ONE CLEAR STEP AT A TIME
A practical JLPT N5 study roadmap
Build kana, vocabulary, grammar, reading and listening together. The free foundation lessons are a starting point, not a complete N5 course.
What N5 learning involves
The official JLPT level summary describes N5 as the ability to understand some basic Japanese. It includes reading familiar expressions and sentences in hiragana, katakana and basic kanji, plus understanding short, slow everyday conversations.
Use the official JLPT level description as your reference. This site is independent of the test organisers. The JLPT does not publish a current exhaustive vocabulary, kanji or grammar list for the test; study lists are learning aids.
Build the five foundations
- Kana: recognise basic characters, then voiced sounds, small characters and long vowels.
- Vocabulary: learn words in simple sentences and practise recalling their meaning.
- Grammar: study polite statements, questions, basic particles, verb forms and everyday descriptions.
- Reading: work through short original passages and explain why an answer fits.
- Listening: practise with natural Japanese audio and transcripts; device speech alone is not sufficient exam preparation.
A weekly rhythm you can adapt
Choose four study days and one review day. In a short session, combine a small amount of new material with recall of older material. Once a week, read a passage or listen to a short dialogue and review the mistakes.
There is no guaranteed number of days to readiness. Your starting level, time, retention and access to suitable listening practice all matter.
Try five original practice questions →