Postby Psy » January 10th, 2008 3:08 am
Having not taken the JLPT, I can't tell you for sure, but a vague recollection of something I read long ago tells me that you won't have a problem. Even if you are required to distinguish 音読み/訓読み, after you learn a bunch of readings the distinction is often obvious in context. Because there's so much of it it's difficult to explain exactly where, but as you advance you will definitely start to see patterns.
Perhaps someone else will come along with a more exact answer-- in the meantime, I hope this helps.
*added* somehow I missed the note about context. If the character is completely alone without any context, I daresay it would be difficult for even native speakers to choose a "correct" reading. I have never encountered such a question in any formal or informal Japanese test I have taken, so I sincerely doubt you will have to worry about it. Still, as a rule of thumb, if the kanji itself doesn't represent a word you know as a whole (eg 雲, 空、手、腕、鐘、海, etc. -- all 訓読み WITHOUT okurigana), pick the Chinese reading (新 shin, 得 toku.). Japanese is a mess when it comes to this, so don't feel too badly if you find it confusing.
