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Languages · Beginner

Japanese JLPT N5 · Part 1: First Steps

Start with no Japanese at all. Twenty-four lessons take you from your first hiragana and katakana to introducing yourself, telling the time, shopping, daily routines, invitations, giving and receiving, adjectives and likes, with about 400 words and the first 65 kanji. Every lesson has words, grammar, a reading, JLPT-style listening with audio, practice exercises with answers, practice questions on every page and a quiz, and a review chapter follows every six lessons. Part 1 ends with a test on lessons 1–24; Part 2 takes you to the JLPT N5. Buy both parts together to save 20%. Listening audio voices: VOICEVOX:玄野武宏, VOICEVOX:春日部つむぎ, VOICEVOX:冥鳴ひまり.

What's inside

1Start here: how this part works and reference lists

Your study plan, the JLPT N5 exam, and the vocabulary, grammar and kanji lists.

  1. How this part works 10 min 🔒
  2. Vocabulary (by lesson) 5 min 🔒
  3. Vocabulary (あいうえお order) 5 min 🔒
  4. Sentence patterns 15 min 🔒
  5. Kanji list 5 min 🔒

2Lesson 1: Hiragana 1: あ to の

Meet the three Japanese scripts, read and write your first 25 hiragana, and greet people through the day.

  1. Words 25 min 🔒
  2. Kana 35 min 🔒
  3. Reading: Greetings around the day 15 min 🔒
  4. Listening 10 min 🔒
  5. Practice 20 min 🔒
  6. Chapter 2 quiz 10 questions

3Lesson 2: Hiragana 2: は to ん

Complete the 46 basic hiragana, read は, へ and を as particles, and count from 0 to 10.

  1. Words 25 min 🔒
  2. Kana 35 min 🔒
  3. Reading: Numbers and words to read 15 min 🔒
  4. Listening 10 min 🔒
  5. Practice 20 min 🔒
  6. Chapter 3 quiz 10 questions

4Lesson 3: Hiragana 3: sound changes

Read voiced sounds, combined sounds, small っ and long vowels, and use the key phrases of the classroom.

  1. Words 25 min 🔒
  2. Kana 35 min 🔒
  3. Reading: In class 15 min 🔒
  4. Listening 10 min 🔒
  5. Practice 20 min 🔒
  6. Chapter 4 quiz 10 questions

5Lesson 4: Katakana

Learn all the katakana and read everyday loanwords, foreign names and countries.

  1. Words 25 min 🔒
  2. Kana 35 min 🔒
  3. Reading: Katakana around town 15 min 🔒
  4. Listening 10 min 🔒
  5. Practice 20 min 🔒
  6. Chapter 5 quiz 10 questions

6Lesson 5: Introducing yourself

Introduce yourself and others with N1 は N2 です and say what someone is not.

  1. Words 25 min 🔒
  2. Grammar 35 min 🔒
  3. Kanji 20 min 🔒
  4. Reading: Nice to meet you 15 min 🔒
  5. Listening 10 min 🔒
  6. Practice 20 min 🔒
  7. Chapter 6 quiz 10 questions

7Lesson 6: Questions and “also”

Ask and answer yes/no and who-questions, say “too” with も, and talk about schools, workplaces and ages.

  1. Words 25 min 🔒
  2. Grammar 35 min 🔒
  3. Kanji 20 min 🔒
  4. Reading: Who is that? 15 min 🔒
  5. Listening 10 min 🔒
  6. Practice 20 min 🔒
  7. Chapter 7 quiz 10 questions

8Review 1: lessons 1–6

Check your hiragana and katakana, then review self-introductions, questions, も, の, numbers and ages.

  1. Vocabulary review 30 min 🔒
  2. Grammar review 30 min 🔒
  3. Reading: A party for new students 15 min 🔒
  4. Listening test practice 20 min 🔒
  5. Practice 30 min 🔒
  6. Chapter 8 quiz 15 questions

9Lesson 7: This and that

Point at things, ask what they are, and say whose they are.

  1. Words 25 min 🔒
  2. Grammar 35 min 🔒
  3. Kanji 20 min 🔒
  4. Reading: After class 15 min 🔒
  5. Listening 10 min 🔒
  6. Practice 20 min 🔒
  7. Chapter 9 quiz 10 questions

10Lesson 8: This book, that bag

Point to things with この / その / あの + noun, answer with そうです / ちがいます, and ask either/or questions.

  1. Words 25 min 🔒
  2. Grammar 35 min 🔒
  3. Kanji 20 min 🔒
  4. Reading: Whose is it? 15 min 🔒
  5. Listening 10 min 🔒
  6. Practice 20 min 🔒
  7. Chapter 10 quiz 10 questions

11Lesson 9: Where is it?

Ask and say where places, things and people are, and which floor something is on.

  1. Words 25 min 🔒
  2. Grammar 35 min 🔒
  3. Kanji 20 min 🔒
  4. Reading: At the reception desk 15 min 🔒
  5. Listening 10 min 🔒
  6. Practice 20 min 🔒
  7. Chapter 11 quiz 10 questions

12Lesson 10: Shopping

Ask prices, say numbers up to 99,999 and buy things with ～を ください.

  1. Words 25 min 🔒
  2. Grammar 35 min 🔒
  3. Kanji 20 min 🔒
  4. Reading: At the department store 15 min 🔒
  5. Listening 10 min 🔒
  6. Practice 20 min 🔒
  7. Chapter 12 quiz 10 questions

13Lesson 11: What time is it?

Tell the time, and say when things start and finish with から and まで.

  1. Words 25 min 🔒
  2. Grammar 35 min 🔒
  3. Kanji 20 min 🔒
  4. Reading: What time is class? 15 min 🔒
  5. Listening 10 min 🔒
  6. Practice 20 min 🔒
  7. Chapter 13 quiz 10 questions

14Lesson 12: Daily routine

Talk about what you do every day with ます / ません, times with に, and the days of the week.

  1. Words 25 min 🔒
  2. Grammar 35 min 🔒
  3. Kanji 20 min 🔒
  4. Reading: Mr Yamada’s week 15 min 🔒
  5. Listening 10 min 🔒
  6. Practice 20 min 🔒
  7. Chapter 14 quiz 10 questions

15Review 2: lessons 7–12

Review pointing words, whose things are, places and floors, prices, time and daily routines from lessons 7–12.

  1. Vocabulary review 30 min 🔒
  2. Grammar review 30 min 🔒
  3. Reading: Sara’s week 15 min 🔒
  4. Listening test practice 20 min 🔒
  5. Practice 30 min 🔒
  6. Chapter 15 quiz 15 questions

16Lesson 13: Yesterday and tomorrow

Talk about what you did and didn't do, using ～ました / ～ませんでした and time words like きのう and らいしゅう.

  1. Words 25 min 🔒
  2. Grammar 35 min 🔒
  3. Kanji 20 min 🔒
  4. Reading: Monday morning 15 min 🔒
  5. Listening 10 min 🔒
  6. Practice 20 min 🔒
  7. Chapter 16 quiz 10 questions

17Lesson 14: Going places

Say where you go, come and return to, ask when with いつ, and say you are going nowhere.

  1. Words 25 min 🔒
  2. Grammar 35 min 🔒
  3. Kanji 20 min 🔒
  4. Reading: A friend from China 15 min 🔒
  5. Listening 10 min 🔒
  6. Practice 20 min 🔒
  7. Chapter 17 quiz 10 questions

18Lesson 15: How and with whom

Say how you travel, who you go with, and on what date, using で, と and the calendar.

  1. Words 25 min 🔒
  2. Grammar 35 min 🔒
  3. Kanji 20 min 🔒
  4. Reading: A trip with the family 15 min 🔒
  5. Listening 10 min 🔒
  6. Practice 20 min 🔒
  7. Chapter 18 quiz 10 questions

19Lesson 16: Eating and drinking

Talk about what you eat and drink, using the object particle を and the question なにを.

  1. Words 25 min 🔒
  2. Grammar 35 min 🔒
  3. Kanji 20 min 🔒
  4. Reading: Lunchtime 15 min 🔒
  5. Listening 10 min 🔒
  6. Practice 20 min 🔒
  7. Chapter 19 quiz 10 questions

20Lesson 17: Doing things

Say where you do things with で, say "nothing" with なにも, and use everyday activity verbs.

  1. Words 25 min 🔒
  2. Grammar 35 min 🔒
  3. Kanji 20 min 🔒
  4. Reading: The weekend 15 min 🔒
  5. Listening 10 min 🔒
  6. Practice 20 min 🔒
  7. Chapter 20 quiz 10 questions

21Lesson 18: Invitations

Invite people, accept and decline politely, and agree on when and where to meet.

  1. Words 25 min 🔒
  2. Grammar 35 min 🔒
  3. Kanji 20 min 🔒
  4. Reading: An invitation 15 min 🔒
  5. Listening 10 min 🔒
  6. Practice 20 min 🔒
  7. Chapter 21 quiz 10 questions

22Review 3: lessons 13–18

Review the past tense, going places, transport and dates, eating and drinking, everyday activities and invitations.

  1. Vocabulary review 30 min 🔒
  2. Grammar review 30 min 🔒
  3. Reading: Kim's Sunday 15 min 🔒
  4. Listening test practice 20 min 🔒
  5. Practice 30 min 🔒
  6. Chapter 22 quiz 15 questions

23Lesson 19: Giving and receiving

Talk about giving, receiving, lending, borrowing, teaching and learning, and say what you do something with.

  1. Words 25 min 🔒
  2. Grammar 35 min 🔒
  3. Kanji 20 min 🔒
  4. Reading: After the weekend 15 min 🔒
  5. Listening 10 min 🔒
  6. Practice 20 min 🔒
  7. Chapter 23 quiz 10 questions

24Lesson 20: Family; already / not yet

Talk about your family and other people's families, and say whether you have already done something.

  1. Words 25 min 🔒
  2. Grammar 35 min 🔒
  3. Kanji 20 min 🔒
  4. Reading: A family photo 15 min 🔒
  5. Listening 10 min 🔒
  6. Practice 20 min 🔒
  7. Chapter 24 quiz 10 questions

25Lesson 21: い-adjectives

Describe things and people with い-adjectives, in the affirmative and the negative.

  1. Words 25 min 🔒
  2. Grammar 35 min 🔒
  3. Kanji 20 min 🔒
  4. Reading: Mike's new room 15 min 🔒
  5. Listening 10 min 🔒
  6. Practice 20 min 🔒
  7. Chapter 25 quiz 10 questions

26Lesson 22: な-adjectives

Describe people and places with な-adjectives, and link two ideas with そして and が (but).

  1. Words 25 min 🔒
  2. Grammar 35 min 🔒
  3. Kanji 20 min 🔒
  4. Reading: Kim's home town 15 min 🔒
  5. Listening 10 min 🔒
  6. Practice 20 min 🔒
  7. Chapter 26 quiz 10 questions

27Lesson 23: Colors, weather words, joining adjectives

Describe colors, temperature, taste, weight and size, and join two adjectives with the て-form.

  1. Words 25 min 🔒
  2. Grammar 35 min 🔒
  3. Kanji 20 min 🔒
  4. Reading: Buying a sweater 15 min 🔒
  5. Listening 10 min 🔒
  6. Practice 20 min 🔒
  7. Chapter 27 quiz 10 questions

28Lesson 24: Likes and skills

Talk about what you like and dislike, what you are good or bad at, what you understand, and give reasons with から.

  1. Words 25 min 🔒
  2. Grammar 35 min 🔒
  3. Kanji 20 min 🔒
  4. Reading: Baseball and a film 15 min 🔒
  5. Listening 10 min 🔒
  6. Practice 20 min 🔒
  7. Chapter 28 quiz 10 questions

29Review 4: lessons 19–24

Review giving and receiving, family words, もう / まだ, い- and な-adjectives, the adjective て-form, likes and skills, and reasons with から.

  1. Vocabulary review 30 min 🔒
  2. Grammar review 30 min 🔒
  3. Reading: Sara's week 15 min 🔒
  4. Listening test practice 20 min 🔒
  5. Practice 30 min 🔒
  6. Chapter 29 quiz 15 questions
  1. End-of-Part-1 test 70 questions