[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-article-local-jlpt-n5-overview":3,"$fHZsWYl_LcdVZ5GxKwtR-ZqvCZbbUdo2_Fi6R_GQKiQM":1451,"blog-article-cms-jlpt-n5-overview":1453,"article-hreflang-jlpt-n5-overview":1454,"blog-article-related-jlpt-n5-overview":2361},{"id":4,"title":5,"body":6,"description":1431,"extension":1432,"meta":1433,"navigation":1444,"path":1445,"rawbody":1446,"seo":1447,"stem":1448,"__hash__":1449,"timestampUnix":1434,"slug":1435,"h1":1436,"image":1437,"tags":1442,"timestamp":1450,"locale":-1},"content\u002Farticle\u002Fjapanese\u002Fjapanese-n5.md","Everything You Need to Know to Pass the JLPT N5 (+Sample Questions)",{"type":7,"value":8,"toc":1408},"minimark",[9,19,22,25,28,31,34,39,66,69,73,76,96,104,118,122,125,134,146,155,213,222,226,229,236,239,269,271,275,284,295,298,315,326,329,334,337,348,353,361,364,386,389,410,413,417,424,429,432,449,452,459,463,466,483,487,490,522,525,528,532,535,538,549,553,556,559,586,589,617,621,624,630,633,636,640,643,650,656,659,665,669,672,683,687,690,693,699,702,708,712,715,718,724,727,754,758,761,764,770,773,778,781,785,788,791,802,806,809,812,829,837,843,853,857,860,863,877,885,891,894,907,911,914,917,920,942,948,954,967,971,974,980,983,1000,1007,1016,1020,1023,1047,1055,1057,1061,1064,1081,1084,1087,1090,1096,1099,1116,1123,1126,1137,1149,1155,1158,1164,1167,1190,1193,1199,1204,1207,1211,1215,1218,1221,1236,1239,1243,1252,1258,1262,1265,1285,1289,1292,1351,1354,1363,1374,1376,1384,1387,1395,1402,1405],[10,11,12,13,18],"p",{},"Seeking external confirmation that you've successfully learned some Japanese? Or maybe you haven't even started to ",[14,15,17],"a",{"href":16},"\u002Flearn-japanese","learn Japanese"," but just want to see what you're getting into?",[10,20,21],{},"You're in the right place 💪",[10,23,24],{},"I'm not sure what you want to know about the N5, exactly, so I prepared a bit of everything. This post is long.",[10,26,27],{},"Feel free to jump around:",[29,30],"toc",{},[32,33],"hr",{},[35,36,38],"h2",{"id":37},"what-is-the-japanese-language-proficiency-test","What is the Japanese Language Proficiency Test?",[10,40,41,42,48,49,53,54,59,60,65],{},"The ",[14,43,47],{"href":44,"rel":45},"https:\u002F\u002Fen.wikipedia.org\u002Fwiki\u002FJapanese-Language_Proficiency_Test",[46],"nofollow","Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT)"," is a standardized test that evaluates and certifies the language ability of Japanese learners. ",[50,51,52],"em",{},"(Duh, wouldn't make sense to assess the proficiency of natives, would it?)"," It's administered twice a year (July & December) by the ",[14,55,58],{"href":56,"rel":57},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.jpf.go.jp\u002Fe\u002Fproject\u002Findex.html",[46],"Japan Foundation"," outside of Japan, and by ",[14,61,64],{"href":62,"rel":63},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.jees.or.jp\u002Findex.htm",[46],"Japan Educational Exchanges and Services (JEES)"," within Japan.",[10,67,68],{},"The test comprises five levels, and the N5 is the lowest of these levels.",[35,70,72],{"id":71},"how-long-does-it-take-to-pass-the-jlpt-n5","How long does it take to pass the JLPT N5?",[10,74,75],{},"This question is sort of difficult to answer.",[77,78,79,88],"ul",{},[80,81,82,83],"li",{},"The JLPT themselves estimate that it will take ",[14,84,87],{"href":85,"rel":86},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.tanos.co.uk\u002Fjlpt\u002Faboutjlpt\u002F",[46],"about 150 hours",[80,89,90,91],{},"A language school in Tokyo found that it took their full-time students ",[14,92,95],{"href":93,"rel":94},"https:\u002F\u002Fweb.archive.org\u002Fweb\u002F20151117033458\u002Fhttp:\u002F\u002Fwww.studytoday.com\u002FJLPT.asp?lang=EN",[46],"250–450 hours of study if they had prior knowledge of kanji (i.e., they spoke a Chinese language), or 325–600 hours if they didn't",[10,97,98,103],{},[14,99,102],{"href":100,"rel":101},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.reddit.com\u002Fr\u002Fjlpt\u002Fcomments\u002F1if26qu\u002Fhow_i_passed_n5_in_4_months\u002F",[46],"This random Redditor"," passed the JLPT N5 in 4 months, studying for 3 hours a day, which works out to ~360 hours—right in line with the lower estimate from that language school.",[105,106,107,112,115],"blockquote",{},[108,109,111],"centered-text",{"bold":110,"underline":110},"","\nImportant note\n",[113,114],"br",{},[108,116,117],{},"\nThis is the first question that everybody asks, but it's not super useful. Everybody's routine is different. Just know that this will take time, and that learning a language is like stacking pennies: so long as you keep at it, you'll eventually come away with a dollar.\n",[35,119,121],{"id":120},"if-you-pass-the-n5-what-will-you-be-able-to-do","If you pass the N5, what will you be able to do?",[10,123,124],{},"Let's tackle this in two directions.",[10,126,127,128,133],{},"Per ",[14,129,132],{"href":130,"rel":131},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.jlpt.jp\u002Fe\u002Fabout\u002Flevelsummary.html",[46],"the JLPT website",", passing the N5 means that:",[77,135,136,141],{},[80,137,138],{},[50,139,140],{},"\"One is able to read and understand typical expressions and sentences written in hiragana, katakana, and basic kanji.\"",[80,142,143],{},[50,144,145],{},"\"One is able to listen and comprehend conversations about topics regularly encountered in daily life and classroom situations, and is able to pick up necessary information from short conversations spoken slowly.\"",[10,147,148,149,154],{},"To get more clarity on what that means, exactly, they surveyed students who barely passed the N5 and asked them about the things they did and didn't feel comfortable doing. ",[14,150,153],{"href":151,"rel":152},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.jlpt.jp\u002Fe\u002Fabout\u002Fpdf\u002Fcdslist_e_all.pdf",[46],"The full report is four pages long",", but in brief:",[77,156,157,171,184,197],{},[80,158,159,163],{},[160,161,162],"strong",{},"Listening ability:",[77,164,165,168],{},[80,166,167],{},"75%+ said they could understand self-introductions, classroom instructions, and common phrases\u002Fgreetings",[80,169,170],{},"50%+ said they could understand simple instructions and follow conversations on basic topics like hobbies or food",[80,172,173,176],{},[160,174,175],{},"Speaking ability:",[77,177,178,181],{},[80,179,180],{},"75%+ said they could introduce themselves and talk about their hobbies",[80,182,183],{},"50%+ said they could express their feelings and participate in basic\u002Feveryday conversations",[80,185,186,189],{},[160,187,188],{},"Reading ability:",[77,190,191,194],{},[80,192,193],{},"75%+ said they could read their appointment date\u002Ftime for school or the doctor",[80,195,196],{},"50%+ said they could skim schedules, advertisements, boards, etc to find key bits of information",[80,198,199,202],{},[160,200,201],{},"Writing ability:",[77,203,204,207,210],{},[80,205,206],{},"75%+ said they could write their name, country, and similar bits of basic information",[80,208,209],{},"50%+ said they could write a simple self introduction",[80,211,212],{},"25%+ said they could write short diary entries and memos",[105,214,215],{},[10,216,217,218,221],{},"Generally speaking, you can take this to say that you've achieved a basic grasp on Japanese. You've got a long way to go, and that's ",[50,219,220],{},"very"," apparent... but the language doesn't feel completely foreign anymore, either, and you probably believe that you can do this if you stick at it. (And you're right, of course: You can.)",[35,223,225],{"id":224},"what-do-you-need-to-know-in-order-to-pass-the-n5","What do you need to know in order to pass the N5?",[10,227,228],{},"There are no official vocabulary, kanji, or grammar lists that you \"should\" know for a particular JLPT level, so it's not possible to give a perfect answer and point you toward a nicely formatted List of Language Knowledge for JLPT Preparation. I wish I could. Sorry.",[10,230,231,232,235],{},"Having said that, some groups ",[50,233,234],{},"do"," keep track of the questions that appear in official mock tests and on each JLPT, and over time this has made it possible to guesstimate how \"difficult\" the JLPT considers particular words and structures. It's not perfect—something might be on an N5 test one year but an N4 the next, and vice versa—but it's good enough to guide your learning.",[10,237,238],{},"Again emphasizing that this is just a ballpark guess, you'll need to know:",[77,240,241,248,255],{},[80,242,243],{},[14,244,247],{"href":245,"rel":246},"https:\u002F\u002Fen.wiktionary.org\u002Fwiki\u002FAppendix:JLPT\u002FN5",[46],"600–800 vocab words",[80,249,250],{},[14,251,254],{"href":252,"rel":253},"https:\u002F\u002Fen.wikibooks.org\u002Fwiki\u002FJLPT_Guide\u002FJLPT_N5_Kanji",[46],"80–100 kanji",[80,256,257,262,263,268],{},[14,258,261],{"href":259,"rel":260},"https:\u002F\u002Fjlptgrammarlist.neocities.org\u002F",[46],"50–100 grammar points"," ",[14,264,267],{"href":265,"rel":266},"https:\u002F\u002Fjlptsensei.com\u002Fjlpt-n5-grammar-list\u002F",[46],"(alternate list)"," (this varies so much because grammar points can be \"chunked\" in different ways)",[32,270],{},[35,272,274],{"id":273},"test-breakdown-jlpt-n5-exam-structure-practice-tests-question-types-and-grading-scheme","[Test breakdown] JLPT N5 exam structure, practice tests, question types, and grading scheme",[10,276,277,278,283],{},"The JLPT N5 is broken into ",[14,279,282],{"href":280,"rel":281},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.jlpt.jp\u002Fe\u002Fguideline\u002Ftestsections.html",[46],"three sections",":",[77,285,286,289,292],{},[80,287,288],{},"A vocabulary test",[80,290,291],{},"A grammar test and a reading test",[80,293,294],{},"A listening test",[10,296,297],{},"The middle two tests (grammar\u002Freading) are technically different tests, but they're contained within the same test booklet. You'll get a break between each of those three sections (so two total)—how long the break is seems to vary by location, but it'll be between 20 and 30 minutes.",[105,299,300],{},[10,301,302,303,308,309,314],{},"To pass the test, you'll need to earn ",[14,304,307],{"href":305,"rel":306},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.jlpt.jp\u002Fsp\u002Fe\u002Fguideline\u002Fresults.html",[46],"a score of 80\u002F180†",", earning at least 38 points on the first two sections and at least 19 points on the listening section. Looking at ",[14,310,313],{"href":311,"rel":312},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.jlpt.jp\u002Fe\u002Fstatistics\u002Farchive.html?mode=pc",[46],"data from the last few years",", roughly 60% of test takers within Japan pass the N5 and roughly 50% of test takers outside of Japan pass it.",[10,316,317],{},[50,318,319,320,325],{},"(† Note: Wondering how 80\u002F180 earns a pass? It's because ",[14,321,324],{"href":322,"rel":323},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.jlpt.jp\u002Fe\u002Fabout\u002Fpdf\u002Fscaledscore_e.pdf?mode=pc",[46],"the JLPT is graded on a sort of curve",". Basically, you get more points if you get questions right that most people miss wrong, and vice versa. In other words, getting a good score on the JLPT is less about how many questions you get right, and more about *which* questions you get right.)",[10,327,328],{},"Anyway, that out of the way, let's dive into each section:",[330,331,333],"h3",{"id":332},"vocabulary-section-20-minutes","Vocabulary section (20 minutes)",[10,335,336],{},"The JLPT N5 will test your vocabulary in four different ways. Below I'll introduce each question type you'll encounter and give you a sample question so you can see what you're getting into.",[105,338,339],{},[10,340,341,342,347],{},"If you'd like to go further than this, ",[14,343,346],{"href":344,"rel":345},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.jlpt.jp\u002Fsamples\u002Fsample2012\u002Fpdf\u002FN5V.pdf",[46],"here's the vocabulary section of a JLPT N5 mock test",". An answer key is down below in the section entitled \"Answer Key\".",[349,350,352],"h4",{"id":351},"_1-kanji-reading","1) Kanji reading",[10,354,355,356,360],{},"You'll be shown a sentence. One kanji word in this sentence will be underlined, and your job is to indicate the reading (",[14,357,359],{"href":358},"\u002Fblog\u002Fjapanese\u002Fhow-to-learn-kanji#how-japanese-kanji-work","on'yomi or kun'yomi",") of this kanji.",[10,362,363],{},"Example of an easier problem:",[77,365,366],{},[80,367,368,369,373,374,376,377,379,380,382,383,385],{},"(#4) ちかくに",[370,371,372],"u",{},"山","があります。",[113,375],{}," 1. かわ ",[113,378],{}," 2. やま ",[113,381],{}," 3. いけ ",[113,384],{}," 4. うみ",[10,387,388],{},"Example of a trickier problem:",[77,390,391],{},[80,392,393,394,397,398,400,401,403,404,406,407,409],{},"(#6) ともだちといっしょに",[370,395,396],{},"学校","にいきます。",[113,399],{}," 1. がこう ",[113,402],{}," 2. がこお ",[113,405],{}," 3. がっこう ",[113,408],{}," 4. がっこお",[10,411,412],{},"As you can see, the simpler questions simply check to see if you know roughly how a word sounds, whereas the trickier question makes sure you know exactly how it's spelled\u002Fpronounced.",[349,414,416],{"id":415},"_2-orthography","2) Orthography",[10,418,419,420,423],{},"This is essentially the opposite of the kanji reading question. You'll see a sentence written ",[50,421,422],{},"completely"," in hiragana and katakana. One word will be underlined, and you must indicate the correct way to write the word using kanji (and sometimes katakana).",[105,425,426],{},[10,427,428],{},"This sounds simple in theory, but all of these questions are very tricky. They intentionally feature similar looking kanji, and sometimes include fake kanji. You really need to have your kanji down to get these right.",[10,430,431],{},"Here's an example of a simpler problem. All it asks you to do is recognize the rough shape of the kanji in question.",[77,433,434],{},[80,435,436,437,439,440,442,443,445,446,448],{},"(14) この ぼうしは 1000 えんです。",[113,438],{}," 1. 1000 内 ",[113,441],{}," 2. 1000 用 ",[113,444],{}," 3. 1000 冊 ",[113,447],{}," 4. 1000 円",[10,450,451],{},"Here's an example of a trickier problem, in which you're presented with four similar-looking characters and must mind small details to pick the right one. I'm including a screenshot because one of the characters is fake and not actually possible to type with a normal keyboard.",[453,454],"img",{"src":455,"width":456,"height":457,"alt":458},"\u002Fassets\u002Fblog\u002Fmigaku-jlpt-n5-kanji.jpeg",940,176,"A screenshot of an orthography question from the JLPT N5",[349,460,462],{"id":461},"_3-contextually-defined-expressions","3) Contextually-defined expressions",[10,464,465],{},"This section consists of straightforward \"fill in the blank\" style questions. You'll see a sentence with a missing word and must choose the best word to fill in the blank.",[77,467,468],{},[80,469,470,471,473,474,476,477,479,480,482],{},"(20) さとうさんは ギターを じょうずに(____)。 ",[113,472],{}," 1. うたいます ",[113,475],{}," 2. ききます ",[113,478],{}," 3. ひきます ",[113,481],{}," 4. あそびます",[349,484,486],{"id":485},"_4-paraphrases","4) Paraphrases",[10,488,489],{},"This section is also pretty straightforward. You'll be presented with a sentence, then will be given 4 further sentences and asked to indicate which one means nearly the same thing as the original sentence.",[77,491,492],{},[80,493,494,495,373,498,500,501,373,504,506,507,373,510,512,513,373,516,518,519,373],{},"(30) このまちにはゆうめいな",[160,496,497],{},"たてもの",[113,499],{}," 1. このまちにはゆうめいな",[160,502,503],{},"ビル",[113,505],{}," 2. このまちにはゆうめいな",[160,508,509],{},"おちゃ",[113,511],{}," 3. このまちにはゆうめいな",[160,514,515],{},"ケーキ",[113,517],{}," 4. このまちにはゆうめいな",[160,520,521],{},"こうえん",[10,523,524],{},"These questions are actually pretty tricky on the N1 and N2, in which you get a bunch of different sentences that have overlapping nuance... but, for now, it's basically a test of your ability to spot synonyms.",[10,526,527],{},"Once you finish this section, you'll have a ~20 minute break before the grammar section begins.",[330,529,531],{"id":530},"grammar-section-20-minutes","Grammar section (~20 minutes)",[10,533,534],{},"This section of the test checks how well you understand how the parts of a Japanese sentence fit together. I personally think it's the easiest portion of the JLPT. Japanese grammar is complex, but this section of the test isn't.",[10,536,537],{},"As with the vocab section, I'll show a sample question or two in each subsection.",[105,539,540],{},[10,541,542,543,548],{},"If you'd really like to test yourself, here's ",[14,544,547],{"href":545,"rel":546},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.jlpt.jp\u002Fsamples\u002Fsample2012\u002Fpdf\u002FN5G.pdf",[46],"the grammar section of a JLPT N5 mock test",". Again, an answer key will be provided after the listening comprehension section.",[349,550,552],{"id":551},"_1-sequential-grammar-1-selecting-the-correct-grammar-form","1) Sequential grammar 1 \u002F \"Selecting the correct grammar form\"",[10,554,555],{},"This is another fill-in-the-blank test. You'll be shown a sentence with a blank and asked to indicate which grammar point best completes it. Sentences include heavy usage of furigana, ensuring that you never miss a question because you don't know how to read a kanji.",[10,557,558],{},"Many of these tests are related to particles:",[77,560,561],{},[80,562,563,564,569,570,573,574,576,577,579,580,582,583,585],{},"(5) きのう、わたしはひとり(____)えいがを",[565,566],"typo",{"lang":567,"syntax":568},"ja","見[み]","に",[565,571],{"lang":567,"syntax":572},"行きました[いきました]","。",[113,575],{}," 1. が ",[113,578],{}," 2. を ",[113,581],{}," 3. で ",[113,584],{}," 4. は",[10,587,588],{},"But some of them quiz you on other things, like verb conjugation:",[77,590,591],{},[80,592,593,594,597,598,601,602,604,605,607,608,610,611,613,614,616],{},"(12) A「",[565,595],{"lang":567,"syntax":596},"東京[とうきょう]","でも",[565,599],{"lang":567,"syntax":600},"雪[ゆき]","がふりますか。」",[113,603],{}," B「ええ、ふりますよ。でも、きょねんはあまり（ ）。」",[113,606],{}," 1. ふりませんでした ",[113,609],{}," 2. ふりません ",[113,612],{}," 3. ふりました ",[113,615],{}," 4. ふります",[349,618,620],{"id":619},"_2-sequential-grammar-2-sentence-composition","2) Sequential grammar 2 \u002F \"Sentence composition\"",[10,622,623],{},"Not to scare you off, but this section is infamous for causing chaos. Take a glance at it, first, and see what you make of it:",[453,625],{"src":626,"width":627,"height":628,"alt":629},"\u002Fassets\u002Fblog\u002Fmigaku-jlpt-n5-grammar-2.jpeg",968,240,"A screenshot from the JLPT N5, showing one of the types of grammar questions it features",[10,631,632],{},"Each of the question items (1–4) goes in one of the blanks. Your job is to un-jumble the sentence, then indicate which item goes in the 3rd blank (which has a star).",[10,634,635],{},"These aren't too bad when you get the hang of them, but they're tricky in the moment when you're stressed out. Make a point to drill several before taking the JLPT for real!",[349,637,639],{"id":638},"_3-text-grammar","3) Text grammar",[10,641,642],{},"This is basically the same deal as Sequential Grammar 1—there's a blank in the middle of the sentence, and you need to indicate which Japanese word, particle, or whatever is the best option to fill in that blank.",[10,644,645,646,649],{},"The difference is that where you were previously dealing with sentences in isolation, ",[50,647,648],{},"now"," you're dealing with something like this:",[453,651],{"src":652,"width":653,"height":654,"alt":655},"\u002Fassets\u002Fblog\u002Fmigaku-jlpt-n5-grammar-3.jpeg",992,974,"A screenshot of the 'text grammar' portion of a JLPT N5 test",[10,657,658],{},"Each blank is numbered, and that number corresponds to a question. For example, below, your task is to identify the word that goes in the blank labeled 22.",[453,660],{"src":661,"width":662,"height":663,"alt":664},"\u002Fassets\u002Fblog\u002Fmigaku-jlpt-n5-3q.jpeg",684,182,"A screenshot from the JLPT N5, showing one of the questions following the 'text grammar' section",[330,666,668],{"id":667},"reading-comprehension-section-20-minutes","Reading comprehension section (~20 minutes)",[10,670,671],{},"That last grammar question was pretty long! This trend continues in the reading section, but rather than testing your ability to complete sentences in a natural fashion, you're instead tested more generally on how well you comprehend the text in question.",[105,673,674],{},[10,675,676,677,682],{},"Here's ",[14,678,681],{"href":679,"rel":680},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.jlpt.jp\u002Fsamples\u002Fsample2012\u002Fpdf\u002FN5R.pdf",[46],"the reading comprehension section of a JLPT N5 mock test",", for reference. It starts from #27 because it's actually a continuation of the grammar section. Once again, the answer key will be in the next-next section.",[349,684,686],{"id":685},"_1-comprehension-short-passages","1) Comprehension (short passages)",[10,688,689],{},"There's actually quite a bit of variety here: you might be dealing with a simple paragraph, you might be looking at a memo, you might be referencing an image. However it works out, the process will be the same: see a brief text, answer a single question about it.",[10,691,692],{},"For example, you'll see a text like this:",[453,694],{"src":695,"width":696,"height":697,"alt":698},"\u002Fassets\u002Fblog\u002Fmigaku-jlpt-n5-reading1a.jpeg",986,242,"One of the texts from the 'short passage' portion of the JLPT N5 reading test",[10,700,701],{},"Then you'll be asked to identify which room the text is describing:",[453,703],{"src":704,"width":705,"height":706,"alt":707},"\u002Fassets\u002Fblog\u002Fmigaku-jlpt-n5-reading-1b.jpeg",946,750,"The second half of the same 'short passage' question, showing the question that follows the passage",[349,709,711],{"id":710},"_2-comprehension-medium-passages","2) Comprehension (medium passages)",[10,713,714],{},"This is basically the same thing as the previous section but with a longer paragraph. Since the text is longer, you'll be asked two or three questions about it, instead of just one.",[10,716,717],{},"So you'll read a text like this:",[453,719],{"src":720,"width":721,"height":722,"alt":723},"\u002Fassets\u002Fblog\u002Fmigaku-jlpt-n5-reading-2a.jpeg",990,624,"The reading passage of the 'medium passages' portion of the JLPT N5",[10,725,726],{},"Then be asked a couple questions like this:",[77,728,729],{},[80,730,731,732,734,735,569,738,569,741,744,745,747,748,750,751,753],{},"(30) どうしてこまりましたか。 ",[113,733],{}," 1. おそい",[565,736],{"lang":567,"syntax":737},"時間[じかん]",[565,739],{"lang":567,"syntax":740},"駅[えき]",[565,742],{"lang":567,"syntax":743},"着いた[ついた]","から ",[113,746],{}," 2. しごとがたくさんあったから ",[113,749],{}," 3. とてもつかれたから ",[113,752],{}," 4. かさがなかったから",[349,755,757],{"id":756},"_3-information-retrieval","3) Information retrieval",[10,759,760],{},"Here, you'll look at some sort of graphic. It might be an ad, it might be a schedule, it might be a webpage—basically, it'll be some sort of display which has information on it.",[10,762,763],{},"So you'll see something like this on the right-hand page of your test booklet:",[453,765],{"src":766,"width":767,"height":768,"alt":769},"\u002Fassets\u002Fblog\u002Fmigaku-jlpt-n5-reading-3a.jpeg",976,1248,"A screenshot from the JLPT N5, showing an ad used for the information retrieval section",[10,771,772],{},"And then you'll see a question or two on the left-hand page of your test booklet:",[453,774],{"src":775,"width":767,"height":776,"alt":777},"\u002Fassets\u002Fblog\u002Fmigaku-jlpt-n5-reading-q3b.jpeg",474,"A screenshot from the JLPT N5, showing a question you'll have to answer about an ad",[10,779,780],{},"And with that, you've earned yourself a break! You'll have 20–30 minutes to relax or go to the bathroom.",[330,782,784],{"id":783},"listening-comprehension-section-30-minutes","Listening comprehension section (~30 minutes)",[10,786,787],{},"We now shift gears completely: you've been using your eyes, and now you have to use your ears. You'll hear snippets of a variety of conversations—some casual, some formal—and have your comprehension tested in a few different ways.",[10,789,790],{},"It's worth mentioning that JLPT listening questions are less a test of your ability to generally follow the gist of a conversation and more a test of your ability to identify and remember key bits of information within a conversation. Some people find this troublesome, while others feel that listening is the easiest portion of the test.",[105,792,793],{},[10,794,795,796,801],{},"Again, if you want to follow along, here's the question sheet for ",[14,797,800],{"href":798,"rel":799},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.jlpt.jp\u002Fsamples\u002Fsample2012\u002Fpdf\u002FN5L.pdf",[46],"the listening comprehension section of a JLPT N5 mock test",".",[349,803,805],{"id":804},"_1-task-based-comprehension","1) Task-based comprehension",[10,807,808],{},"A narrator will introduce a situation to you—here, they say \"A teacher is talking in class\". You'll then be given a task—here, they say \"Today, where (which portion) should the students study at home?\"",[10,810,811],{},"From here:",[77,813,814,817,820,823,826],{},[80,815,816],{},"You'll listen to the dialogue (20–30s)",[80,818,819],{},"A bell will ring, signaling that the dialogue is over",[80,821,822],{},"The narrator will repeat the question",[80,824,825],{},"There will be a ~10 second pause for you to review the images in your booklet and indicate the correct answer",[80,827,828],{},"You'll hear a bell when the next question is about to begin",[10,830,676,831,836],{},[14,832,835],{"href":833,"rel":834},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.jlpt.jp\u002Fsamples\u002Fsample2012\u002Fmp3\u002FN5Q1.mp3",[46],"\"the audio"," for this subsection of the test. Start the audio at 1:30 if you'd like to try the below question.",[453,838],{"src":839,"width":840,"height":841,"alt":842},"\u002Fassets\u002Fblog\u002Fmigaku-jlpt-n5-listening-q1.jpeg",922,706,"A screenshot of the example from the first listening section of the JLPT N5",[105,844,845,848,850],{},[108,846,847],{"bold":110,"underline":110},"\nStrategy\n",[113,849],{},[108,851,852],{},"\nReference the images while listening to the dialogue. As you listen, you'll get several little hints—\"it's on page 21\" or \"do we need to do the entire page? No.\" and so forth. For this reason, this question type is relatively forgiving. Even if you don't understand a bit of the dialogue, you'll still be able to eliminate one or two of the options. \n",[349,854,856],{"id":855},"_2-comprehension-of-key-points","2) Comprehension of key points",[10,858,859],{},"A narrator will introduce a situation—here, they say \"A man and a woman are talking.\" You'll then be asked to pick a specific bit out of the conversation—here, that is \"yesterday, where did the man go?\". The narrator will then state who is about to start talking and the question will begin.",[10,861,862],{},"From here, you'll:",[77,864,865,868,870,872,875],{},[80,866,867],{},"Listen to the dialogue",[80,869,819],{},[80,871,822],{},[80,873,874],{},"You'll have about 15 seconds to read through the possible answers and select the best one",[80,876,828],{},[10,878,676,879,884],{},[14,880,883],{"href":881,"rel":882},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.jlpt.jp\u002Fsamples\u002Fsample2017\u002Fmp3\u002FN5Q2.mp3",[46],"the audio"," for this subsection of the test. Start it at 0:40 if you'd like to try the below question.",[453,886],{"src":887,"width":888,"height":889,"alt":890},"\u002Fassets\u002Fblog\u002Fmigaku-jlpt-n5-listening-q2.jpeg",808,304,"A screenshot of the example from the second listening section of the JLPT N5",[10,892,893],{},"This question type is similar to the previous one, but it's different in that (a) there's no visual reference and (b) instead of listening for multiple hints spread out through an entire dialogue, you're listening for one specific bit of information.",[105,895,896,898,900],{},[108,897,847],{"bold":110,"underline":110},[113,899],{},[108,901,902,903,906],{},"\nThis section demands the most focus of the entire test. If you zone out and miss the 2 seconds of audio in which the answer is stated, you'll get the question wrong, even if you understand everything else perfectly. For this reason, you \n",[50,904,905],{},"shouldn't","\n read the answers and listen to the audio at the same time. You can't half-listen for this question. \n",[349,908,910],{"id":909},"_3-verbal-expressions","3) Verbal expressions",[10,912,913],{},"This question type is sort of like role playing. You'll see a picture of a situation with multiple people and there will be an arrow pointing at one person. You'll then hear several one-line sentences, and must indicate which of these sentences it's most reasonable that this person might have said.",[10,915,916],{},"What's challenging about this question type is that the questions aren't written down: your answer sheet contains nothing but bubbles labeled 1, 2, and 3. The image shows you the situation, but you can only get information by listening to the audio.",[10,918,919],{},"To break this down a bit further:",[77,921,922,925,928,931,934,937,940],{},[80,923,924],{},"You'll first see the image and assess the situation",[80,926,927],{},"A narrator will introduce a situation (\"calling to a restaurant worker\")",[80,929,930],{},"A narrator will state a question (\"what does this person say?\")",[80,932,933],{},"Another narrator will say \"one\", then you'll hear one possible response",[80,935,936],{},"This will repeat two more times",[80,938,939],{},"You'll indicate on your sheet which line of dialogue was said by the person",[80,941,828],{},[10,943,676,944,884],{},[14,945,883],{"href":946,"rel":947},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.jlpt.jp\u002Fsamples\u002Fsample2012\u002Fmp3\u002FN5Q3.mp3",[46],[453,949],{"src":950,"width":951,"height":952,"alt":953},"\u002Fassets\u002Fblog\u002Fmigaku-jlpt-n5-listening-q3.jpeg",912,772,"A screenshot of the example from the third listening section of the JLPT N5",[105,955,956,958,960],{},[108,957,847],{"bold":110,"underline":110},[113,959],{},[108,961,962,963,966],{},"\nFor this question type, the question and possible answers will \n",[50,964,965],{},"not","\n be repeated after the dialogue ends. There will be a small pause and then you will move directly onto the next question. As such, you should fill in the answer bubble as soon as you hear the right answer in the dialogue. If you're slow, you'll end up missing the audio to the next question while trying to fill in the answer to the previous question. \n",[349,968,970],{"id":969},"_4-quick-responses","4) Quick responses",[10,972,973],{},"This is a unique question type. There are no images to reference, and your test booklet is completely empty—as shown below:",[453,975],{"src":976,"width":977,"height":978,"alt":979},"\u002Fassets\u002Fblog\u002Fmigaku-jlpt-n5-listening-q4.jpeg",1136,938,"A screenshot of the example from the fourth listening section of the JLPT N5",[10,981,982],{},"All of these questions are snippets of dialogue between two people. You'll:",[77,984,985,988,991,994,997],{},[80,986,987],{},"Hear a question from the first speaker",[80,989,990],{},"Hear \"one\" and then a potential response",[80,992,993],{},"Hear two more potential responses, prefaced by \"two\" and \"three\"",[80,995,996],{},"Get ~10s of silence to fill in your answer",[80,998,999],{},"Hear a bell when the next question is about to begin",[10,1001,676,1002,1006],{},[14,1003,883],{"href":1004,"rel":1005},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.jlpt.jp\u002Fsamples\u002Fsample2012\u002Fmp3\u002FN5Q4.mp3",[46]," for this subsection of the test. Start the audio from 0:34 to try this question out.",[105,1008,1009,1011,1013],{},[108,1010,847],{"bold":110,"underline":110},[113,1012],{},[108,1014,1015],{},"\nAs with the previous question type, you should fill in your answer sheet as soon as you hear the correct answer. This section of the test moves quickly, and the answers are not repeated. You don't want to find yourself knowing that the answer is すみません, but not remembering if that was answer #1 or answer #2. \n",[330,1017,1019],{"id":1018},"answer-key","Answer key",[10,1021,1022],{},"A few goodies for you:",[77,1024,1025,1033,1040],{},[80,1026,1027,1032],{},[14,1028,1031],{"href":1029,"rel":1030},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.jlpt.jp\u002Fsamples\u002Fsample2012\u002Fpdf\u002FN5sheet.pdf",[46],"A blank answer sheet"," you can fill out and print in",[80,1034,1035],{},[14,1036,1039],{"href":1037,"rel":1038},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.jlpt.jp\u002Fsamples\u002Fsample2012\u002Fpdf\u002FN5script.pdf",[46],"A transcript of the audio from the listening-comprehension section",[80,1041,1042,801],{},[14,1043,1046],{"href":1044,"rel":1045},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.jlpt.jp\u002Fsamples\u002Fsample2012\u002Fpdf\u002FN5answer.pdf",[46],"The answer key",[10,1048,1049,1050,801],{},"Above, I've directed you to questions from the official 2012 JLPT mock test. If you'd like to do one more test, here's a link to the full ",[14,1051,1054],{"href":1052,"rel":1053},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.jlpt.jp\u002Fe\u002Fsamples\u002Fsampleindex.html",[46],"2018 JLPT mock test",[32,1056],{},[35,1058,1060],{"id":1059},"how-to-pass-the-jlpt-n5-in-about-6-months","How to pass the JLPT N5 in about 6 months",[10,1062,1063],{},"Part of the reason that it seems to take people so long to learn Japanese is that traditional approaches to learning languages just aren't very efficient.",[77,1065,1066,1074],{},[80,1067,1068,1073],{},[14,1069,1072],{"href":1070,"rel":1071},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.youtube.com\u002Fwatch?v=VcfrinKCvC4",[46],"Japanese classes are problematic","—you might only spend 5 minutes engaging with Japanese in a 50 minute lesson, and their format encourages you to cram information for a test and then forget it",[80,1075,1076,1080],{},[14,1077,1079],{"href":1078},"\u002Fblog\u002Fjapanese\u002Fthe-problem-with-textbooks","Textbooks aren't much better","—partly due to how they're organized, partly due to the limitations of paper as a medium",[10,1082,1083],{},"Now, don't get me wrong.",[10,1085,1086],{},"I definitely don't mean to belittle the difficulty of learning—or teaching—a language.",[10,1088,1089],{},"It's hard.",[10,1091,1092,1095],{},[50,1093,1094],{},"Really"," hard.",[10,1097,1098],{},"... But, when you consider that, to pass the JLPT N5, you need to know:",[77,1100,1101,1106,1111],{},[80,1102,1103],{},[14,1104,247],{"href":245,"rel":1105},[46],[80,1107,1108],{},[14,1109,254],{"href":252,"rel":1110},[46],[80,1112,1113],{},[14,1114,261],{"href":259,"rel":1115},[46],[10,1117,1118,1119,1122],{},"I think it's fair to say that it's kinda ridiculous for ",[50,1120,1121],{},"that"," to take 360 hours of work.",[10,1124,1125],{},"It doesn't need to.",[105,1127,1128],{},[10,1129,1130,1131,1136],{},"Frustrated that we couldn't find a solid program to recommend our users, we recruited a team of successful language learners and built ",[14,1132,1135],{"href":1133,"rel":1134},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.youtube.com\u002Fwatch?v=gFvZMZlUYfc",[46],"two beginner's courses"," ourselves.",[10,1138,1139,1140,1144,1145,283],{},"You'll start off by learning how to read and correctly pronounce the ",[14,1141,1143],{"href":1142},"\u002Fblog\u002Fjapanese\u002Fthe-japanese-language-hiragana","hiragana"," and ",[14,1146,1148],{"href":1147},"\u002Fblog\u002Fjapanese\u002Fthe-japanese-language-katakana","katakana",[453,1150],{"src":1151,"width":1152,"height":1153,"alt":1154},"\u002Fassets\u002Fblog\u002Fmigaku-japanese-fundamentals-new.jpeg",1730,1202,"A few screenshots from Migaku's Japanese Fundamentals course.",[10,1156,1157],{},"From there, you'll proceed to learn ~380 essential grammar patterns and ~1,800 vocabulary words:",[453,1159],{"src":1160,"width":1161,"height":1162,"alt":1163},"\u002Fassets\u002Fblog\u002Fmigaku-particle-ni-plug.jpeg",1472,1032,"A few screenshots from Migaku's Japanese Academy demonstrating how the particle に (ni) is used",[10,1165,1166],{},"What's special about these courses is that:",[77,1168,1169,1177,1187],{},[80,1170,1171,1172,1176],{},"They cover ",[14,1173,1175],{"href":1174},"\u002Fblog\u002Fjapanese\u002Fhow-to-learn-japanese-vocabulary","the specific vocabulary words you need to understand 80% of the sentences in Netflix","—the sentences have also been very carefully curated so that each \"next\" sentence only contains one word you don't know",[80,1178,1179,1180,262,1184],{},"The course is flashcard based and powered by ",[14,1181,1183],{"href":1182},"\u002Fblog\u002Flanguage-fun\u002Fspaced-repetition-language-learning","spaced repetition",[50,1185,1186],{},"(we periodically nudge you to review words to ensure that you remember them)",[80,1188,1189],{},"It's mobile-friendly and can be done with one hand",[10,1191,1192],{},"The entire learning process is guided—we determine what you should learn next and keep track of your performance to determine what you should review on a daily basis.",[10,1194,1195,1196,801],{},"As such, to learn Japanese, all you have to do is log into Migaku once a day and click ",[50,1197,1198],{},"study",[105,1200,1201],{},[10,1202,1203],{},"If you do 10 flashcards per day, you'll learn everything you need to pass the N5—and a good bit more—in about 6 months.",[10,1205,1206],{},"You can try Migaku free for ten days—which, at a pace of 23 cards per day, is just enough time to learn the hiragana and katakana.",[1208,1209],"prose-button",{"href":16,"text":1210},"Learn Japanese with Migaku",[35,1212,1214],{"id":1213},"how-to-sign-up-for-the-jlpt-n5","How to sign up for the JLPT N5",[10,1216,1217],{},"Unfortunately, we can't give you a perfect guide, here. The JLPT examinations are conducted by different institutions around the globe, and each one does things a bit differently.",[10,1219,1220],{},"Generally speaking:",[77,1222,1223,1226,1229],{},[80,1224,1225],{},"A test is offered in July and December",[80,1227,1228],{},"Registration closes ~3 months before each test (so to test in July, you'll need to register by April)",[80,1230,1231,1232,1235],{},"Results are sent out ",[50,1233,1234],{},"via mail"," about ~2 months after you finish the test (it takes so long because they're graded by machine and then verified by hand)",[10,1237,1238],{},"And now:",[330,1240,1242],{"id":1241},"if-youll-take-the-jlpt-in-japan","If you'll take the JLPT in Japan...",[10,1244,1245,1246,1251],{},"Follow ",[14,1247,1250],{"href":1248,"rel":1249},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.jlpt.jp\u002Fe\u002Fapplication\u002Fdomestic_index.html",[46],"these instructions"," on the JLPT website.",[453,1253],{"src":1254,"width":1255,"height":1256,"alt":1257},"\u002Fassets\u002Fblog\u002Fmigaku-jlpt-how-to-signup-japan.jpeg",1394,1572,"A screenshot of JEES's instructions about signing up for the JLPT",[330,1259,1261],{"id":1260},"if-youll-take-the-jlpt-abroad","If you'll take the JLPT abroad...",[10,1263,1264],{},"This is a bit more involved, unfortunately.",[1266,1267,1268,1276,1279,1282],"ol",{},[80,1269,1270,1271],{},"Select your country from ",[14,1272,1275],{"href":1273,"rel":1274},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.jlpt.jp\u002Fe\u002Fapplication\u002Foverseas_list.html",[46],"this list of global testing locations",[80,1277,1278],{},"You'll see a link to the homepage of the institution that hosts the JLPT in your country or region; click on it",[80,1280,1281],{},"Follow the instructions on your country-specific JLPT registration page",[80,1283,1284],{},"It'll cost about $100 USD",[35,1286,1288],{"id":1287},"check-list-dos-and-donts-come-test-day","[Check list] Do's and Don'ts come test day",[10,1290,1291],{},"The JLPT has very strict rules for how the test is to be conducted.",[77,1293,1294,1300,1306,1315,1327,1333,1339,1345],{},[80,1295,1296,1299],{},[160,1297,1298],{},"Print out your test voucher and registration confirmation",". You will not be allowed to enter the facility if you do not have these. A screenshot on your phone will not be accepted.",[80,1301,1302,1305],{},[160,1303,1304],{},"Bring a form of official identification","—your passport if abroad, or some sort of license if at home.",[80,1307,1308,1311,1312],{},[160,1309,1310],{},"Bring a pencil and an eraser",". Pens are not allowed. Some locations may even require you to use pencils with specific types of lead. This will be explained in the instructions sent to you upon signing up. ",[50,1313,1314],{},"(† See below.)",[80,1316,1317,1320,1321,1324,1325],{},[160,1318,1319],{},"Arrive about half an hour early",". Many tests are held at each location, and it'll take a bit of hunting to find out exactly where ",[50,1322,1323],{},"your"," test is being held. You should see a notice board near the main entrance of the facility with more information. ",[50,1326,1314],{},[80,1328,1329,1332],{},[160,1330,1331],{},"Bring an old-school watch with hands",". Any visible clocks will be covered in the testing facility, smart watches are banned, and stricter facilities may even prohibit the use of digital watches.",[80,1334,1335,1338],{},[160,1336,1337],{},"Bring some sort of bag",". You're only allowed to bring your ID, pencil, eraser, and test booklet to your desk. All other belongings must be left at the front of the room.",[80,1340,1341,1344],{},[160,1342,1343],{},"Turn off your phone."," If it rings or vibrates, you will be immediately disqualified.",[80,1346,1347,1350],{},[160,1348,1349],{},"Go to the bathroom, even if you don't think you have to",". The JLPT takes about 3 hours, and if you leave while the test is in session, you won't be allowed to re-enter.",[10,1352,1353],{},"The JLPT N5 has two breaks—one after the vocabulary section, and one after the grammar\u002Freading comprehension section. Each break is about 20 minutes long. You'll be able to go to the bathroom, eat a snack, or use your phone during this time.",[10,1355,1356,1357,1362],{},"Additionally, here's ",[14,1358,1361],{"href":1359,"rel":1360},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.jlpt.jp\u002Fsp\u002Fe\u002Ffaq\u002F",[46],"a series of FAQs from the JLPT"," that you may find useful.",[10,1364,1365,1366],{},"† Note: ",[50,1367,1368,1369,801],{},"When you sign up for the JLPT, you'll be emailed a pamphlet of instructions\u002Finformation ",[14,1370,1373],{"href":1371,"rel":1372},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.aatj.org\u002Fsites\u002Fdefault\u002Ffiles\u002Fuploads\u002F2022%20TestSiteInfo_NY.pdf",[46],"like this",[32,1375],{},[35,1377,1379,1380,1383],{"id":1378},"wanna-actually-learn-nihongo-like-for-real","... Wanna ",[50,1381,1382],{},"actually"," learn nihongo, like for real?",[10,1385,1386],{},"Standardized tests aside, I'm going to be real with you for a second:",[105,1388,1389],{},[10,1390,1391,1392],{},"The only thing you need to do to learn Japanese is interact with it. If you consume media you enjoy, and you understand some of the messages and sentences within that media, you'll make progress. ",[50,1393,1394],{},"Period.",[10,1396,1397,1398,1401],{},"You need to learn the basics from somewhere, and the JLPT is great in that it gives you a target to shoot for... but, at the end of the day, what ",[50,1399,1400],{},"really"," matters is how much time you spend engaging directly with Japanese—even as a beginner.",[10,1403,1404],{},"Anyway, that's my soap box.",[10,1406,1407],{},"Good luck on the JLPT 💪",{"title":110,"searchDepth":1409,"depth":1409,"links":1410},2,[1411,1412,1413,1414,1415,1423,1424,1428,1429],{"id":37,"depth":1409,"text":38},{"id":71,"depth":1409,"text":72},{"id":120,"depth":1409,"text":121},{"id":224,"depth":1409,"text":225},{"id":273,"depth":1409,"text":274,"children":1416},[1417,1419,1420,1421,1422],{"id":332,"depth":1418,"text":333},3,{"id":530,"depth":1418,"text":531},{"id":667,"depth":1418,"text":668},{"id":783,"depth":1418,"text":784},{"id":1018,"depth":1418,"text":1019},{"id":1059,"depth":1409,"text":1060},{"id":1213,"depth":1409,"text":1214,"children":1425},[1426,1427],{"id":1241,"depth":1418,"text":1242},{"id":1260,"depth":1418,"text":1261},{"id":1287,"depth":1409,"text":1288},{"id":1378,"depth":1409,"text":1430},"... Wanna actually learn nihongo, like for real?","The JLPT N5 is the first level of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, a test which measures how well you've learned Japanese. Here's how it works!","md",{"timestampUnix":1434,"slug":1435,"h1":1436,"image":1437,"tags":1442},1746382035000,"jlpt-n5-overview","Read this study guide → pass JLPT N5",{"src":1438,"width":1439,"height":1440,"alt":1441},"\u002Fassets\u002Fblog\u002Fmigaku-jlpt-n5-thumbnail.jpeg",1200,800,"A photo of a JLPT N5 certificate",[1443],"discussion",true,"\u002Farticle\u002Fjapanese\u002Fjapanese-n5","---\ntitle: 'Everything You Need to Know to Pass the JLPT N5 (+Sample Questions)'\ndescription: \"The JLPT N5 is the first level of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, a test which measures how well you've learned Japanese. Here's how it works!\"\ntimestampUnix: 1746382035000\nslug: 'jlpt-n5-overview'\nh1: 'Read this study guide → pass JLPT N5'\nimage:\n  src: '\u002Fassets\u002Fblog\u002Fmigaku-jlpt-n5-thumbnail.jpeg'\n  width: 1200\n  height: 800\n  alt: 'A photo of a JLPT N5 certificate'\ntags:\n  - discussion\n---\n\nSeeking external confirmation that you've successfully learned some Japanese? Or maybe you haven't even started to [learn Japanese](\u002Flearn-japanese) but just want to see what you're getting into?\n\nYou're in the right place 💪\n\nI'm not sure what you want to know about the N5, exactly, so I prepared a bit of everything. This post is long.\n\nFeel free to jump around:\n\n\u003Ctoc>\u003C\u002Ftoc>\n\n---\n\n## What is the Japanese Language Proficiency Test?\n\nThe [Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT)](https:\u002F\u002Fen.wikipedia.org\u002Fwiki\u002FJapanese-Language_Proficiency_Test) is a standardized test that evaluates and certifies the language ability of Japanese learners. _(Duh, wouldn't make sense to assess the proficiency of natives, would it?)_ It's administered twice a year (July & December) by the [Japan Foundation](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.jpf.go.jp\u002Fe\u002Fproject\u002Findex.html) outside of Japan, and by [Japan Educational Exchanges and Services (JEES)](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.jees.or.jp\u002Findex.htm) within Japan.\n\nThe test comprises five levels, and the N5 is the lowest of these levels.\n\n## How long does it take to pass the JLPT N5?\n\nThis question is sort of difficult to answer.\n\n- The JLPT themselves estimate that it will take [about 150 hours](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.tanos.co.uk\u002Fjlpt\u002Faboutjlpt\u002F)\n\n- A language school in Tokyo found that it took their full-time students [250–450 hours of study if they had prior knowledge of kanji (i.e., they spoke a Chinese language), or 325–600 hours if they didn't](https:\u002F\u002Fweb.archive.org\u002Fweb\u002F20151117033458\u002Fhttp:\u002F\u002Fwww.studytoday.com\u002FJLPT.asp?lang=EN)\n\n[This random Redditor](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.reddit.com\u002Fr\u002Fjlpt\u002Fcomments\u002F1if26qu\u002Fhow_i_passed_n5_in_4_months\u002F) passed the JLPT N5 in 4 months, studying for 3 hours a day, which works out to ~360 hours—right in line with the lower estimate from that language school.\n\n> \u003CCenteredText bold underline>Important note\u003C\u002FCenteredText>\u003Cbr>\u003CCenteredText>This is the first question that everybody asks, but it's not super useful. Everybody's routine is different. Just know that this will take time, and that learning a language is like stacking pennies: so long as you keep at it, you'll eventually come away with a dollar.\u003C\u002FCenteredText>\n\n## If you pass the N5, what will you be able to do?\n\nLet's tackle this in two directions.\n\nPer [the JLPT website](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.jlpt.jp\u002Fe\u002Fabout\u002Flevelsummary.html), passing the N5 means that:\n\n- _\"One is able to read and understand typical expressions and sentences written in hiragana, katakana, and basic kanji.\"_\n- _\"One is able to listen and comprehend conversations about topics regularly encountered in daily life and classroom situations, and is able to pick up necessary information from short conversations spoken slowly.\"_\n\nTo get more clarity on what that means, exactly, they surveyed students who barely passed the N5 and asked them about the things they did and didn't feel comfortable doing. [The full report is four pages long](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.jlpt.jp\u002Fe\u002Fabout\u002Fpdf\u002Fcdslist_e_all.pdf), but in brief:\n\n- **Listening ability:**\n  - 75%+ said they could understand self-introductions, classroom instructions, and common phrases\u002Fgreetings\n  - 50%+ said they could understand simple instructions and follow conversations on basic topics like hobbies or food\n- **Speaking ability:**\n  - 75%+ said they could introduce themselves and talk about their hobbies\n  - 50%+ said they could express their feelings and participate in basic\u002Feveryday conversations\n- **Reading ability:**\n  - 75%+ said they could read their appointment date\u002Ftime for school or the doctor\n  - 50%+ said they could skim schedules, advertisements, boards, etc to find key bits of information\n- **Writing ability:**\n  - 75%+ said they could write their name, country, and similar bits of basic information\n  - 50%+ said they could write a simple self introduction\n  - 25%+ said they could write short diary entries and memos\n\n> Generally speaking, you can take this to say that you've achieved a basic grasp on Japanese. You've got a long way to go, and that's _very_ apparent... but the language doesn't feel completely foreign anymore, either, and you probably believe that you can do this if you stick at it. (And you're right, of course: You can.)\n\n## What do you need to know in order to pass the N5?\n\nThere are no official vocabulary, kanji, or grammar lists that you \"should\" know for a particular JLPT level, so it's not possible to give a perfect answer and point you toward a nicely formatted List of Language Knowledge for JLPT Preparation. I wish I could. Sorry.\n\nHaving said that, some groups _do_ keep track of the questions that appear in official mock tests and on each JLPT, and over time this has made it possible to guesstimate how \"difficult\" the JLPT considers particular words and structures. It's not perfect—something might be on an N5 test one year but an N4 the next, and vice versa—but it's good enough to guide your learning.\n\nAgain emphasizing that this is just a ballpark guess, you'll need to know:\n\n- [600–800 vocab words](https:\u002F\u002Fen.wiktionary.org\u002Fwiki\u002FAppendix:JLPT\u002FN5)\n- [80–100 kanji](https:\u002F\u002Fen.wikibooks.org\u002Fwiki\u002FJLPT_Guide\u002FJLPT_N5_Kanji)\n- [50–100 grammar points](https:\u002F\u002Fjlptgrammarlist.neocities.org\u002F) [(alternate list)](https:\u002F\u002Fjlptsensei.com\u002Fjlpt-n5-grammar-list\u002F) (this varies so much because grammar points can be \"chunked\" in different ways)\n\n---\n\n## \\[Test breakdown] JLPT N5 exam structure, practice tests, question types, and grading scheme\n\nThe JLPT N5 is broken into [three sections](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.jlpt.jp\u002Fe\u002Fguideline\u002Ftestsections.html):\n\n- A vocabulary test\n- A grammar test and a reading test\n- A listening test\n\nThe middle two tests (grammar\u002Freading) are technically different tests, but they're contained within the same test booklet. You'll get a break between each of those three sections (so two total)—how long the break is seems to vary by location, but it'll be between 20 and 30 minutes.\n\n> To pass the test, you'll need to earn [a score of 80\u002F180†](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.jlpt.jp\u002Fsp\u002Fe\u002Fguideline\u002Fresults.html), earning at least 38 points on the first two sections and at least 19 points on the listening section. Looking at [data from the last few years](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.jlpt.jp\u002Fe\u002Fstatistics\u002Farchive.html?mode=pc), roughly 60% of test takers within Japan pass the N5 and roughly 50% of test takers outside of Japan pass it.\n\n_(† Note: Wondering how 80\u002F180 earns a pass? It's because [the JLPT is graded on a sort of curve](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.jlpt.jp\u002Fe\u002Fabout\u002Fpdf\u002Fscaledscore_e.pdf?mode=pc). Basically, you get more points if you get questions right that most people miss wrong, and vice versa. In other words, getting a good score on the JLPT is less about how many questions you get right, and more about \\*which\\* questions you get right.)_\n\nAnyway, that out of the way, let's dive into each section:\n\n### Vocabulary section (20 minutes)\n\nThe JLPT N5 will test your vocabulary in four different ways. Below I'll introduce each question type you'll encounter and give you a sample question so you can see what you're getting into.\n\n> If you'd like to go further than this, [here's the vocabulary section of a JLPT N5 mock test](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.jlpt.jp\u002Fsamples\u002Fsample2012\u002Fpdf\u002FN5V.pdf). An answer key is down below in the section entitled \"Answer Key\".\n\n#### 1) Kanji reading\n\nYou'll be shown a sentence. One kanji word in this sentence will be underlined, and your job is to indicate the reading ([on'yomi or kun'yomi](\u002Fblog\u002Fjapanese\u002Fhow-to-learn-kanji#how-japanese-kanji-work)) of this kanji.\n\nExample of an easier problem:\n\n- (#4) ちかくに\u003Cu>山\u003C\u002Fu>があります。\u003Cbr> 1. かわ \u003Cbr> 2. やま \u003Cbr> 3. いけ \u003Cbr> 4. うみ\n\nExample of a trickier problem:\n\n- (#6) ともだちといっしょに\u003Cu>学校\u003C\u002Fu>にいきます。\u003Cbr> 1. がこう \u003Cbr> 2. がこお \u003Cbr> 3. がっこう \u003Cbr> 4. がっこお\n\nAs you can see, the simpler questions simply check to see if you know roughly how a word sounds, whereas the trickier question makes sure you know exactly how it's spelled\u002Fpronounced.\n\n#### 2) Orthography\n\nThis is essentially the opposite of the kanji reading question. You'll see a sentence written _completely_ in hiragana and katakana. One word will be underlined, and you must indicate the correct way to write the word using kanji (and sometimes katakana).\n\n> This sounds simple in theory, but all of these questions are very tricky. They intentionally feature similar looking kanji, and sometimes include fake kanji. You really need to have your kanji down to get these right.\n\nHere's an example of a simpler problem. All it asks you to do is recognize the rough shape of the kanji in question.\n\n- (14) この ぼうしは 1000 えんです。\u003Cbr> 1. 1000 内 \u003Cbr> 2. 1000 用 \u003Cbr> 3. 1000 冊 \u003Cbr> 4. 1000 円\n\nHere's an example of a trickier problem, in which you're presented with four similar-looking characters and must mind small details to pick the right one. I'm including a screenshot because one of the characters is fake and not actually possible to type with a normal keyboard.\n\n\u003Cimg src=\"\u002Fassets\u002Fblog\u002Fmigaku-jlpt-n5-kanji.jpeg\" width=\"940\" height=\"176\" alt=\"A screenshot of an orthography question from the JLPT N5\" \u002F>\n\n#### 3) Contextually-defined expressions\n\nThis section consists of straightforward \"fill in the blank\" style questions. You'll see a sentence with a missing word and must choose the best word to fill in the blank.\n\n- (20) さとうさんは ギターを じょうずに(\\_\\_\\_\\_)。 \u003Cbr> 1. うたいます \u003Cbr> 2. ききます \u003Cbr> 3. ひきます \u003Cbr> 4. あそびます\n\n#### 4) Paraphrases\n\nThis section is also pretty straightforward. You'll be presented with a sentence, then will be given 4 further sentences and asked to indicate which one means nearly the same thing as the original sentence.\n\n- (30) このまちにはゆうめいな**たてもの**があります。\u003Cbr> 1. このまちにはゆうめいな**ビル**があります。\u003Cbr> 2. このまちにはゆうめいな**おちゃ**があります。\u003Cbr> 3. このまちにはゆうめいな**ケーキ**があります。\u003Cbr> 4. このまちにはゆうめいな**こうえん**があります。\n\nThese questions are actually pretty tricky on the N1 and N2, in which you get a bunch of different sentences that have overlapping nuance... but, for now, it's basically a test of your ability to spot synonyms.\n\nOnce you finish this section, you'll have a ~20 minute break before the grammar section begins.\n\n### Grammar section (~20 minutes)\n\nThis section of the test checks how well you understand how the parts of a Japanese sentence fit together. I personally think it's the easiest portion of the JLPT. Japanese grammar is complex, but this section of the test isn't.\n\nAs with the vocab section, I'll show a sample question or two in each subsection.\n\n> If you'd really like to test yourself, here's [the grammar section of a JLPT N5 mock test](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.jlpt.jp\u002Fsamples\u002Fsample2012\u002Fpdf\u002FN5G.pdf). Again, an answer key will be provided after the listening comprehension section.\n\n#### 1) Sequential grammar 1 \u002F \"Selecting the correct grammar form\"\n\nThis is another fill-in-the-blank test. You'll be shown a sentence with a blank and asked to indicate which grammar point best completes it. Sentences include heavy usage of furigana, ensuring that you never miss a question because you don't know how to read a kanji.\n\nMany of these tests are related to particles:\n\n- (5) きのう、わたしはひとり(\\_\\_\\_\\_)えいがを\u003Ctypo lang=\"ja\" syntax=\"見[み]\">\u003C\u002Ftypo>に\u003Ctypo lang=\"ja\" syntax=\"行きました[いきました]\">\u003C\u002Ftypo>。\u003Cbr> 1. が \u003Cbr> 2. を \u003Cbr> 3. で \u003Cbr> 4. は\n\nBut some of them quiz you on other things, like verb conjugation:\n\n- (12) A「\u003Ctypo lang=\"ja\" syntax=\"東京[とうきょう]\">\u003C\u002Ftypo>でも\u003Ctypo lang=\"ja\" syntax=\"雪[ゆき]\">\u003C\u002Ftypo>がふりますか。」\u003Cbr> B「ええ、ふりますよ。でも、きょねんはあまり（ ）。」\u003Cbr> 1. ふりませんでした \u003Cbr> 2. ふりません \u003Cbr> 3. ふりました \u003Cbr> 4. ふります\n\n#### 2) Sequential grammar 2 \u002F \"Sentence composition\"\n\nNot to scare you off, but this section is infamous for causing chaos. Take a glance at it, first, and see what you make of it:\n\n\u003Cimg src=\"\u002Fassets\u002Fblog\u002Fmigaku-jlpt-n5-grammar-2.jpeg\" width=\"968\" height=\"240\" alt=\"A screenshot from the JLPT N5, showing one of the types of grammar questions it features\" \u002F>\n\nEach of the question items (1–4) goes in one of the blanks. Your job is to un-jumble the sentence, then indicate which item goes in the 3rd blank (which has a star).\n\nThese aren't too bad when you get the hang of them, but they're tricky in the moment when you're stressed out. Make a point to drill several before taking the JLPT for real!\n\n#### 3) Text grammar\n\nThis is basically the same deal as Sequential Grammar 1—there's a blank in the middle of the sentence, and you need to indicate which Japanese word, particle, or whatever is the best option to fill in that blank.\n\nThe difference is that where you were previously dealing with sentences in isolation, _now_ you're dealing with something like this:\n\n\u003Cimg src=\"\u002Fassets\u002Fblog\u002Fmigaku-jlpt-n5-grammar-3.jpeg\" width=\"992\" height=\"974\" alt=\"A screenshot of the 'text grammar' portion of a JLPT N5 test\" \u002F>\n\nEach blank is numbered, and that number corresponds to a question. For example, below, your task is to identify the word that goes in the blank labeled 22.\n\n\u003Cimg src=\"\u002Fassets\u002Fblog\u002Fmigaku-jlpt-n5-3q.jpeg\" width=\"684\" height=\"182\" alt=\"A screenshot from the JLPT N5, showing one of the questions following the 'text grammar' section\" \u002F>\n\n### Reading comprehension section (~20 minutes)\n\nThat last grammar question was pretty long! This trend continues in the reading section, but rather than testing your ability to complete sentences in a natural fashion, you're instead tested more generally on how well you comprehend the text in question.\n\n> Here's [the reading comprehension section of a JLPT N5 mock test](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.jlpt.jp\u002Fsamples\u002Fsample2012\u002Fpdf\u002FN5R.pdf), for reference. It starts from #27 because it's actually a continuation of the grammar section. Once again, the answer key will be in the next-next section.\n\n#### 1) Comprehension (short passages)\n\nThere's actually quite a bit of variety here: you might be dealing with a simple paragraph, you might be looking at a memo, you might be referencing an image. However it works out, the process will be the same: see a brief text, answer a single question about it.\n\nFor example, you'll see a text like this:\n\n\u003Cimg src=\"\u002Fassets\u002Fblog\u002Fmigaku-jlpt-n5-reading1a.jpeg\" width=\"986\" height=\"242\" alt=\"One of the texts from the 'short passage' portion of the JLPT N5 reading test\" \u002F>\n\nThen you'll be asked to identify which room the text is describing:\n\n\u003Cimg src=\"\u002Fassets\u002Fblog\u002Fmigaku-jlpt-n5-reading-1b.jpeg\" width=\"946\" height=\"750\" alt=\"The second half of the same 'short passage' question, showing the question that follows the passage\" \u002F>\n\n#### 2) Comprehension (medium passages)\n\nThis is basically the same thing as the previous section but with a longer paragraph. Since the text is longer, you'll be asked two or three questions about it, instead of just one.\n\nSo you'll read a text like this:\n\n\u003Cimg src=\"\u002Fassets\u002Fblog\u002Fmigaku-jlpt-n5-reading-2a.jpeg\" width=\"990\" height=\"624\" alt=\"The reading passage of the 'medium passages' portion of the JLPT N5\" \u002F>\n\nThen be asked a couple questions like this:\n\n- (30) どうしてこまりましたか。 \u003Cbr> 1. おそい\u003Ctypo lang=\"ja\" syntax=\"時間[じかん]\">\u003C\u002Ftypo>に\u003Ctypo lang=\"ja\" syntax=\"駅[えき]\">\u003C\u002Ftypo>に\u003Ctypo lang=\"ja\" syntax=\"着いた[ついた]\">\u003C\u002Ftypo>から \u003Cbr> 2. しごとがたくさんあったから \u003Cbr> 3. とてもつかれたから \u003Cbr> 4. かさがなかったから\n\n#### 3) Information retrieval\n\nHere, you'll look at some sort of graphic. It might be an ad, it might be a schedule, it might be a webpage—basically, it'll be some sort of display which has information on it.\n\nSo you'll see something like this on the right-hand page of your test booklet:\n\n\u003Cimg src=\"\u002Fassets\u002Fblog\u002Fmigaku-jlpt-n5-reading-3a.jpeg\" width=\"976\" height=\"1248\" alt=\"A screenshot from the JLPT N5, showing an ad used for the information retrieval section\" \u002F>\n\nAnd then you'll see a question or two on the left-hand page of your test booklet:\n\n\u003Cimg src=\"\u002Fassets\u002Fblog\u002Fmigaku-jlpt-n5-reading-q3b.jpeg\" width=\"976\" height=\"474\" alt=\"A screenshot from the JLPT N5, showing a question you'll have to answer about an ad\" \u002F>\n\nAnd with that, you've earned yourself a break! You'll have 20–30 minutes to relax or go to the bathroom.\n\n### Listening comprehension section (~30 minutes)\n\nWe now shift gears completely: you've been using your eyes, and now you have to use your ears. You'll hear snippets of a variety of conversations—some casual, some formal—and have your comprehension tested in a few different ways.\n\nIt's worth mentioning that JLPT listening questions are less a test of your ability to generally follow the gist of a conversation and more a test of your ability to identify and remember key bits of information within a conversation. Some people find this troublesome, while others feel that listening is the easiest portion of the test.\n\n> Again, if you want to follow along, here's the question sheet for [the listening comprehension section of a JLPT N5 mock test](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.jlpt.jp\u002Fsamples\u002Fsample2012\u002Fpdf\u002FN5L.pdf).\n\n#### 1) Task-based comprehension\n\nA narrator will introduce a situation to you—here, they say \"A teacher is talking in class\". You'll then be given a task—here, they say \"Today, where (which portion) should the students study at home?\"\n\nFrom here:\n\n- You'll listen to the dialogue (20–30s)\n- A bell will ring, signaling that the dialogue is over\n- The narrator will repeat the question\n- There will be a ~10 second pause for you to review the images in your booklet and indicate the correct answer\n- You'll hear a bell when the next question is about to begin\n\nHere's [\"the audio](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.jlpt.jp\u002Fsamples\u002Fsample2012\u002Fmp3\u002FN5Q1.mp3) for this subsection of the test. Start the audio at 1:30 if you'd like to try the below question.\n\n\u003Cimg src=\"\u002Fassets\u002Fblog\u002Fmigaku-jlpt-n5-listening-q1.jpeg\" width=\"922\" height=\"706\" alt=\"A screenshot of the example from the first listening section of the JLPT N5\" \u002F>\n\n> \u003CCenteredText bold underline>Strategy\u003C\u002FCenteredText>\u003Cbr>\u003CCenteredText>Reference the images while listening to the dialogue. As you listen, you'll get several little hints—\"it's on page 21\" or \"do we need to do the entire page? No.\" and so forth. For this reason, this question type is relatively forgiving. Even if you don't understand a bit of the dialogue, you'll still be able to eliminate one or two of the options. \u003C\u002FCenteredText>\n\n#### 2) Comprehension of key points\n\nA narrator will introduce a situation—here, they say \"A man and a woman are talking.\" You'll then be asked to pick a specific bit out of the conversation—here, that is \"yesterday, where did the man go?\". The narrator will then state who is about to start talking and the question will begin.\n\nFrom here, you'll:\n\n- Listen to the dialogue\n- A bell will ring, signaling that the dialogue is over\n- The narrator will repeat the question\n- You'll have about 15 seconds to read through the possible answers and select the best one\n- You'll hear a bell when the next question is about to begin\n\nHere's [the audio](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.jlpt.jp\u002Fsamples\u002Fsample2017\u002Fmp3\u002FN5Q2.mp3) for this subsection of the test. Start it at 0:40 if you'd like to try the below question.\n\n\u003Cimg src=\"\u002Fassets\u002Fblog\u002Fmigaku-jlpt-n5-listening-q2.jpeg\" width=\"808\" height=\"304\" alt=\"A screenshot of the example from the second listening section of the JLPT N5\" \u002F>\n\nThis question type is similar to the previous one, but it's different in that (a) there's no visual reference and (b) instead of listening for multiple hints spread out through an entire dialogue, you're listening for one specific bit of information.\n\n> \u003CCenteredText bold underline>Strategy\u003C\u002FCenteredText>\u003Cbr>\u003CCenteredText>This section demands the most focus of the entire test. If you zone out and miss the 2 seconds of audio in which the answer is stated, you'll get the question wrong, even if you understand everything else perfectly. For this reason, you _shouldn't_ read the answers and listen to the audio at the same time. You can't half-listen for this question. \u003C\u002FCenteredText>\n\n#### 3) Verbal expressions\n\nThis question type is sort of like role playing. You'll see a picture of a situation with multiple people and there will be an arrow pointing at one person. You'll then hear several one-line sentences, and must indicate which of these sentences it's most reasonable that this person might have said.\n\nWhat's challenging about this question type is that the questions aren't written down: your answer sheet contains nothing but bubbles labeled 1, 2, and 3. The image shows you the situation, but you can only get information by listening to the audio.\n\nTo break this down a bit further:\n\n- You'll first see the image and assess the situation\n- A narrator will introduce a situation (\"calling to a restaurant worker\")\n- A narrator will state a question (\"what does this person say?\")\n- Another narrator will say \"one\", then you'll hear one possible response\n- This will repeat two more times\n- You'll indicate on your sheet which line of dialogue was said by the person\n- You'll hear a bell when the next question is about to begin\n\nHere's [the audio](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.jlpt.jp\u002Fsamples\u002Fsample2012\u002Fmp3\u002FN5Q3.mp3) for this subsection of the test. Start it at 0:40 if you'd like to try the below question.\n\n\u003Cimg src=\"\u002Fassets\u002Fblog\u002Fmigaku-jlpt-n5-listening-q3.jpeg\" width=\"912\" height=\"772\" alt=\"A screenshot of the example from the third listening section of the JLPT N5\" \u002F>\n\n> \u003CCenteredText bold underline>Strategy\u003C\u002FCenteredText>\u003Cbr>\u003CCenteredText>For this question type, the question and possible answers will _not_ be repeated after the dialogue ends. There will be a small pause and then you will move directly onto the next question. As such, you should fill in the answer bubble as soon as you hear the right answer in the dialogue. If you're slow, you'll end up missing the audio to the next question while trying to fill in the answer to the previous question. \u003C\u002FCenteredText>\n\n#### 4) Quick responses\n\nThis is a unique question type. There are no images to reference, and your test booklet is completely empty—as shown below:\n\n\u003Cimg src=\"\u002Fassets\u002Fblog\u002Fmigaku-jlpt-n5-listening-q4.jpeg\" width=\"1136\" height=\"938\" alt=\"A screenshot of the example from the fourth listening section of the JLPT N5\" \u002F>\n\nAll of these questions are snippets of dialogue between two people. You'll:\n\n- Hear a question from the first speaker\n- Hear \"one\" and then a potential response\n- Hear two more potential responses, prefaced by \"two\" and \"three\"\n- Get ~10s of silence to fill in your answer\n- Hear a bell when the next question is about to begin\n\nHere's [the audio](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.jlpt.jp\u002Fsamples\u002Fsample2012\u002Fmp3\u002FN5Q4.mp3) for this subsection of the test. Start the audio from 0:34 to try this question out.\n\n> \u003CCenteredText bold underline>Strategy\u003C\u002FCenteredText>\u003Cbr>\u003CCenteredText>As with the previous question type, you should fill in your answer sheet as soon as you hear the correct answer. This section of the test moves quickly, and the answers are not repeated. You don't want to find yourself knowing that the answer is すみません, but not remembering if that was answer #1 or answer #2. \u003C\u002FCenteredText>\n\n### Answer key\n\nA few goodies for you:\n\n- [A blank answer sheet](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.jlpt.jp\u002Fsamples\u002Fsample2012\u002Fpdf\u002FN5sheet.pdf) you can fill out and print in\n- [A transcript of the audio from the listening-comprehension section](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.jlpt.jp\u002Fsamples\u002Fsample2012\u002Fpdf\u002FN5script.pdf)\n- [The answer key](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.jlpt.jp\u002Fsamples\u002Fsample2012\u002Fpdf\u002FN5answer.pdf).\n\nAbove, I've directed you to questions from the official 2012 JLPT mock test. If you'd like to do one more test, here's a link to the full [2018 JLPT mock test](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.jlpt.jp\u002Fe\u002Fsamples\u002Fsampleindex.html).\n\n---\n\n## How to pass the JLPT N5 in about 6 months\n\nPart of the reason that it seems to take people so long to learn Japanese is that traditional approaches to learning languages just aren't very efficient.\n\n- [Japanese classes are problematic](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.youtube.com\u002Fwatch?v=VcfrinKCvC4)—you might only spend 5 minutes engaging with Japanese in a 50 minute lesson, and their format encourages you to cram information for a test and then forget it\n- [Textbooks aren't much better](\u002Fblog\u002Fjapanese\u002Fthe-problem-with-textbooks)—partly due to how they're organized, partly due to the limitations of paper as a medium\n\nNow, don't get me wrong.\n\nI definitely don't mean to belittle the difficulty of learning—or teaching—a language.\n\nIt's hard.\n\n_Really_ hard.\n\n... But, when you consider that, to pass the JLPT N5, you need to know:\n\n- [600–800 vocab words](https:\u002F\u002Fen.wiktionary.org\u002Fwiki\u002FAppendix:JLPT\u002FN5)\n- [80–100 kanji](https:\u002F\u002Fen.wikibooks.org\u002Fwiki\u002FJLPT_Guide\u002FJLPT_N5_Kanji)\n- [50–100 grammar points](https:\u002F\u002Fjlptgrammarlist.neocities.org\u002F)\n\nI think it's fair to say that it's kinda ridiculous for _that_ to take 360 hours of work.\n\nIt doesn't need to.\n\n> Frustrated that we couldn't find a solid program to recommend our users, we recruited a team of successful language learners and built [two beginner's courses](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.youtube.com\u002Fwatch?v=gFvZMZlUYfc) ourselves.\n\nYou'll start off by learning how to read and correctly pronounce the [hiragana](\u002Fblog\u002Fjapanese\u002Fthe-japanese-language-hiragana) and [katakana](\u002Fblog\u002Fjapanese\u002Fthe-japanese-language-katakana):\n\n\u003Cimg src=\"\u002Fassets\u002Fblog\u002Fmigaku-japanese-fundamentals-new.jpeg\" width=\"1730\" height=\"1202\" alt=\"A few screenshots from Migaku's Japanese Fundamentals course.\" \u002F>\n\nFrom there, you'll proceed to learn ~380 essential grammar patterns and ~1,800 vocabulary words:\n\n\u003Cimg src=\"\u002Fassets\u002Fblog\u002Fmigaku-particle-ni-plug.jpeg\" width=\"1472\" height=\"1032\" alt=\"A few screenshots from Migaku's Japanese Academy demonstrating how the particle に (ni) is used\" \u002F>\n\nWhat's special about these courses is that:\n\n- They cover [the specific vocabulary words you need to understand 80% of the sentences in Netflix](\u002Fblog\u002Fjapanese\u002Fhow-to-learn-japanese-vocabulary)—the sentences have also been very carefully curated so that each \"next\" sentence only contains one word you don't know\n- The course is flashcard based and powered by [spaced repetition](\u002Fblog\u002Flanguage-fun\u002Fspaced-repetition-language-learning) _(we periodically nudge you to review words to ensure that you remember them)_\n- It's mobile-friendly and can be done with one hand\n\nThe entire learning process is guided—we determine what you should learn next and keep track of your performance to determine what you should review on a daily basis.\n\nAs such, to learn Japanese, all you have to do is log into Migaku once a day and click _study_.\n\n> If you do 10 flashcards per day, you'll learn everything you need to pass the N5—and a good bit more—in about 6 months.\n\nYou can try Migaku free for ten days—which, at a pace of 23 cards per day, is just enough time to learn the hiragana and katakana.\n\n\u003Cprose-button href=\"\u002Flearn-japanese\" text=\"Learn Japanese with Migaku\">\u003C\u002Fprose-button>\n\n## How to sign up for the JLPT N5\n\nUnfortunately, we can't give you a perfect guide, here. The JLPT examinations are conducted by different institutions around the globe, and each one does things a bit differently.\n\nGenerally speaking:\n\n- A test is offered in July and December\n- Registration closes ~3 months before each test (so to test in July, you'll need to register by April)\n- Results are sent out _via mail_ about ~2 months after you finish the test (it takes so long because they're graded by machine and then verified by hand)\n\nAnd now:\n\n### If you'll take the JLPT in Japan...\n\nFollow [these instructions](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.jlpt.jp\u002Fe\u002Fapplication\u002Fdomestic_index.html) on the JLPT website.\n\n\u003Cimg src=\"\u002Fassets\u002Fblog\u002Fmigaku-jlpt-how-to-signup-japan.jpeg\" width=\"1394\" height=\"1572\" alt=\"A screenshot of JEES's instructions about signing up for the JLPT\" \u002F>\n\n### If you'll take the JLPT abroad...\n\nThis is a bit more involved, unfortunately.\n\n1. Select your country from [this list of global testing locations](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.jlpt.jp\u002Fe\u002Fapplication\u002Foverseas_list.html)\n2. You'll see a link to the homepage of the institution that hosts the JLPT in your country or region; click on it\n3. Follow the instructions on your country-specific JLPT registration page\n4. It'll cost about $100 USD\n\n## \\[Check list] Do's and Don'ts come test day\n\nThe JLPT has very strict rules for how the test is to be conducted.\n\n- **Print out your test voucher and registration confirmation**. You will not be allowed to enter the facility if you do not have these. A screenshot on your phone will not be accepted.\n- **Bring a form of official identification**—your passport if abroad, or some sort of license if at home.\n- **Bring a pencil and an eraser**. Pens are not allowed. Some locations may even require you to use pencils with specific types of lead. This will be explained in the instructions sent to you upon signing up. _(† See below.)_\n- **Arrive about half an hour early**. Many tests are held at each location, and it'll take a bit of hunting to find out exactly where _your_ test is being held. You should see a notice board near the main entrance of the facility with more information. _(† See below.)_\n- **Bring an old-school watch with hands**. Any visible clocks will be covered in the testing facility, smart watches are banned, and stricter facilities may even prohibit the use of digital watches.\n- **Bring some sort of bag**. You're only allowed to bring your ID, pencil, eraser, and test booklet to your desk. All other belongings must be left at the front of the room.\n- **Turn off your phone.** If it rings or vibrates, you will be immediately disqualified.\n- **Go to the bathroom, even if you don't think you have to**. The JLPT takes about 3 hours, and if you leave while the test is in session, you won't be allowed to re-enter.\n\nThe JLPT N5 has two breaks—one after the vocabulary section, and one after the grammar\u002Freading comprehension section. Each break is about 20 minutes long. You'll be able to go to the bathroom, eat a snack, or use your phone during this time.\n\nAdditionally, here's [a series of FAQs from the JLPT](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.jlpt.jp\u002Fsp\u002Fe\u002Ffaq\u002F) that you may find useful.\n\n† Note: _When you sign up for the JLPT, you'll be emailed a pamphlet of instructions\u002Finformation [like this](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.aatj.org\u002Fsites\u002Fdefault\u002Ffiles\u002Fuploads\u002F2022%20TestSiteInfo_NY.pdf)._\n\n---\n\n## ... Wanna _actually_ learn nihongo, like for real?\n\nStandardized tests aside, I'm going to be real with you for a second:\n\n> The only thing you need to do to learn Japanese is interact with it. If you consume media you enjoy, and you understand some of the messages and sentences within that media, you'll make progress. _Period._\n\nYou need to learn the basics from somewhere, and the JLPT is great in that it gives you a target to shoot for... but, at the end of the day, what _really_ matters is how much time you spend engaging directly with Japanese—even as a beginner.\n\nAnyway, that's my soap box.\n\nGood luck on the JLPT 💪\n",{"title":5,"description":1431},"article\u002Fjapanese\u002Fjapanese-n5","whVs4Cr2-o_VMU5YK4RpClyS0PXiWgb3otfO0EvyQw4","May 4, 2025",{"approximate_member_count":1452},20266,null,[1455],{"id":4,"title":5,"body":1456,"description":1431,"extension":1432,"meta":2357,"navigation":1444,"path":1445,"rawbody":1446,"seo":2360,"stem":1448,"__hash__":1449,"timestampUnix":1434,"slug":1435,"h1":1436,"image":2358,"tags":2359},{"type":7,"value":1457,"toc":2337},[1458,1462,1464,1466,1468,1470,1472,1474,1487,1489,1491,1493,1505,1510,1518,1520,1522,1527,1537,1542,1586,1592,1594,1596,1600,1602,1622,1624,1626,1631,1639,1641,1651,1658,1660,1662,1664,1671,1673,1677,1679,1693,1695,1709,1711,1713,1717,1721,1723,1735,1737,1739,1741,1743,1755,1757,1759,1781,1783,1785,1787,1789,1791,1798,1800,1802,1804,1820,1822,1840,1842,1844,1846,1848,1850,1852,1854,1858,1860,1862,1864,1866,1868,1875,1877,1879,1881,1883,1885,1887,1889,1891,1893,1895,1897,1915,1917,1919,1921,1923,1925,1927,1929,1931,1933,1935,1942,1944,1946,1948,1960,1965,1967,1975,1977,1979,1981,1993,1998,2000,2002,2012,2014,2016,2018,2020,2036,2041,2043,2053,2055,2057,2059,2061,2073,2078,2086,2088,2090,2107,2112,2114,2116,2118,2129,2131,2133,2135,2139,2141,2158,2162,2164,2171,2177,2179,2181,2183,2185,2199,2201,2205,2209,2211,2213,2215,2217,2219,2229,2231,2233,2238,2240,2242,2244,2257,2259,2261,2301,2303,2308,2315,2317,2321,2323,2329,2333,2335],[10,1459,12,1460,18],{},[14,1461,17],{"href":16},[10,1463,21],{},[10,1465,24],{},[10,1467,27],{},[29,1469],{},[32,1471],{},[35,1473,38],{"id":37},[10,1475,41,1476,48,1479,53,1481,59,1484,65],{},[14,1477,47],{"href":44,"rel":1478},[46],[50,1480,52],{},[14,1482,58],{"href":56,"rel":1483},[46],[14,1485,64],{"href":62,"rel":1486},[46],[10,1488,68],{},[35,1490,72],{"id":71},[10,1492,75],{},[77,1494,1495,1500],{},[80,1496,82,1497],{},[14,1498,87],{"href":85,"rel":1499},[46],[80,1501,90,1502],{},[14,1503,95],{"href":93,"rel":1504},[46],[10,1506,1507,103],{},[14,1508,102],{"href":100,"rel":1509},[46],[105,1511,1512,1514,1516],{},[108,1513,111],{"bold":110,"underline":110},[113,1515],{},[108,1517,117],{},[35,1519,121],{"id":120},[10,1521,124],{},[10,1523,127,1524,133],{},[14,1525,132],{"href":130,"rel":1526},[46],[77,1528,1529,1533],{},[80,1530,1531],{},[50,1532,140],{},[80,1534,1535],{},[50,1536,145],{},[10,1538,148,1539,154],{},[14,1540,153],{"href":151,"rel":1541},[46],[77,1543,1544,1554,1564,1574],{},[80,1545,1546,1548],{},[160,1547,162],{},[77,1549,1550,1552],{},[80,1551,167],{},[80,1553,170],{},[80,1555,1556,1558],{},[160,1557,175],{},[77,1559,1560,1562],{},[80,1561,180],{},[80,1563,183],{},[80,1565,1566,1568],{},[160,1567,188],{},[77,1569,1570,1572],{},[80,1571,193],{},[80,1573,196],{},[80,1575,1576,1578],{},[160,1577,201],{},[77,1579,1580,1582,1584],{},[80,1581,206],{},[80,1583,209],{},[80,1585,212],{},[105,1587,1588],{},[10,1589,217,1590,221],{},[50,1591,220],{},[35,1593,225],{"id":224},[10,1595,228],{},[10,1597,231,1598,235],{},[50,1599,234],{},[10,1601,238],{},[77,1603,1604,1609,1614],{},[80,1605,1606],{},[14,1607,247],{"href":245,"rel":1608},[46],[80,1610,1611],{},[14,1612,254],{"href":252,"rel":1613},[46],[80,1615,1616,262,1619,268],{},[14,1617,261],{"href":259,"rel":1618},[46],[14,1620,267],{"href":265,"rel":1621},[46],[32,1623],{},[35,1625,274],{"id":273},[10,1627,277,1628,283],{},[14,1629,282],{"href":280,"rel":1630},[46],[77,1632,1633,1635,1637],{},[80,1634,288],{},[80,1636,291],{},[80,1638,294],{},[10,1640,297],{},[105,1642,1643],{},[10,1644,302,1645,308,1648,314],{},[14,1646,307],{"href":305,"rel":1647},[46],[14,1649,313],{"href":311,"rel":1650},[46],[10,1652,1653],{},[50,1654,319,1655,325],{},[14,1656,324],{"href":322,"rel":1657},[46],[10,1659,328],{},[330,1661,333],{"id":332},[10,1663,336],{},[105,1665,1666],{},[10,1667,341,1668,347],{},[14,1669,346],{"href":344,"rel":1670},[46],[349,1672,352],{"id":351},[10,1674,355,1675,360],{},[14,1676,359],{"href":358},[10,1678,363],{},[77,1680,1681],{},[80,1682,368,1683,373,1685,376,1687,379,1689,382,1691,385],{},[370,1684,372],{},[113,1686],{},[113,1688],{},[113,1690],{},[113,1692],{},[10,1694,388],{},[77,1696,1697],{},[80,1698,393,1699,397,1701,400,1703,403,1705,406,1707,409],{},[370,1700,396],{},[113,1702],{},[113,1704],{},[113,1706],{},[113,1708],{},[10,1710,412],{},[349,1712,416],{"id":415},[10,1714,419,1715,423],{},[50,1716,422],{},[105,1718,1719],{},[10,1720,428],{},[10,1722,431],{},[77,1724,1725],{},[80,1726,436,1727,439,1729,442,1731,445,1733,448],{},[113,1728],{},[113,1730],{},[113,1732],{},[113,1734],{},[10,1736,451],{},[453,1738],{"src":455,"width":456,"height":457,"alt":458},[349,1740,462],{"id":461},[10,1742,465],{},[77,1744,1745],{},[80,1746,470,1747,473,1749,476,1751,479,1753,482],{},[113,1748],{},[113,1750],{},[113,1752],{},[113,1754],{},[349,1756,486],{"id":485},[10,1758,489],{},[77,1760,1761],{},[80,1762,494,1763,373,1765,500,1767,373,1769,506,1771,373,1773,512,1775,373,1777,518,1779,373],{},[160,1764,497],{},[113,1766],{},[160,1768,503],{},[113,1770],{},[160,1772,509],{},[113,1774],{},[160,1776,515],{},[113,1778],{},[160,1780,521],{},[10,1782,524],{},[10,1784,527],{},[330,1786,531],{"id":530},[10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