BJT Prep — Keigo, Business Vocab, Section Strategy
BJT Prep
Section titled “BJT Prep”Derived from the official sample questions (第1部 聴解 / 第2部 聴読解 / 第3部 読解) on kanken.or.jp.
Exam shape
Section titled “Exam shape”| Part | Section 1 | Section 2 | Section 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 第1部 聴解 (listening) | 場面把握 — photo, pick the right description | 発言聴解 — photo + audio, pick the appropriate utterance | 総合聴解 — illustration + conversation, pick what was decided |
| 第2部 聴読解 (listen + read) | 状況把握 — photo + audio, what are they discussing | 資料聴読解 — graph/ad/email + audio | 総合聴読解 — document/table/form + audio |
| 第3部 読解 (reading) | 語彙・文法 — fill the blank | 表現読解 — pick the appropriate expression | 総合読解 — read an article/email/report, answer |
The #1 rule (all three sections repeat it)
Section titled “The #1 rule (all three sections repeat it)”First identify the relationship and setting, then judge the language.
- Same company or external party (取引先 / customer)?
- If same company: boss↔subordinate (上司/部下) or peers (同僚)?
- Who is speaking about whose action?
Every keigo question is decided by this. The dialog in the sample gives this explicitly — it’s a test of reading the frame, not of memorizing forms.
Keigo traps (from actual sample items)
Section titled “Keigo traps (from actual sample items)”| Situation | ✗ Wrong | ✓ Right | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meeting a client’s 社長 for the first time (my action) | はじめてお会いになります | はじめてお目にかかります | お会いになる = 尊敬語 (respects their action). My own action needs 謙譲語: お目にかかる |
| はじめてだね / はじめて会いますね | both | — | Too casual for an external superior. Dropped. |
| Addressing the client’s company in a presentation | この会社 / あなた / おたくの | 御社 | あなた is for subordinates/close people; おたく only for long-standing close relations |
| Referring to my own company | — | 弊社 | The humble counterpart of 御社 |
| Inviting a client to eat after a meeting | どう | いかが | ご + 丁寧 = いかが. どう is too plain for an external superior |
| よろしければお食事でもいただきますか | ✗ | — | いただく = humble for my eating, can’t be applied to their action as an invitation |
| よろしければお食事でもめしあがりましょうか | ✗ | — | めしあがる is 尊敬語 for their eating; you don’t invite someone with it |
| お食事でもあげましょうか | ✗ | — | あげる = giving food to a child or a pet. Insulting to a client |
Rule of thumb: my action → 謙譲語 (お目にかかる, いただく, 伺う, 申す). Their action → 尊敬語 (お会いになる, めしあがる, いらっしゃる, おっしゃる). Neutral politeness → 丁寧語 (です/ます).
Business katakana (appear in the samples)
Section titled “Business katakana (appear in the samples)”| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| リストラ | restructuring / layoffs |
| コンサルタント | consultant |
| ブース | booth (trade fair) |
| プレゼンテーション | presentation |
| スリム化 | slimming down (headcount reduction) |
| セールスポイント | selling point |
| ウリ | selling point (colloquial) |
| ノウハウ | know-how |
| ペンディング | pending |
| アジェンダ | agenda |
| マージン | margin |
| リスケ | rescheduling |
| フィックス | fix/finalize |
Document & organisation vocabulary
Section titled “Document & organisation vocabulary”| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 見積書 | quotation |
| 納期 | delivery deadline |
| 引渡条件 | delivery terms |
| 支払条件 | payment terms |
| 総額 | total amount |
| 契約書 | contract |
| 名刺 | business card |
| 監査役 | auditor (statutory) |
| 取締役 | director |
| 役員 | officer / executive |
| 売上高 | sales revenue |
| 経常利益 | ordinary profit |
| 対前年同期比 | year-on-year comparison |
| ▼ | minus / deficit (in financial tables) |
| 決算 | financial settlement |
| 求人誌 | job-listing magazine |
| 出張報告書 | business trip report |
| 派遣 | dispatch (staffing) |
| 特定派遣 | specified dispatch (the regulated type) |
| 弊社 / 御社 | my company / your company |
Financial tables: ▼ = negative. 赤字 = in the red. A company can show revenue up year-on-year AND a loss — the samples test reading both columns separately.
Grammar points tested
Section titled “Grammar points tested”| Form | Meaning | Note |
|---|---|---|
| ～てまで | going so far as to (X in order to Y) | Critical/critical-of-means tone (“for the sake of the goal, no means rejected”) |
| ～てこそ | only by doing X (then good results) | Positive follow-on required |
| ～てのみ | only if X, then it holds | Restrictive, formal |
| ～よう (動詞ます形＋よう) | way of doing / manner | 使いよう = depending on how you use it |
| ～づくめ | all of / nothing but | Attaches to nouns: 黒づくめ, いい事づくめ |
| ～せい | because of (blame) | Negative cause |
| ～おかげ | thanks to | Positive cause |
| ごくろうさま / おせわさま | thanks-for-work greetings | Not usable as a sentence about a result |
おかげ vs せい: same grammar slot, opposite polarity. If the outcome is good → おかげ. If bad or blamed → せい. This is a repeat test item.
Section strategy (verbatim from the official guidance)
Section titled “Section strategy (verbatim from the official guidance)”聴解 (listening):
- The audio for each question plays once — no replay.
- Grasp the scene first, then judge whether the utterance fits it.
聴読解 (listen + read):
- Pre-read while the previous question finishes and before the question audio starts — read the title, read the axes/labels, and predict what will be asked.
- Graphs and tables give you very little time. Read the title first, then the trend direction.
- For documents: establish who is reading this document and in what situation before the question.
- 盗み聞き (overheard conversation) type: combine multiple clues to infer the background.
読解 (reading):
- Read the question first, then narrow the point you must read for, then read.
- Article-type: identify whose opinion is being reported (the 社長’s words vs the reporter’s analysis are separate).
- Sample: the supermarket 出店コンセプト was 便利さを売る (selling convenience) — and both the 社長’s 駅中 comment and the reporter’s analysis pointed there.
- Email-type: locate the reason for the decision; extra advice paragraphs are distractors, not the answer.
- Sample: why the product was rejected → 納期が合わない (delivery schedule), not the paperwork or track-record advice.
- Report-type: separate what was done from what will be done. Three paragraphs; two describe future work, only one describes a completed task (仮事務所の契約).
Daily study loop
Section titled “Daily study loop”- 15 min — keigo drills: take a plain sentence and produce 尊敬語 / 謙譲語 versions
- 20 min — business listening, no subtitles, native speed (no pausing — the exam won’t let you)
- 15 min — one document type per day: 見積書 → 出張報告書 → 社内メール → 決算表 → 求人広告
- Weekly — one timed section (80 Qs / ~2h across all three parts)
- Every 2–3 weeks — a full mock test; classify every miss by section, not just right/wrong
Sources
Section titled “Sources”- Official BJT sample questions, 第1部〜第3部 (公益財団法人 日本漢字能力検定協会)
- Official mock test & guide book (公式 模擬テスト＆ガイド)