge of their language ability, and proof that they studied, but less useful for people in a course with exams of its own. Until you start looking for a job that is....
I'm not knocking the test... I love the JLPT, but if you're lucky enough to have a class (and/or far from a test site or on a budget) and don't really need the test for anything in particular I'd wait until you a) finish studying formally and want some indication of how far you got on a more universal scale or b) need it for something like entering uni or getting a job. In the meantime take a practice test every once in a while just for fun and personal satisfaction.
Again, for self studiers it's a great subsitute for university exams, but just make sure passing is not your only goal. Talk if you have someone to talk to, write a journal in Japanese, read as much as you can, listen to music/dramas/movies, etc. If you can pass the test, but can't do much else it doesn't have nearly as much meaning.
Just from my own experience.... I didn't even know about the test until I'd studied 4 years in high school (which placed me into 2nd year uni Japanese) and three years in uni (the third year being in Japan). When I first went abroad I could communicate smoothly and had little trouble understanding average everyday conversation. After that year abroad, I took the old level two, without particularly studying for it, and passed. Two years later, I came to Japan to work, and had no trouble communicating at a general business level. I took the old level 1, without particularly studying for it, and passed. The test was a great indication of what I could actually do with language.
On the other hand, I recently started studying Korean... it has been partially self study supplemented by 3-4 hours a week in class. From the very beginning one of my goals was taking the TOPIK test for Korean because now I'm more informed and I know these tests exist, and my self study was very much geared in that direction. So far I have successfully passed level 3 (6 being highest), but honestly I feel like the grammar and vocab I can recognize on a test far, far outnumbers what I can actually use in everyday conversation. That's not necessarily a bad thing... in the long run if I stick with it, I'm sure they will even out, but it does give you a false sense of exactly where you stand. If your ultimate goal is communication you need to supplement any test study with different kinds of language practice. (Even knowing this I obviously don't always practice what I preach... but anyway...)
My ideal, while not always realistic if you're not a full time student, would be to study more holistically (speaking/reading/writing/listening) and to supplement that with test study to make up any gaps, rather than the other way around. It may not be the fastest way to progress through the test levels, but you'll be much better prepared for the real world.
