Latest news with #EikenFoundationofJapan
The Mainichi
30-04-2025
- General
- The Mainichi
News in Easy English: New 'Pre-2 Plus' Eiken English test level introduced
TOKYO -- The Eiken Foundation of Japan has started a new English test level. It is called "Grade Pre-2 Plus." This new test is between Grade Pre-2 and Grade 2. Grade Pre-2 is about the same as middle high school students' English. Grade 2 is for students who finish high school. Grade Pre-2 Plus will be for students in the last years of high school. The foundation said, "We hope students use Grade Pre-2 Plus as an easy step to Grade 2." Now, the step from Grade Pre-2 to Grade 2 is big for many students. Students usually need two years to move from Grade Pre-2 to Grade 2. From Grade 5 to Grade Pre-2, students usually need only about one year for each level. The new grade can help students try for Grade 2. This is the first new Eiken level since 1994. Other Eiken test levels do not change. Students can apply until May 7 for the next Eiken tests. The tests will be in many places around Japan in June and July. (Japanese original by Kengo Miura, Tokyo City News Department) Vocabulary: foundation: a group to give money to help certain activities, like education introduce: to start something new level: how easy or difficult something is motivated: want to keep trying hard stepping stone: a smaller step that helps you do something bigger later apply: to ask to join or do something (for example, taking a test)
The Mainichi
22-04-2025
- General
- The Mainichi
'Grade Pre-2 Plus' added to Japan's Eiken English proficiency test as stepping stone
TOKYO -- The Eiken Foundation of Japan has introduced a new level of the Eiken English language proficiency test, "Grade Pre-2 Plus," starting from the current fiscal year. The new level is positioned between Grade 2 and Grade Pre-2. "We hope applicants will utilize Grade Pre-2 Plus as a familiar target level to pass Grade 2," the Tokyo-based public interest incorporated foundation explained, citing a "high wall" between Grade 2 and Grade Pre-2 in terms of the level of difficulty. An analysis of applicant data of Eiken, formally the Jitsuyo Eigo Gino Kentei (Test in Practical English Proficiency), by the foundation has revealed that it took about a year on average for applicants to pass the next grade when they were between Grade 5 and Grade Pre-2 levels, but it took nearly two years for holders of Grade Pre-2 to pass Grade 2. The foundation decided to introduce Grade Pre-2 Plus to keep applicants motivated by using the new level as a stepping stone for attempting to pass Grade 2. Grade Pre-2 Plus is the first new Eiken grade to be established since 1994, when Grade Pre-2 was introduced. The foundation says Grade Pre-2 is equivalent to high school intermediate level and Grade 2 is high school graduate level, while Grade Pre-2 Plus is upper high school year level. There are no changes to the level of difficulty in other existing grades. Applications for the first batch of Eiken exams for fiscal 2025 are being accepted until May 7, and the tests will be given at venues across the country in June and July.
