Changelog
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JLPT Mock Exams Release!
After much hard work, revision, tweaking, and tinkering (don’t forget the tinkering!), we’re proud to announce the release of our JLPT Mock Exam feature!
TL;DR: Find them here
These exams are designed to closely resemble the actual JLPT, so each section has the appropriate time limit, as well as type and amount of questions. The scoring is also true to the official format.
We currently have five full exams each for N5 and N4, featuring the vocabulary, grammar, and reading sections. (We’ll have a separate release for listening in the future.) We’re also hard at work on the N3(+) versions as well, for all of you intermediate(+) pandas out there.
The vocabulary section for N5 and N4 has a 20-minute limit and has the following question types:
Kanji reading
Orthography (choose the correct kanji)
Fill in the blank (with the correct word)
Paraphrase
Usage (N4 only)
Following completion of the vocabulary section, there is a mandatory break. On the actual exam, this break is around 15 minutes, but you can skip it after two minutes on our mocks if you wish. If you do not skip it, it will automatically resume the exam after 15 minutes, so be sure to be back on time from your break!
The grammar and reading section has a 40-minute time limit.
The grammar section has the following question types:
Sentence form (FITB for grammar)
Sentence composition (unscramble)
Text grammar (FITB in a paragraph context)
The reading section has the following question types:
Comprehension short
Comprehension medium
Information retrieval
Every answer on the test is clickable, or you can use the hotkeys “1, 2, 3, 4”. to select answers one through four, and “right arrow” to go to the next question. Once you submit a (full) section, or the time runs out, you cannot return to it.
We’ve also linked each question to its corresponding vocabulary/kanji/grammar point and grammar lesson in MaruMori. So when you finish your test, you’ll see which questions you got wrong (if any!) and will be able to navigate to the appropriate content in need of revision easily.
You can also view all of your past attempts from the results overview, and look at specific exam attempts to see what you may have gotten wrong on each attempt (and hopefully see a better score on every newer attempt!).
Upon passing you will get a bunch of cool things:
Achievement
Badge
Title (that's right! New titles!!!)
Certificate Image (for your profile page, or to share with friends! (People say it’s actually cooler to have the MM certificate than the JLPT one.)
Each level has its own rewards for passing, so be sure to try them all out!
Speaking of passing: Scoring works the same as on the real JLPT. This means you'll not only need enough points per section of the exam but also get enough points on the exam as a whole in order to pass. The amount of points you need differs per JLPT level. If you wish to read more about this, you can find the official JLPT information about it right here: Clickie
We hope this tool is just what you need to ACE your next JLPT attempt!
For all of you taking the JLPT (and everyone else), good luck and happy studies!
October 2024 Community Profile Share Roundup!
Hi everyone! This announcement has been delayed a bit due to me getting surgery between writing and posting this, but here we go regardless!
Over on our Discord, we have a "share your profile" event on the 1st of every month. Sharing your profile banner is a great way to track your progress and show off your beautiful custom profile share images and statistics.
We figured we'd try something new and make a monthly post on MaruMori, highlighting the progress of some of our community members and fellow Japanese students!
So if you also want to be featured next month, be sure to join our discord and post in the corresponding channel on the first of December 
Hope that gives you some inspiration to also customize your profile and share it with your friends and the rest of the community!
P.S:
We'll be releasing the initial mock exams for N5 and N4 in the coming weeks! I'm still recovering from the surgery, but we'll get it out on time before the JLPT!
Next to that, we're also working on a "MaruMori Wrapped" so that you can see your year in review, as well as some funny (or not-so-funny) statistics about your journey so far! 👀
Aaaand next to that, we'll soon be announcing our new roadmap for 2025 (and beyond)!
More on that soon!
New Mobile App Update - v1.0.3
Hello! This update took a little while, but I wanted to make sure we squashed most of the reported bugs before bringing out a new version. So in this new update, you can find a whole bunch of bugfixes for most of the common problems, as well as a few new features.
Please keep in mind that the new update has just been submitted to both app stores, and it will likely take a few hours before it's been approved. So if you don't notice the changes, be sure to check your current version and check if the update is already available on your platform or not!
Anyhow, let's get to it!
New Features
Added Discord social logins (Google will take a little bit longer due to the login flow being more difficult to implement).
Dictionary - Vocabulary - Added the "other forms" section for vocabulary.
SRS Lessons/Reviews - Spoilers (meaning/reading/stories) are now automatically blurred. Tap on the blurry text to reveal it! - Keyboard - The keyboard now changes theme according to your app theme (meaning, dark keyboard for dark theme, and light keyboard for light theme).
SRS Lessons - The page now scrolls back to the top when going to the next lesson.
Bugfixes
SRS Lessons/Reviews - The answer input field will now properly autofocus at all times. - Reading Exercises - Fixed an issue with bolded text breaking up reading exercise content.
Home - Fixed an issue with the streaks, it should now display properly according to your set timezone.
Grammar Lessons - Fixed a rendering issue causing a blank screen in some lessons.
Grammar Lessons - Mark as Done Modal - The buttons no longer overflow on smaller resolutions.
Grammar SRS - Fill in the Blank - The text size has been adjusted and furigana will no longer overlap the prompt in certain sentences.
Grammar Lessons - Details component title will no longer overflow.
Android - The app icon and name have (hopefully) been fixed.
SRS Lessons - Pitch accent now updates properly between lessons.
SRS Lessons - Example Sentences now update properly between lessons.
SRS - Input is no longer case sensitive, no longer fails on missing diacritics and now properly trims whitespace.
General - Dynamically sized text based on OS settings has been disabled, as this was causing many styling issues.
Grammar Library - Status icons for grammar points are now consistent with the website.
SRS Lessons - Tapping "next lesson" will now bring you back to the "primary" tab for the new lesson.
Grammar Lessons - Highlighting syntax in example sentences would create weird pauses and other issues with the audio, this has been fixed.
Grammar Lessons - Exercises - Fill in the blank exercises now wrap properly.
Grammar Lessons - Fixed the large spacing issue between the Grammar Lesson sections (e.g. mark as done and exercises)
Known Issues
Using a Romaji keyboard (the one that converts with an IME to kana) on Android can lead to wrong conversions as it's doing a double conversion. I doubt many of you use this keyboard over the existing in-app kana conversion though, so it's hopefully not a huge issue for now! I think (or hope!) I've fixed most issues with Android keyboards and the autoconversion in general now.
That's all for now! Unless major bugs arise we'll be able to focus on implementing new features and pages for the app again, as well as give some parts of the website a nice new update again
P.S. Thanks so much to everyone who has supported MM lately! Your support has been overwhelming and it brings everyone on the team so much joy to hear and see everyone progress on their Japanese language learning adventure through MM! You're the best and we'll continue to make MM the best possible platform for learning Japanese!
Anniversary Sale, Mobile Apps Beta start and end of giveaway!
Hey everyone, we've got some really exciting news for you today!
Anniversary Sale
MaruMori just had its first anniversary since launch (August 14th) and to celebrate that, and the mobile apps being launched, we're holding a Lifetime sale on both MaruMori and Kitsun! It will be a little while until the next sale, so be sure to check that out if you are interested in getting Lifetime! It also gives you access to the mobile app while it is in early access. Speaking of which:
Our mobile apps have been published and are in early access!
That's right! If you are a supporter (paid user) of MaruMori, you can now access the beta of the mobile app! The iOS version is already out there, while the Android version is awaiting approval from Google.
To access the apps you will need to use a specific link for each platform:
iOS: https://testflight.apple.com/join/MfpPbqCq
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.foxlabs.marumori
Now, what to expect from the apps?
While we've tried to make sure all the core functionality is in there (Adventure levels, SRS lessons/reviews, Dictionary, Grammar Library), there are still some screens and features missing. It is also still a bit rough around the corners at some places, so expect things to be a bit buggy sometimes. But other than that, it should be pretty good already!
The missing functionality and screens will be added over time in the coming period, but if you notice any bugs, please be sure to let us know on Discord. We have a dedicated channel for feedback and bug reports for the mobile app.
This also means that there will be rapid updates to the app. We actually have a new version awaiting approval already! These updates will get downloaded to your phone automatically through TestFlight/Play store, but in case you encounter a bug, please do check if you are using the latest version first 😄
Later on, we'll open up the beta for non-supporters as well, but we first want to make sure everything is working properly.
Now onto the good part, here are a few screenshots of what you can expect:
Giveaway End
Our recent giveaway has also ended! The lucky winners have gotten an email congratulating them and their accounts have been upgraded accordingly.
Congratulations to:
Monthly:
Bazzon
Schriller
huoshengyu
yxrko
AlyLala
Yearly:
chuenpodo
🎉 🎉 🎉 🎉
If you didn't win, sorry! But we hope you had a great time and thank you for trying out MaruMori!
That's all for now, happy studies!
Giveaway, New Trials and Mobile App Update
Hey all, exciting news! You might've read about it already, but to celebrate hitting over 1k members on our Discord, we’re doing a fun giveaway. And as a bonus, we’re including fresh trials for all registered users!
Here are the details:
- All un-subbed registered members have been given a brand new 14-day trial
- All users who have an active trial and complete at least six grammar lesson tiles between now and August 20th will be entered for a chance to win one yearly or one of five monthly subscriptions!
We'll be drawing the winners randomly, and if you win, we will automatically upgrade your account and inform you about winning through your registered email!
And in other news, I'm pleased to announce that we've been making good progress on the MaruMori mobile app, and that we foresee an initial alpha release in the very(!!!) near future.
For now, here are some sneak-peek WIP screenshots!
We'll be offering a closed beta of the app for MaruMori+ subscribers , so be sure to sub for early access to the app, as well as access to our (top secret) supporters-only discord channel where we're providing exclusive progress updates and more! This channel is also where we'll first send out the invites for the alpha/beta of the app, so be sure to check it out!
Keep an eye out for more information about the mobile app very soon, and happy studies!