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I want to study for the JLPT with authentic sentence examples, in-context Japanese. Does anyone know a resource for this? I have searched for a long time, and I haven't found anything.

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The only place I have come across lists specifically for training for the JLPT is with (free) word lists for the software Anki ankisrs.net, which seems to run on Windows, Linux, Mac, iPhone, Android and more. Maybe a resources request is better suited for the meta though...? – user1205935 Sep 6 '12 at 10:14
Try ALC. For example cognitive thinking skill – Oleg Levy Sep 6 '12 at 10:46
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meta.japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/756 has some JLPT-specific resources listed and some of the other resources may also be of use to you. – nkjt Sep 6 '12 at 11:01
Most dictionaries contain example sentences/phrases, but are you looking for longer contexts? – Tsuyoshi Ito Sep 6 '12 at 12:26
If you use an Apple then I would suggest digging out "The Dictionary application for Mac OS X [which] makes it easy to look up words, either in Dictionary itself or from any other application...[It]allows you to search several reference sources, such as dictionaries (in English and Japanese), ..a thesaurus, and Wikipedia (when you’re connected to the Internet). You can choose which sources you want to search for words" From my perspective, the only thing it does not do is look up a kanji by particle/#strokes etc. – Tim Sep 6 '12 at 12:53
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1 Answer

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It might be helpful to define what you mean by "authentic sentence examples". Actual sentences that have appeared on past exams? Study materials oriented towards the JLPT with "in-context" sentence examples? Or, content written for native speakers that would be helpful for JLPT study?

For the new exam format (N1, N2, etc.) I don't believe past papers are being published. You can either see the official samples or get copies of the old format.

In terms of made-for-native materials that might help on the JLPT... newspapers, essays, editorials? In the sense of preparing for a test oriented towards foreigners, native content is probably best for vocabulary acquisition.

I would say that ultimately if your goal is to pass the JLPT then you should be utilizing materials oriented specifically for the JLPT. My favorite is the 完全マスター series. They have editions for grammar, kanji, reading, etc. Light on explanation and heavy with sentences and reading passages. While reading passages have a topic or theme, the one-shot example sentences have no broader context but I still found them useful and easy to study with.

Good luck

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Colin, I have a few good books for study, but I'd prefer to use printed material. It isn't so wieldy. – Wolfpack'08 Sep 7 '12 at 14:32

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