How to Learn JLPT N5 Vocabulary in 6 Weeks
To learn JLPT N5 vocabulary in time for the exam, learn about 15 new words a day, grouped by topic, and review old words every day. At that pace you can cover a full N5 list of around 600 words in six weeks, which is just enough time before the test on Sunday 6 December 2026.
You can test yourself as you go with our JLPT N5 vocabulary quiz and list, which has 611 words and phrases with kana readings, romaji and English, plus a printable PDF.
How many words do you need for the JLPT N5?
The JLPT has not published an official vocabulary list since 2010, so every N5 list is an estimate. Most put N5 at roughly 600 to 800 words. Our list has 611 core words and phrases, which covers the everyday vocabulary that comes up again and again: greetings, numbers, time, common verbs, food, places and describing things.
A 6-week JLPT N5 vocabulary plan
Learning by topic makes words easier to remember, because related words support each other. This plan follows the topics in our N5 list, so you can open the same topic in the quiz to check yourself at the end of each week.
| Week | Topics | Words |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Greetings and manners, everyday phrases, questions and answers | 96 |
| 2 | Numbers and counters, time and dates | 92 |
| 3 | Everyday verbs, describing things, colours, connecting words | 111 |
| 4 | Family and people, feelings, the body, home and daily routines | 88 |
| 5 | Food and eating out, shopping and money, around town, trains and travel | 95 |
| 6 | Countries, school and work, clothes, seasons and weather, nature, hobbies and everything else | 129 |
Week 6 is the biggest, so if you can, start a few days early or add a couple of extra words a day in weeks 4 and 5.
What a daily session looks like
- Review first (5 to 10 minutes). Go over the words that are due before you add anything new. Old words slip away faster than you think.
- Add about 15 new words (10 minutes). Say each one out loud, and listen to it if you can, so you learn the sound as well as the spelling.
- Quick check (2 minutes). Cover the English and test yourself, or do one round of the quiz on that week's topics.
Little and often beats one long session at the weekend. Twenty minutes a day for six weeks will do far more than a few hours of cramming the week before the test.
Move from romaji to kana early
Romaji is useful for pronunciation at the very start, but the JLPT is written entirely in Japanese script. Aim to read hiragana and katakana by the end of week 1, then switch romaji off and read words in kana. For kanji words, learn the hiragana reading alongside the kanji, so you recognise the word both ways.
Use spaced repetition for the reviews
The hardest part of N5 vocabulary is not learning new words but keeping the ones from week 1 by week 6. Spaced repetition helps with that: each word comes back just before you are likely to forget it, so your review time goes on the words you are about to lose rather than the ones you already know. You can do this with paper flashcards, Anki, or an app with ready-made N5 packs.
Check yourself with a quiz
At the end of each week, take a round of the JLPT N5 vocabulary quiz on that week's topics. Then try it the other way round, English to Japanese, which is harder and shows which words you only half know. Any words you miss go to the top of the next day's review.
The final week before the test
Stop adding new words a few days before the exam. Use the last days to review everything, focusing on the words you keep getting wrong, and do a few full-mix rounds of the quiz with all topics switched on.