Official Website

Test Information in Canada:

Test Sites:                             Toronto, Edmonton, Vancouver
Application Period: Thursday, Sept 1 - Friday, Oct 7, 2011
*Note:  Applications will not be accepted after October 7, 2011
Test Fee:                               $70 CAD

Registration:

• Toronto & Edmonton applicants should apply directly through the test website with credit card payment.
• Vancouver applicants must download an application form and mail it with payment to the test site.
• For detailed information and application download, go to the test website.

Toronto test site:                     York University
Online registration:    http://buna.yorku.ca/jlpt/registration/
Toronto test website:           http://buna.yorku.ca/jlpt/

Edmonton test site:            University of Alberta
Online registration: http://www.ptjc.ualberta.ca/en/Students/JLPT/HowToApply.aspx
Edmonton test website:         http://www.ualberta.ca/~ptjc/

Vancouver test site:    Capilano University
Vancouver test website: http://www2.capilanou.ca/programs/languages/japanese/jlpt.html

Note:

• Applicants MUST register at the site where they intend to take the test.
• Applicants may not change the test site after registering.

Background:
The Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) was first held in 1984 by the Japan Foundation and Japan Educational Exchanges and Services (JEES) in order to measure and certify Japanese language learners. Although only 7,000 people took the test in its first year, the number of examinees rose to about 770,000 by 2009. The JLPT is now the largest-scale Japanese language examination in the world.

In addition to measuring Japanese-language ability for academic purposes, test results are now also used by employers to assess job seekers’ credentials and evaluate employees for promotion and recognition. Students use the test to demonstrate their language ability when applying to educational institutions, study abroad programs, internships, etc. As the number of students of Japanese-language has increased, it has become apparent that the test must be revised to meet the diverse and changing needs of Japanese-language learners.

The New JLPT:
By evaluating past test outcomes and developments in Japanese pedagogy and test theory over the past 25 years, the Japan Foundation and JEES have revised the content of the JLPT and in 2010 the New Japanese Language Proficiency Test was created. The New Japanese Language Proficiency Test is divided into five levels of ability. Level 1 is the most difficult while Level 5 is the easiest. Each test has three sections: character-vocabulary, listening, and reading-grammar.

Resources:
Test preparation materials such as language textbooks, audio-visual aids and previous tests are available for loan from the Japan Foundation, Toronto library.

The official JLPT website has practice exercises.