JLPT2019

The JLPT Is a Much Bigger Deal than I’d Thought [Summary]

“The JLPT Is a Much Bigger Deal than I’d Thought” is a summary of the debut post from Alex Farrell‘s blog, “The Kyoto Linguist“, discussing the Japanese language, translation, travel writing and more. The original article is here. Feature image above from https://www.jlpt.jp/e/ – visit for latest information about the JLPT.


JLPT Is a Much Bigger Deal than I’d Thought

When Alex Farrell, a creative translator and travel writer based in Kyoto, Japan, recently posted on LinkedIn about having passed the highest level of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT), the response from his network and the wider LinkedIn community took him quite by surprise. Within some 24 hours of uploading the post, it received about 17,000 views, over 300 reactions and more than 30 comments. Alex also got 50-plus requests to connect. That’s when he realized “the JLPT Is a Much Bigger Deal than I’d Thought”.

The LinkedIn Community responded

This doesn’t quite count as going viral, but it was a big deal to Alex because he is a fairly passive LinkedIn user whose profile typically gets only a couple views a week. The unexpected response motivated him to finally do something he’d been pondering for some time: start up a professional-looking blog to share his experiences, insights and lessons learned the hard way during his 16 years in Japan and 11 years as a freelance Japanese-to-English translator.

To supplement the blog, entitled “The Kyoto Linguist” and published through Svbtle (not a typo), he also started up accounts at Twitter and Instagram.

This first post “JLPT Is a Much Bigger Deal than I’d Thought” by The Kyoto Linguist is the initial step toward gauging just how much interest there is in anecdotes about the profession of a Japanese linguist, language studies, travel in Japan and other relevant topics that may come up along the way.

If you liked this subject, check out How to Fit Japanese Study Into Your Busy Life.


Contact Alex Farrell via LinkedIn or his blog, “The Kyoto Linguist“.