試験

Pattern visualization

Examples

1. 明日、日本語の試験があります。▶ —
   I have a Japanese exam tomorrow.
2. 試験に合格しました。▶ —
   I passed the exam.

Collocations

Mnemonic

試験 shiken — 試 (to try) + 験 (to verify): "trying in order to verify." The same root as Korean siheom; the verb 試す lives in that kanji too. Japan's exam culture compresses whole into one word — 受験戦争, the "exam war," and around it 浪人, 予備校, 偏差値 form an ecosystem. 浪人 once meant a masterless samurai; now it names a year spent wandering between exams.

Quick check

1. Meaning of 浪人 in Japanese exam culture?

   • A student preparing for re-take after failing entrance exam
   • Masterless samurai (historical sense)
   • Traveler
   • Unemployed person