Hi, I am Shingo SATO, a native speaker with more than 10 years of experience teaching Japanese.
How long does it take to learn Japanese? Knowing how many hours it takes to reach a certain level of proficiency will make it easier to motivate yourself to learn. In this post, I will consider the approximate amount of time it takes to learn Japanese by referring to the NAT-TEST test, which is similar to the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT).
In conclusion, the following table shows the approximate time it takes to learn Japanese.
| Level of NAT-TEST | Japanese Competence | Study Hours |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | an extremely high level | 1,000 hours |
| 2 | a high level | 800 hours |
| 3 | a moderate level | 600 hours |
| 4 | a basic level | 400 hours |
| 5 | a very basic level | 200 hours |
This table is made based on NAT-TEST Official Website.
Please read on for more details.
NAT-TEST and the Japanese Language Proficiency Test
As mentioned at the beginning of this article, it takes 1,000 hours of study to pass the most difficult level of the NAT-TEST. But since you may not be familiar with the NAT-TEST, here is a little explanation. It is also not clear what you can do at each level of the NAT-TEST, so I will explain it later.
The NAT-TEST is similar to the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) and is conducted in the following Asian countries.
- Bangladesh
- Bhutan
- Cambodia
- China
- India
- Indonesia
- Japan
- Kyrgyz
- Mongolia
- Myanmar
- Nepal
- the Philippines
- Sri Lanka
- Thailand
- Uzbekistan
- Vietnam
The NAT-TEST shares similarities with the JLPT in its question structure, question format, and five different levels.
Although it is sponsored by a private publisher, it is sometimes considered to be equivalent to the JLPT.
For example, both N5 of the JLPT and Level 5 of the NAT-TEST can be used as requirements for a college student visa in Japan. For details, please refer to the official website of the Immigration Services Agency of Japan.
Each level of the NAT-TEST seems to be a little easier than the JLPT. For example, the most difficult level (Level 1) is for those who are seeking to pass level 1, and other levels are the same.
Details of Each Level and Study Time
As mentioned in the introduction, the relationship between the NAT-TEST levels and study time is as follows.
| Level of the NAT-TEST | Japanese Competence | Study Hours |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | an extremely high level | 1,000 hours |
| 2 | a high level | 800 hours |
| 3 | a moderate level | 600 hours |
| 4 | a basic level | 400 hours |
| 5 | a very basic level | 200 hours |
However, it is not clear what exactly each level can do.
Let’s take a look at the levels of the JLPT, which is a little more difficult than the NAT-TEST.
The following table shows the levels and examples of Linguistics Competence of the JLPT.
| Level of the JLPT | Linguistics Competence（what one can read and understand） | Linguistics Competence（what one can listen to and understand） |
|---|---|---|
| N1 | newspaper editorials and critiques（and understand their structures） | coherent conversations, news reports, and lectures, spoken at natural speed in a broad variety of settings（and can follow the ideas） |
| N2 | articles and commentaries in newspapers and magazines（and can understand the intent of the writers） | coherent conversations and news reports, spoken at nearly natural speed in everyday situations and other settings（and can follow the ideas） |
| N3 | written materials with specific contents about everyday topics（and can understand summary information such as newspaper headlines） | coherent conversations in everyday situations, spoken at near-natural speed（and can generally follow the contents） |
| N4 | passages on familiar daily topics written in basic vocabulary and Kanji | conversations encountered in daily life （and generally follow the contents）, spoken slowly. |
| N5 | sentences written in Hiragana, Katakana, and basic Kanji | conversations about topics regularly encountered in daily life and classroom situations, spoken slowly |
For more detail, please refer to the JLPT Official Website.
If we add the study time required to pass the NAT-TEST to this table, we get the following.
| Level of the NAT-TEST | Level of the JLPT | Linguistics Competence（what one can read and understand） | Linguistics Competence（what one can listen to and understand） | Study Hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | N1 | newspaper editorials and critiques（and understand their structures） | coherent conversations, news reports, and lectures, spoken at natural speed in a broad variety of settings（and can follow the ideas） | 1,000 hours |
| 2 | N2 | articles and commentaries in newspapers and magazines（and can understand the intent of the writers） | coherent conversations and news reports, spoken at nearly natural speed in everyday situations and other settings（and can follow the ideas） | 800 hours |
| 3 | N3 | written materials with specific contents about everyday topics（and can understand summary information such as newspaper headlines） | coherent conversations in everyday situations, spoken at near-natural speed（and can generally follow the contents） | 600 hours |
| 4 | N4 | passages on familiar daily topics written in basic vocabulary and Kanji | conversations encountered in daily life, spoken slowly（and generally follow the contents） | 400 hours |
| 5 | N5 | sentences written in Hiragana, Katakana, and basic Kanji | conversations about topics regularly encountered in daily life and classroom situations, spoken slowly | 200 hours |
While the JLPT is somewhat more difficult than the NAT-TEST, this table can be used as a guide.
Summary
In this article, I have explained the time required for Japanese language study based on information from the NAT-TEST and the JLPT.
I hope this helps you maintain your motivation to learn Japanese!
You may be also interested in this post: How to Learn Beginner Level Japanese in 6 Months
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