Study plans and JLPT
Practical guides on speaking, grammar, pronunciation, listening, and study planning, written for learners who want to use Japanese in real life.
Study plans and JLPT · Page 10
JLPT N3 Vocabulary by Topic: Abstract Nouns, Suru Verbs, Adverbs and Expressions
Typical JLPT N3 vocabulary is where Japanese turns abstract: words like eikyō, keikō and kekkyoku that describe causes, tendencies and outcomes rather than objects, and the only reliable way to learn them is inside the sentences they live in.
13 min readJLPT N4 Vocabulary by Topic: Daily Life, Work, Travel, Feelings and Verb Pairs
Typical JLPT N4 vocabulary adds about 800 words to the N5 core, and most of them fall into five topics: running a home, working and studying, travelling, describing feelings, and the transitive and intransitive verb pairs that the test loves.
13 min readJLPT N5 Practice Questions Explained: Every Format, Its Trap and How to Drill It
The JLPT N5 paper uses seven question formats, and each one has a predictable trap: knowing what the trap is and drilling for it specifically is worth more than another hundred flashcards.
13 min readJLPT N5 Vocabulary by Topic: 100 Words, Example Sentences and a Study Order
Typical JLPT N5 vocabulary is the everyday core of Japanese, roughly 700 to 800 words about time, family, school, food, movement and description, and the fastest way to learn it is by topic, in sentences, in a fixed order.
13 min readJapanese Comprehensible Input Method: What It Is and How to Use It Properly
Comprehensible input means listening to and reading Japanese you mostly understand already, so the small unknown parts get learned from context; it builds listening and vocabulary powerfully, but it needs a speaking partner to turn understanding into conversation.
13 min readJapanese Input vs Output Balance: How Much to Listen, How Much to Speak
Most Japanese learners do best with input making up the larger share of study time at every level, output growing from about a fifth of the week as a beginner to a third or more at intermediate, and regular feedback on that output so the two actually connect.
13 min readJapanese Learning During a Trip to Japan: Turn Short Trips into Real Practice
A one to three week trip to Japan becomes real language practice when you set a small daily speaking target, prepare the phrases for tomorrow's situations the night before, and write down what you heard so you can study it afterwards.
13 min readJapanese One Year Study Plan from Zero: Month by Month to Real Conversations
In one year from zero, a learner who studies five to fifteen hours a week can read kana fluently, know around 1,500 to 2,500 words and 300 to 600 kanji, and hold slow but genuine everyday conversations, provided speaking starts in the first month rather than the last.
13 min readJapanese Sentence Mining: How to Collect, Card and Speak the Sentences You Meet
Sentence mining means collecting real Japanese sentences you almost understand from shows, books and conversations, turning each into a review card with one new element, and then saying those sentences aloud until the new word or pattern is yours.
13 min readJapanese Advanced Learner Mistakes: Fossilised Errors at N2 and N1
Advanced Japanese learners rarely make beginner errors; their mistakes are fossilised habits such as mixed keigo levels, collocations translated from English, particles dropped at speed and reading vocabulary used in speech, and each needs a different fix.
13 min readLearning Japanese and Another Language at Once: Interference and Scheduling
You can learn Japanese and a second language at the same time if you keep them on separate days or in separate blocks, give each its own identity, and use the overlap deliberately, such as kanji from Chinese or grammar from Korean, instead of letting it happen by accident.
13 min readGenkō Yōshi: How to Write on Japanese Manuscript Paper
Genkō yōshi has a rule for nearly every square. Teachers notice those rules before they read a word of your essay.
6 min readPractical guides
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