“Grover: Can you count to 10 John-John? John-John: Yeah!”
-Sesame Street

Counting to ten, being familiar with numbers, opens a great many doors for you in Japan. You can understand prices. You can write down a telephone number. You can use a bank machine. Numbers, while not always the most common characters by frequency, are easily the most useful and important Kanji you will ever learn. And the good news is that learning numbers are extremely easy. If you know Chinese at all, you already know them.

Here is the basic set of numbers, from one to ten;

Numbers are some of the easiest Kanji to learn so let’s start here. You will have to practice writing all of these Kanji until you have learned them by heart.

However, the above is not the whole story. In Japanese many numbers have special cases. The simplest are shown above, in brackets; there are alternate ways to say four, seven and nine. You can say よん or し for four, you can say なな or しち for seven, and instead of きゅう (for nine), you can say く. These special cases are not often used, but you have to be aware of them.

For the next set of numbers, from 11 to 99, there are no special cases. Eleven is 十一 or じゅういち、twelve is 十二 (じゅうに), and so on. Fifty six is 五十ろく (ごじゅうろく) as one might expect. But once we reach 100, things start to get more interesting.

Dealing with Hundreds

Just like in English, hundreds are never used in telephone numbers or in dates and times. To begin with, the placeholder for hundred is 百 (ひゃく). So, one hundred is 百 (ひゃく), two hundred is 二百 (にひゃく). Three hundred is 三百 and so on. Also, when you don’t have a tens placeholder you just don’t say anything. So while 356 is 三百五十六, 306 is just 三百六.

The difficult thing about hundreds is that the special cases. here is a list of the hundreds:

Notice the three special cases for hundreds; 300, 600 and 800. For three hundred, you don’t say さんひゃく, you must say さんびゃく. Similarly, there are alternate ways of saying six hundred and eight hundred. It may be tricky to remember these, but do your best!

Other than these special cases, it behooves us to point out that one hundred is just ひゃく – there is no いちひゃく. Just say ひゃく. Also, there is no じゅうひゃく. For thousands, Japanese has a different word – 千.

Dealing with Thousands

Last but not least, we should take a look at the number for 1,000. It’s 千 (せん). As you can probably imagine, 1000 (せん) is used in the same way as 100 (ひゃく) and 10 (じゅう). You put the Kanji behind the number and that’s how many units you get. They’re sort of like particles except that instead of marking the subject, the verb, etc. they mark tens, hundreds, thousands and so on. Here are more examples of numbers. You should be able to read each of these numbers in Japanese without much trouble.

The special cases here are at one thousand (いっせん), four thousand (よんぜん), and eight thousand (はっせん). Ten thousand isn’t a special case so much as a new word (まん means ten thousand). You will be happy to know there are no special cases for numbers using まん, so we will not list those numbers here.

Thank you for learning about these numbers! Please enjoy your Japanese adventure!

“The truth is mastering any foreign language is quite an endeavor. If you think about it, you are essentially taking everything you’ve learned in life and re-learning it in a completely different way.”　-Tae Kim’s Complete Guide to Japanese

Japanese is very much like English, in that it uses an alphabet which is roughly phonetic and contains vowels and consonants, inflection and intonation, et cetera. You will therefore feel at ease to know that learning Japanese starts out very easy. We’re going to learn what is called “Kana”. Kana essentially means the alphabet-like writing system which can be used to write all Japanese. Specifically, we’re going to learn Hiragana, which is the alphabet Japanese people use to write native Japanese words.

Learning Hiragana is not difficult. It can be done in a day or two of study. There are only about 50 basic symbols you need to learn, and many of them are related to each other. For example the letter ‘ku’ is く and “gu” is ぐ. The letter “ko” is こ and “go” is ご. Look closely and you will notice that a k-vowel sound can be written as a g-vowel sound by adding two little ticks. Let’s try it. If “ki” is き, what is “gi”? Just add two little ticks. It’s ぎ. Those little ticks are called ten-ten marks, and they are one of the only special rules you need to know apart from the symbols themselves.

That’s really all there is to it. If you feel it’s a little too easy, keep in mind that the symbols and order of sounds is completely different than English. We don’t start with ABC, we start with AIU. But at least both Japanese and English start with A.

Suggested Activities for Learning Hiragana and Katakana
a) Writing kana
Writing the kana is a core exercise. You should practice writing every hiragana and katakana letter several times — up to twenty times is recommended. You should also write every hiragana and katakana word you learn up to five times each.

b) Flashcards

Flashcards are second only to writing as a study and review method. The best way to use flashcards is to make your own, because that involves writing kana! Buy a set of 3.5″ index cards (although any convenient size will do) and write out what you are learning. Flashcards are an invaluable tool for learners.

c) Mnemonic Training

I’m planning on organizing this to support a mnemonic training method all the way through — kana, kanji and grammar. Using this method is convenient and easy. You simply recite the Japanese alphabet and then recite the vocabulary word or sentence pattern which was chosen for that kana. “a.. asa.. morning… i… inu… dog.” This is a great way to practice when you only have a short time and don’t have your materials with you — all you need is your memory.

What you don’t need

You don’t need a bunch of fancy books or software. You just need to focus, and do a little bit of work every day. That’s really all there is to it — dedication. I know you can do it! Let us complete this journey together!

Preparing for the JLPT

The Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) N5 test has a range of around 80 Kanji and 500 Kana. Theoretically if you know these 580 or so words, you are very likely to ace the N5. However there is one serious problem that we must admit to; no one really knows what those kanji and vocabulary words are. There are plenty of websites which claim to have an “official list”. These websites are lying; there is simply no such thing. Perhaps it would be best to simply quote the JLPT committee on this matter:

The “Test Content Specifications” which includes the lists of vocabulary, kanji, and grammar are not going to be published for the new test (the post-2010 N5 exams). The goal of learning Japanese is not to memorize vocabulary, kanji, and grammar, but to become capable of using them as a means of communication. The new test is to measure both “Japanese language knowledge, including vocabulary and grammar,” and “the competence required to perform communicative tasks using language knowledge.” Therefore, we determined that it is not appropriate to publish “Test Content Specifications” which includes the lists of vocabulary, kanji, and grammar. However, since the new test levels correspond to the current test levels, past test items of the current test and also its “Test Content Specifications” will be helpful.

This is a sensible approach, but it makes preparing for the N5 especially difficult because the N5 is taken by people who are otherwise new to the language. How do you prepare for the N5 if you have no idea what will be on the test? The concern is warranted. For example, as previously mentioned the Kanji range is about 80 words. But which 80? The most common 100, or a selection of common nouns and verbs (but no adjectives)? It’s easy to miss and study the wrong words. There are thousands of Kanji. It is more than possible to study 80, even 100 extremely common kanji and not know the particular ones which are required for your test. It is altogether far too easy to waste your time.

Therefore on one hand while we can agree with the philosophical and moral ground the JLPT committee stands on, that is, promoting language ability and general comprehension, we must admit privately that the N5 is an exam written for a certain level of student, and we feel that targeting the N5 is prudent and appropriate given the importance placed upon the test itself. The long and short of it is, if they’re going to make us take a test, we’re bloody well going to study for it, committee be damned. Why study for 300 hours when you only need to study for 100? Especially in the modern world, time is money.

However, we are in luck. A number of JLPT tests have been given since 2010, and we can look at past tests to discover the general level of the N5. At the very least, any word which has previously appeared on the N5 is N5-level, so after a while it will be possible for a dedicated researcher to build a vocabulary list for students to study. And what do we find when we look at past tests? There are several interesting conclusions.

Reverse Engineering the N5

As it turns out, the lack of an official vocabulary list is not a problem, although there are some issues to remain aware of. The main idea is that by looking at prior N5 tests we can get a good picture of what level the N5 is today, and the good news is that it appears even easier than the old N4 level.

a) Hiragana
The Hiragana vocabulary comprises the bulk of what you need to learn for the N5. While the old N4 had a range of around 800 words, it seems the new N5 has a range of about 600 words. Some of these words are much more common than others. If your goal is simply to pass with a score of 19 out of 60 (the minimum raw score to pass), this implies you need a vocabulary of 190 words. Usagi aims to teach you 250 words outright, and will list many of the others which have been confirmed as N5-level. Therefore while we don’t have a complete list, we have enough that you can target the N5 with no difficulty. Learn this material, and you will have hiragana covered.

Do you understand?You can learn whatever Japanese you want, but if you don’t know these 250 to 300 words, you probably will not pass the N5. Don’t waste your time, study this!

It is for your own good.

b) Katakana
Don’t let anyone sell you flashcards you don’t need; The simple fact is that Katakana isn’t that important on the N5. There are fewer required Katakana words than there are Kanji! Apparently, what is required for Katakana is to understand a select few English loan words. Good news, you’re in luck if you know English. All you have to do here is learn how to pronounce the Katakana letters and you can often sound out an English word for Katakana. This section will be much easier than Hiragana, but don’t slight it. Katakana “exists”, so you will be tested on it. Once you get to learning Katakana I think you will agree that the Katakana sections of the N5 will end up as gift marks for English speakers.

c) Kanji

Our solution to the lack of a vocabulary list is to examine the old tests and see if there is a pattern. Here is what we know:

1. The old N4 test is essentially the new N5 test. The committee has put in writing they are approximately the same level. Therefore let us examine the old N4 level Kanji specification. It contains 103 kanji:

一七万三上下中九二五人今休会何先入八六円出分前北十千午半南友

口古右名四国土外多大天女子学安小少山川左年店後手新日時書月木

本来東校母毎気水火父生男白百目社空立耳聞花行西見言話語読買足

車週道金長間雨電食飲駅高魚

2. From an examination of past N5 tests, the N5 seems to be easier than the old one. Here is a list gleaned from prior N5 tests, which you will notice is smaller. It contains only 80 kanji:

日一国人年大十二本中長出三時行見月後前生五間上東四今金九入学

高円子外八六下来気小七山話女北午百書先名川千水半男西電校語土

木聞食車何南万毎白天母火右読友左休父雨

3. Looking at other frequency lists shows that the material on the N5 has been selected with a particular goal in mind. If we examine (for example) a list of the 100 most commonly used Kanji on the internet, we see that there are 60 words which do not appear in the old N4 test specification. What is the goal? It is to understand certain situations which foreigners will find common. You will need to read numbers, you will need to read signs, and maps, and to find stores and this kind of thing. Just to get around, maybe to buy some food to eat. That is what you will be tested on, and nothing more.

4. Secret information now! In Japanese Highschools, there is the Jōyō Kanji test. This test was made official by the Japanese Ministry of Education in 1981. It is a slightly modified version of the Tōyō kanji, which was the initial list of high-school kanji standardized after World War II. Fascinatingly enough, it appears as if the JLPT is based on the Jōyō Kanji test, but this information has been held back from foreigners as a “secret” of the JLPT test committee. People at tangorin.com have noted, for example, that “The JLPT Kanji are basically Jōyō Kanji divided into four levels of the JLPT. Each set consists of kanji required to pass each level of the JLPT.” Isn’t this an interesting claim? Can we test it? Yes.

5. Upon investigation, it is interesting to note that recent levels of the N5 have shown us 79 Kanji characters, and that these match the Jōyō Kanji Test word for word with one exception; the 80th character (分)has not been seen on the short list of recent tests.

6. The conclusion is that the new N5 level has been chosen to match the Jōyō Kanji test and that this is the “big secret” the JLPT committee is hiding. In this light it is questionable why this information has been with-held, since the list of Kanji has been known to Japanese high-school students for over sixty years. At any rate, with 23 less characters than the old N4, it’s easier. This is good news!

7. We can also speculate with confidence that the vocabulary lists for Hiragana and Katakana will be based on similar test materials established by the Ministry of Education, and that further JLPT tests will be based on the Jōyō tests as well. We will test these theories as time goes by.

How to Passing the Exam

The JLPT is not a traditional American-style “final exam” in the sense that you need to get 60% to pass. There are three sections, the first two of which have been merged for the N5 and N4 level tests. You need to pass each section individually. You won’t be able to pass by acing two sections and failing another. Further, although raw scores are used to determine who passes and fails, raw scores are not used to give a final mark and are never disclosed. This obtuse and somewhat confusing system, while incomprehensible, may work to our benefit. Since you only need 38 out of 120 points to pass the combined Vocabulary and Reading sections of the N5, and 19 out of 60 points to pass the Listening section, we will not need to know 100 Kanji and 800 words!

Yes, Secret Information now! We can get away with learning substantially less. Although of course it should not be our goal to learn as little as possible it is good to know when one is ready to take the test. Based on the above analysis a test taker who walks into the JLPT can expect to pass if he knows 250 Hiragana words, plus be able to sound out Katakana, finally and know just 50 Kanji. This is well within the reach of a one-semester college course having (4 hours a week) or half an hour of daily study on your own.

Proposed JLPT Target Vocabulary

Given what we know of the N5, although there is no official list, we can easily say that there are some words which we must know to pass. Beyond these words, we don’t know what they will put on the test. But the truth is that it does not really matter. Our target vocabulary to prepare for the test is defined as follows:

＊The 80 Kanji on the Jōyō Kanji Test used in Japanese High-schools.

＊An additional 24 Kanji characters previously found on the old N4 test, just to be safe.

＊The most common half of the 600+ known N5-level Hiragana words.

＊The ability to pronounce Katakana words, with no more than 40 or 50 words used as examples — preferably words which have appeared on prior N5 exams.

＊A short list of Grammar and Sentence Patterns which fulfill the mandate of the N5 (essentially, “critical” Japanese for foreigners so they can understand information on signs, to shopping, read a map or buy toys and food, or when spoken slowly and repeatedly for non-native speakers).

If you are interested in filling out your knowledge of the JLPT beyond what is required to pass with a decent mark, more complete vocabulary lists will be given as time goes by. But first we will stick to the basics that everyone must know.

Welcome to Japanese! You are already doing very well.

In 2012, Usagi has a special suprise for you!

Recently, in the last year or so, Japan has changed the way it grades Japanese proficiency for foreigners. Everything is now based around a “new” series of tests (the “new” JLPT N5 to N1). These tests are extremely important for any foreigner who is serious about learning Japanese. The Japanese Government now uses the JLPT for screening foreigners for everything from work visas to residence permits. However, not much is known about the new JLPT outside of Japan because the new tests are still very new, and the JLPT committee has stated they will not be publishing test specifications or criteria — ever! Their reason for keeping a secret, in order to promote general language ability and not have people study a narrow list of vocabulary words. But this makes studying for the tests (especially N5) very difficult! But do not worry. Usagi is here with one of the only NEW-JLPT resources available in English! This information has been put together by professional high school teachers in Asia! You cannot get better information than right here!

IN JAPAN, there is a wealth of books and magazines for learning English which are of a quality not found in America. People here are serious about learning English and there is a level of quality and professionalism which I have never seen in an English textbook for Japanese. People here seem to take a different track for language learning, if only because learning English is so popular. There is such a surprising wealth of books, magazines and audio programs devoted to language learning here which is not seen in the West.

Therefore it is Usagi’s duty to help fill this void for English speaking people who want to learn Japanese. Usagi will help you! I will teach you everything you need to know to pass the JLPT. And it will be fun! Wheeeeeee!

Wish you to succeed in your goal of learning Japanese and I believe that we can do it!

Check back often for new articles about learning Japanese. Ja ne!