JLPT December 2026 Study Plan: 7 Weeks With 10 Minutes of Speaking a Day

The plan in four habits

Everything below comes down to four habits. Say your goal out loud once, because a sentence you have said is a sentence you believe. Speak for ten minutes every day, because production turns slow recognition into instant recognition. Take mock tests under real timing, because the JLPT is as much a test of pace as of knowledge. And review mistakes, because a mock test you do not review is only a measurement, not study.

The four lines below are the plan in Japanese. Say them now; they are also good N5 and N4 grammar.

What the JLPT tests, and what it does not

The Japanese-Language Proficiency Test has five levels, N5 (easiest) to N1. Every level is multiple choice and marked by machine. N1 and N2 are split into two test sessions: language knowledge (vocabulary and grammar) together with reading, then listening. N3, N4 and N5 are split into three: vocabulary, then grammar with reading, then listening. Scores are scaled to 180 points, and you need both an overall pass mark and a minimum score in each scored section, so you cannot ignore listening and make it up with kanji.

There is no speaking and no writing. That is why some people pass N2 and still freeze when a coworker asks them a question. Treat the next seven weeks as a chance to avoid that: everything you study, you will also say.

Registration for the December session closed in most countries in September or early October. If you have a test voucher (受験票, jukenhyō) on the way, this plan is for you. If you missed it, the same seven weeks still work as a dry run for the July 2027 session.

Week by week, 18 October to 6 December

Each week has one main job. Keep the speaking column every single day; it is the smallest item and the easiest to drop, which is exactly why it is written down.

Two mock tests are enough. The first shows you where to spend the middle weeks; the second shows you whether it worked and trains the pacing. A third one in the final week only costs sleep.

Why ten minutes of speaking helps a test with no speaking

Multiple-choice grammar questions reward recognition speed. If you have only ever read a pattern like ～ばよかった, you decode it each time: ba, past, good, oh, regret. If you have said ～ばよかった about your own week thirty times, it arrives as a single meaning and you move on with seconds to spare. The listening section is even clearer: the dialogues are conversational Japanese, and the learners who follow them are the ones who have spoken conversational Japanese.

The ten minutes are not free conversation about anything. They use the same material you are studying for the exam, so no time is lost. Here is the kind of self-talk that counts, using patterns from N4 and N3.

Notice that these are the exam's own grammar: ～ばよかった, ～ことがあります, ～たら. Saying them about your real study makes them yours.

Test day: the Japanese you will hear and need

The test is run in Japanese, with instructions that are deliberately simple and the same at every venue. The proctor will check your voucher and ID, tell you when to open the booklet, and tell you when to stop. The listening section begins with a spoken example. Knowing these lines in advance removes one small layer of stress.

Bring several HB pencils or a mechanical pencil, a plain eraser, and a watch without any smart functions. Phones must be switched off and put away; venues are strict about this, so do not rely on your phone for the time.

Mistakes that cost points in the last seven weeks

• Starting a new textbook. Seven weeks is for patching, not for a new course. Finish what you have, then drill from your mistake list.
• Studying only kanji and vocabulary because they feel measurable. Reading speed and listening are where most candidates actually lose the pass.
• Doing mock tests untimed. The question types are not hard; doing them fast enough is. Use a timer from week 1.
• Reviewing nothing. Every wrong answer goes into one notebook with the correct answer and one sentence you say aloud using it.
• Dropping the speaking when you feel behind. Ten minutes of speaking is the cheapest listening practice you can buy.
• An all-night session on 5 December. Reading comprehension collapses with fatigue faster than any other skill.

After the test: talking about it

On the evening of 6 December you will want to talk about the exam, and on 7 December your speaking plan starts for real, because now the knowledge is there to be used. Here is the conversation you will have with a classmate or a Japanese friend. Casual forms are shown where a friend would use them.

The last line is the point of the whole plan. A JLPT certificate opens doors, but what people on the other side of the door will do is talk to you.