Japanese Vocabulary Flashcards

Try six beginner Japanese words in pairs

Start with three contrasts: expensive and cheap, hot and cold weather, near and far. Read the sentence before covering the meaning. This tests the word in context rather than its spelling alone.

Notice that 高い can mean tall or expensive; the price in the example selects the second meaning. 暑い describes hot weather, rather than a hot object, for which you would use 熱い.

Practise these words in the N5 flashcards, or try beginner grammar questions. For a sentence containing both topic and subject markers, see wa vs ga with examples and practice.

Which Japanese vocabulary set should you choose?

If basic words and kana still slow you down, use N5 first. If you can recall them in sentences, try N4, then move upward when the current set feels familiar. These are Kokeniwa's study groupings, not an official or exhaustive JLPT word list: the JLPT FAQ explains why vocabulary, kanji and grammar specifications are no longer published.

For a trip, choose Travel or Survival Phrases instead of working through every level. For casual dialogue, use Anime & Casual Japanese and read the slang guide for context. To connect individual words to longer sentences, use bilingual Japanese reading practice.

Use the cards without memorising their order

Choose a few words, say a meaning before flipping, and return to the ones you missed. On the next visit, use search to mix words from different parts of the set. Each public trainer also links to its downloadable Anki CSV if you prefer reviewing outside the browser.