Where can I study Japanese online for the JLPT N5?

Japanese, Nihongo, is an East Asian language spoken by about 128 million people, primarily in Japan, where it is the national language. It is a member of the Japonic (or Japanese-Ryukyuan) language family, and its relation to other languages, such as Korean, is debated. Japonic languages have been grouped with other language families such as Ainu, Austroasiatic, and the now-discredited Altaic, but none of these proposals has gained widespread acceptance. While most people outside Japan refer to the language as ‘Japanese,’ native speakers call it ‘Nihongo.’ Same is the case with the name ‘Japan,’ which is referred to as ‘Nihon’ or ‘Nippon’ in the native dialect. Japanese is the official language of Japan and Palau. Despite Japanese being a non-tonal language, it still follows a certain rhythm and cadence to its words and sentences. Japanese, one of the most fast-spoken languages in the world, with an average of eight syllables spoken per second, beats out Spanish, French and Italian! Little is known of the language’s prehistory, or when it first appeared in Japan. Chinese documents from the 3rd century recorded a few Japanese words, but substantial texts did not appear until the 8th century. During the Heian period (794–1185), the Chinese had considerable influence on the vocabulary and phonology of Old Japanese. Late Middle Japanese (1185–1600) included changes in features that brought it closer to the modern language and the first appearance of European loanwords. Despite popular belief, Japanese Chinese have a common kanji writing system and Japanese “borrows” quite a few phrases and words from Chinese. Japanese is considered one of the most unique languages in the world. The Japanese language relies on not one but three different alphabets – hiragana, katakana and kanji – which are differentiated both by their distinct appearances and by their use.

The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages or CEFRL was a guideline used to describe the achievements of foreign language learners across Europe, to begin with. This system of assessment has gained considerable recognition and is being followed, in most other countries now. The CEFR also intended to make it easier for educational institutions and employers to evaluate the language qualifications of candidates for purpose of education admissions or employment. It was initially put together by the Council of Europe as the main part of the project “Language Learning for European Citizenship” between 1989 and 1996 with an aim is to provide a method of learning, teaching and assessing a language, which applied to all languages in Europe. In November 2001, a European Union Council Resolution recommended using the CEFR to set up systems of validation of language ability, and thus the six reference levels (A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2) came into existence. These levels are now becoming widely accepted as a world standard for grading an individual’s language proficiency.

Following the above-recommended levels, the Japanese Language is extensively taught n the following levels:

N5: Elementary Level 

N4: Pre-Intermediate Level 

N3: Intermediate Level 

N2: Pre-Advanced Level 

N1: Advanced Level 

If you aspire to work in a high powered, high-paying language job in MNCs or any Japanese company as a Japanese expert, the position requires you to be proficient in the Japanese language. And, to prove your expertise, you need to pass JLPT, which requires considerable command of Nihongo. To make a career in Japanese, you should aim for N2/N1. There rarely are lucrative requirements for any JLPT level below the N2/N1 except for entry-level jobs. Start by obtaining N5 training from a good Institute/College/University. A few of which I am including in here. Post successful course completion one can appear for a JLPT N5 exam conducted by the Japan Foundation.

Why Japan Foundation for JLPT? 

The Japan Foundation and Japan Educational Exchanges and Services are authorised to conduct JLPT examinations all across the world, with the Japan Educational Exchanges and Services conducting tests for learners in Japan, and the Japan Foundation conducting tests overseas in association with local host institutions.

Following is the list of host institutions of the Japan Foundation.

Mombusho Scholars Association of India (MOSAI), New Delhi, +91(11)2331-3524

Japanese Language Teachers’ Association (JALTAP), Pune, +91(20)2426-6463

The Indo-Japan Welfare and Cultural Association, Kolkata, +91(33)2475-3773

ABK-AOTS DOSOKAI, Tamilnadu Centre, Chennai, +91(44)2374-0318

Bangalore Nihongo Kyooshi-kai (BNK), +91-7338073002

Teachers Association of Japanese (TAJ) Mumbai, +91(98)7000-5997, +91(75)0693-4758/4759

Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan, +9194334-68569

Japanese Language Teachers Association, Karur

JLPT N5 requires a learner to only display basic reading skills of Hiragana and Katakana, and how to read basic Kanji(Japanese version of Chinese characters). Feel free to pursue any channel for your learning, from self-study to online or classroom training. 

The Indo-Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industries has now introduced Online classes, that can be taken from the comfort of your home for JLPT N5, N4, N3 taught by qualified teachers. It also provides

activities for students to make sure that the students get to converse very well in Japanese.

To register for classes, you could go to

Indo-Japan Chamber of Commerce & Industry or get in touch with them via their social media handles.

Coto Academy

Established in 2000, Coto Academy is located in Tokyo offers more than 300 exclusive types of learning to teach naturally spoken Japanese. Coto Japanese Academy has all for you, whether you’d like to take Japanese lessons online via Skype – or simply to practice before giving the N5 exam with Professional Teachers; Coto Online has a solution for all your learning needs from booking lessons anytime – 24 hours/day through the account portal – accessible from any device.

You can take advantage of the following link for JLPT N5

https://cotoacademy.com/course/online-japanese-lessons/

Coto Academy is also in the process of also launching a JLPT N5 Prep course. 

In the meantime – learners can use their Japanese Lessons – JLPT N1, N2, N3, N4, N5 – Mega Study List – Vocabulary, Kanji, Grammar – study list

http://www.cotoacademy.com/jlpt-mega

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You could look through the following to get an idea on N5 training: 

Online Japanese N5 Course(All 15 lessons)

Letstalkindia LetsTalk with over 16 Years of language training has built a reputation for quality language training amongst National and International Society / Industries. On successful completion of the course, every student is provided with a Certificate by the academy. LetsTalk helps learners to enhance their reading, writing, listening & speaking skills, expand their vocabulary and knowledge of verbs and sentence structure and prepares them to write and clear the international certificate examination (JLPT all five levels). The course provides access to an ebook, online course material, two Assessments to learners, conducts special weekend batches, besides regular weekday batches from Monday to  Friday. 

Multibhashi is a Technology platform that imparts impactful content designed by its empanelled Linguist experts across major Indian languages imparted via Cloud LMS, Cloud telephony, Streaming Video, Realtime Chat, Experiential Learning, Gamification & Interactive evaluation leading to Adaptive Learning by the user. In November 2020, HolonIQ – an authority when it comes to performing and buddying EdTechs, announced its first annual India and South Asia EdTech 100 — a list of the 100 most promising education technology startups across the region from approximately 3000 EdTech teams based in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. And Multibhashi bagged a position in the top 100 Edtech companies in Asia and ONLY ONE FROM INDIA in the Language learning category to be part of HOLONIQ. Multibhashi offers pocket-friendly courses via customized online learning, that’s flexible and allows you to take classes at the convenience of your home, with qualified trainers that are certified Level B2 and above, with diverse experience, having helped thousands of learners who help you improve in the subject by consistently monitoring your progress through pre-assessment, mid-assessment and post-assessment.

With so many more resources available online, there’s no way you can’t get through N5. Aim for it, work for it and you shall conquer all. Stay Strong. Stay Confident. Keep Faith and Give it your best shot!