Subscribe to immit jobs
Hand-picked jobs in Japan that need your Japanese. Written up in English, with visa and language details included. For N2+ learners.
JLPT N4 vocabulary: a spaced repetition schedule for the 1,500-word ramp
I cleared N5 vocabulary in about three months and walked straight into a wall. The next 700-plus words on the JLPT N4 list looked harmless on paper, but they kept showing up in real sentences with causative forms, potential forms, and adverbs like 特に (とくに) and 偶に (たまに) that did not behave like the noun-and-adjective list a beginner deck had taught me. My review queue swelled. My retention dropped. I started skipping days.
That was the moment I had to stop reading more and start fixing my schedule. This post is the spaced repetition plan I rebuilt for the N4 ramp, written for the learner who has finished N5 and is now staring at roughly 1,500 cumulative words wondering how to keep up without burning out.
I built it on two tools. I used Anki for the first month, then moved to immit when the setup tax around AnkiConnect and Yomitan started costing more time than my actual review sessions. I'll show both, the math behind the daily pace, the JLPT scope hedging that most blog posts skip, and the moments where pre-made decks stopped helping me at N4.
What "JLPT N4 vocabulary" actually means in 2026
The Japan Foundation does not publish official vocabulary counts for any JLPT level. The "1,500 words for N4" figure you see across blog posts is a community estimate that traces back to pre-2010 lists from the old 日本語能力試験 specifications. The Japan Foundation's current JLPT level summary describes the test in terms of language use, not kanji or vocab thresholds.
With that hedge in place, the commonly cited breakdown is around 1,500 cumulative words: approximately 800 carried over from N5, plus 700-plus new entries introduced at N4. The exact count depends on which list you trust. Tango N4, Anki community decks, and Coto Academy reading lists all come close to the same range, but they disagree at the margins.
What's actually inside that 700-plus new vocabulary list at N4: advanced daily-life expressions, intermediate-level verbs (including common verbs in causative and potential forms), expanded adjectives, frequent adverbs like 特に (とくに) and 偶に (たまに), and nouns from work, transportation, school, and social situations. Compound words and abstract concepts make their first real appearance. The mix shifts from "things you can point at" toward "ideas you have to interpret."
Two facts that most N4 vocabulary listicles bury. First, the N4 exam tests your ability to match kanji to furigana readings and to pick the contextual meaning of a word in a sentence, not raw recall of an English gloss. Second, your N5 vocabulary is the foundation, not the past. You keep reviewing N5 while adding N4, because the questions reuse N5 words in N4-level grammar.
Why spaced repetition is the right tool for 1,500 words
A spaced repetition schedule is an evidence-based learning system where vocabulary is reviewed at gradually increasing time intervals to exploit the psychological spacing effect.
The underlying science traces back to Hermann Ebbinghaus and the forgetting curve, which shows how quickly we lose new information without review. A word you learn on Monday is largely gone by Wednesday if nothing pulls it back. Spaced repetition pulls it back on an increasing-interval schedule that matches the curve, so reviews come more frequently for words you are still learning and less frequently for words you have internalized.
Spaced repetition systems (SRS) adjust the timing of reviews based on user performance, allowing for more efficient long-term retention of vocabulary. Easy words drift further out. Difficult words come back sooner. If you forget a word, the interval resets and the system brings it back for frequent, daily reviews until it sticks. That reset is the whole point of using SRS over a static paper flashcard stack.
Managing a 1,500-word review schedule manually using physical flashcards becomes cumbersome inside the first month. Digital software automates the scheduling so you only have to decide one thing each day: how many new cards you can sustainably add.
Using SRS for learning Japanese vocabulary is particularly effective because of the language's complexity. Many kanji carry multiple readings, words shift meaning by context, and the volume needed for reading fluency is large. A systematic review cycle compresses what would otherwise be years of accidental encounters into a few months of structured study.
One honest scope statement. An SRS is a tool to sustain vocabulary. It is not the only thing you do. Reading, listening, and conversation practice are how you encounter words in real context. SRS is how you make sure you don't forget them between encounters. Skipping review days leads to a piling up of old cards, creating a daunting review backlog that can discourage learners. The schedule below is built to keep that pile manageable.
The N4 spaced repetition schedule
Most learners reach N4 vocabulary readiness in about three to six months of consistent daily study after finishing N5. The commonly cited study pace is 30 to 45 minutes per day, split between new cards and review cards. Your actual pace depends on retention, not on chasing new-card counts.
Here are four tiers I tested across my own N4 ramp and with two friends who walked the same path.
| Tier | Daily new words | Daily review time | Estimated time for the 700 new N4 words |
|---|---|---|---|
| Light (sustainable) | 5 to 7 | 15 to 25 min | About 5 to 6 months |
| Standard | 8 to 12 | 25 to 40 min | About 3 to 4 months |
| Intensive | 13 to 15 | 40 to 60 min | About 2 to 3 months |
| Cramming (not recommended) | 20 plus | 60 to 90 min | 5 to 7 weeks before burnout |
A few caveats below the table.
Introducing 10 to 15 new words per day is commonly cited in immersion communities as the pace that finishes a full N4 vocabulary deck in under five months. That figure assumes you keep up with reviews every day. The "every day" part is the hard part.
Consistency is more effective than single-day binging for reaching language competency. A learner doing 8 new words every day for three months will out-retain a learner doing 25 words on weekends.
The review queue is what kills schedules, not the new-card pile. If you skip 3 days at 12 new cards per day, you come back to roughly 100 overdue review cards on top of the 36 new ones you didn't add. Plan for sustainability over speed.
To effectively prepare for the JLPT N4 exam, set realistic daily goals and focus on mastering a smaller number of words with high retention rather than trying to learn too many at once. The exam rewards depth of recognition, not breadth of exposure.
How an SRS review interval actually progresses
The schedule itself is automatic. Here's the general shape that spaced repetition systems follow.
-
A new card enters the queue the day you add it and gets its first review shortly after.
-
When you mark a card easy, the next review is pushed further out. Each subsequent easy response pushes it further still.
-
When you mark a card difficult or forget it, the interval shortens and the card comes back into more frequent review until it stabilizes again.
-
The adjustments compound. Words you have internalized drift toward long intervals and effectively leave the active queue. Words you keep missing stay close until they stick.
-
The system handles the timing. The only daily decision you make is whether to add more new words or focus on the cards already in your queue.
The exact intervals and stage counts vary by tool. Anki's FSRS algorithm exposes a lot of the math to the user. immit's built-in FSRS handles the scheduling under the hood without surfacing the intervals as a setting. The shape is what matters for planning your N4 ramp; the specific numbers are a tool detail.
What N4 vocabulary actually looks like
Three patterns dominate the new 700-plus words at N4. Each one is also where pre-made decks tend to lose their grip.
The causative form and the potential form
N4 introduces verbs in causative form (〜させる, "make or let someone do") and potential form (〜られる, "able to do") at frequencies that demand recognition.
Causative example: 食べる (taberu, "to eat") becomes 食べさせる (tabesaseru, "to make or let someone eat"). You see it in routine sentences like "お母さんは子供に野菜を食べさせる" (Mom makes her kids eat vegetables).
Potential example: 食べる becomes 食べられる (taberareru, "able to eat"). The "eat" example matters because the conjugation pattern repeats across ichidan verbs predictably, and you start to recognize the form even on verbs you've never seen.
How SRS handles these forms is where card design matters. Word-only flashcards capture the dictionary form. Sentence cards capture the conjugated form in context. Both work, and the right choice depends on whether you read native content or drill from a deck. If you read manga or NHK Easy, the conjugated form shows up in the reading and a word-only card review reinforces the base meaning. If you drill from a pre-made deck without reading practice, sentence cards do more of the work for you.
Common N4 adverbs: 特に (とくに) and 偶に (たまに)
Two adverbs that quietly carry a lot of N4 reading practice.
特に / とくに (toku ni, "particularly, especially") appears in opinion writing and conversation. It shows up several times a week on NHK News Web Easy. Example: "今日は特に寒い" (Today is particularly cold).
偶に / たまに (tama ni, "occasionally, every now and then") is more common in casual speech and manga than in news. Example: "偶に映画を見る" (I watch movies occasionally).
Adverbs are quietly the reason pre-made decks struggle at N4. They fit awkwardly into card templates designed for nouns and verbs. The card front says とくに, the back says "particularly," and the meaning that needed to stick was the position the adverb takes in the sentence. Reading-captured cards handle adverbs naturally because the context comes along with the word.
Compound words and abstract concepts
N4 is where compound words (社会 society, 経済 economy, 文化 culture) and abstract concepts (自由 freedom, 努力 effort, 平和 peace) make their first real appearance.
These are the words most likely to stick wrong on a pre-made deck because the English gloss flattens the nuance. 自由 on a flashcard says "freedom." A month later you read it in 自由時間 (jiyū-jikan, "free time, leisure time") and the meaning is contextually different. The deck taught you a single English equivalent. The text taught you the family of meanings.
Reading these words in context (a news article using 自由, a manga panel using 努力) fixes the wrong-meaning mistake before it sets in. The card and the reading work as a pair.
How to set up your spaced repetition system
Two ways to actually run the schedule. Both can work for N4 vocabulary. They suit different shapes of learner.
The Anki approach
Anki is the proven SRS tool. Free, open source, large user base, and it runs FSRS as the default algorithm in 2026-plus builds. Anki is one of the most versatile SRS tools available, allowing users to create custom flashcards and download pre-made decks. It has a learning curve due to its complexity, which is the trade-off for its control.
Pre-made N4 deck options for Anki include the Core 2k/6k Optimized Japanese deck (covers N4 vocab with audio), the Tango N4 sentence-card deck, and various community JLPT-N4 decks shared on AnkiWeb. Deck quality varies. A vocabulary card in any of these decks typically contains: the headword in kanji, the hiragana reading (furigana), the English meaning, an example sentence, and audio when available. That is the minimum effective card for vocabulary retention.
Where Anki gets hard is the setup tax. Configuring AnkiConnect so Yomitan can create cards from your browser, choosing a deck, tuning the new-cards-per-day limit, syncing across AnkiMobile or AnkiDroid, and writing your own card template if you want anything beyond the default. Most learners who quit Anki at the N4 stage quit at the setup step, not at the review step. Anki is not designed to be a no-setup tool. It is designed for maximum control, and the configuration tax is the price of that control.
For learners who enjoy the configuration as part of the hobby, this is fine. For learners who want to spend their time on Japanese rather than on Anki, the friction adds up.
The immit approach
immit handles lookup and review in one tool. You hover a Japanese word while reading on the web, look it up right there, save it in one click with the sentence it came from, and the built-in FSRS schedules the review automatically.
A vocabulary card in immit shows: the headword in kanji with hiragana furigana, the audited definition, the part of speech, and pronunciation. Review modes are type-in mode (type the reading or meaning) and flip mode (flip the card, mark whether you knew it). There is no AnkiConnect bridge, no Yomitan handoff, no deck import step.
Everything is free, and syncing across computers is free too with an optional account. Install the Chrome extension; the optional desktop app (Mac, Windows, Linux) adds standalone review outside the browser.
Substitution framing, not coexistence. immit replaces the Yomitan-plus-AnkiConnect-plus-Anki-plus-pre-made-deck stack for the learner who wants to study N4 vocabulary rather than configure a tool chain. It is built on the same spaced repetition principles as Anki, with the integration done up front so the learner does not have to do it.
Where pre-made decks fall short for N4
A scope statement, not a takedown. Pre-made N4 decks are excellent for the first 500 words. They lose their edge when the learner crosses into context-dependent vocabulary.
The wrong-meaning mistake. A flashcard says 自由 equals "freedom." You memorize it as "freedom." A month later you read it in 自由時間 and the meaning is contextually different. Pre-made decks were not designed to teach meaning shifts. They were built to teach the head sense from a dictionary, which is a reasonable scope for N5 but a tight one for N4.
The empty-context problem. 特に sitting alone on a flashcard is hard to remember. 特に sitting inside "今日は特に寒い" is easy. Without context, the adverb is just a word; with context, the adverb is a usage pattern. SRS reinforces what you put on the card. Context-free cards reinforce context-free knowledge.
The format-lock problem. Years of Anki cards do not transfer cleanly between tools. Learners hesitate to switch even when a different workflow would suit them better, because the switching cost feels larger than the friction they are already used to.
Reading-captured cards address the first two problems. The sentence you read the word in travels with the word: immit saves the sentence and the page it came from along with the word, so the context is on the card when it comes back.
Reading practice as the second engine
An SRS is a tool to sustain vocabulary. It needs an input stream, somewhere new words come from. For N4 learners, reading practice is the natural source.
Reading sources that work at the N4 level. NHK News Web Easy is free, updates daily, and includes furigana on every kanji; it is the closest thing to a perfect N4 reading source. Manga with furigana (most shōnen titles) gives you natural dialogue and the conjugated forms in context. Tadoku graded readers are free PDFs sized to specific levels. Satori Reader is paid intermediate-grade content with click-to-define annotations. Add listening through anime with Japanese subtitles or podcasts for the audio dimension; conversation practice rounds it out for active recall.
The loop is short. Read, hover, save, review. A casual 20-minute reading session adds 3 to 8 new words to the queue. A focused 45-minute session adds 15 to 25. After a month of daily reading at this pace, the queue fills itself and the schedule starts to feel like a routine rather than a chore.
Why this works better than sitting with a deck. Motivation. You are reading something you chose, not drilling a list someone else built. The words you save are words you actually encountered, which means you already have a real memory hook before SRS even starts working. The first reading of a word is the easy review your future self will thank you for.
Honest concession. This approach is slower than blasting through a pre-made deck in the first two weeks because you have to assemble the queue rather than receive it. It is faster over three months because the cards are stickier and the review pile is sized to your real reading pace, not someone else's idea of it.
A 90-day N4 plan
A concrete schedule, presented as numbered phases. Adjust to your week and your stamina.
-
Weeks 1 to 2: foundation. Set up your SRS tool. For Anki, install Anki, add the FSRS-default profile, download a Core 2k or Tango N4 deck, install AnkiConnect, install Yomitan if you read in the browser, and set new-cards-per-day at 5 to 7. For immit, install the Chrome extension, and save 5 to 7 new words per day as you read. Either way, read one NHK News Web Easy article per day for the input stream.
-
Weeks 3 to 6: ramp. Aim for 10 to 12 new words per day if your review retention is holding. If your queue is starting to feel heavy, slow down the new-word input rather than pushing through. In Anki, that means lowering the new-cards-per-day setting. In immit, it means saving fewer words from your daily reading. Add a manga or graded reader for 15 to 20 minutes daily.
-
Weeks 7 to 10: consolidation. Hold the input pace you found in step 2. Audit your review queue weekly. If the queue keeps growing across two or three weeks in a row, that is the signal to slow the input again. Add JLPT-N4-format practice questions once a week to test recall in context rather than recall in isolation.
-
Weeks 11 to 13: test prep. If you are sitting the exam, stop adding new words for the last two weeks. Pure review and practice questions. Listen to N4-level material every day for ear training. Re-read the words you keep getting wrong in their original context so the meaning anchors back to a sentence, not a card.
Concession. This is a schedule, not a guarantee. Most learners pass N4 after three to six months of consistent post-N5 study. Some need eight months. Some take a year. Consistency matters more than pace, and stamina matters more than ambition.
When Anki is still the right answer
A few profiles where the substitute does not apply.
You're already deep in Anki with two-plus years of cards. The interval history is real value, and switching loses it. Stay.
You want maximum control. Anki's settings, custom card templates, AnkiConnect plugins, and FSRS tuning are richer than any integrated tool currently offers. If the granularity matters to your study style, Anki is the tool.
You're a tinkerer and the configuration is part of the fun. The non-tinkerer split is real in the immersion learning community; both shapes of learner exist, and both are right for themselves.
You're studying for multiple tests across multiple subjects. Anki's deck-tagging system and shared library handle this better than any tool built for a single language.
For every other shape of learner (and that includes most people who arrive at N4 from Duolingo, Renshuu, or a textbook), the value of an integrated lookup-plus-SRS tool is exactly the friction it removes. immit is the substitute we built. It is not for everyone, and the section above is the honest accounting of who it isn't for.
FAQ
How many words are on the JLPT N4 vocabulary list?
Around 1,500 cumulative words are commonly cited for JLPT N4, including roughly 800 N5 words plus 700-plus new entries that cover more complex daily conversations and workplace situations. The Japan Foundation does not publish official vocabulary counts; the 1,500 figure is a community estimate based on pre-2010 specifications and current learner-community lists.
How long does it take to learn JLPT N4 vocabulary with spaced repetition?
Most learners reach N4 vocabulary readiness in about three to six months after passing N5, studying 30 to 45 minutes per day. The pace depends on retention rate and review consistency rather than raw study hours. A learner who adds 8 new words per day with high retention will out-perform a learner who adds 15 per day with poor retention.
Is Anki the best app for JLPT N4 vocabulary?
Anki is the most-used SRS for serious Japanese learners and runs the FSRS algorithm by default in 2026-plus builds. It is excellent for learners who want maximum control over deck structure, card templates, and review settings. It is harder for learners who want lookup and review integrated in one tool without configuring AnkiConnect, Yomitan, and a pre-made deck. The right answer depends on whether you want the configuration tax or not.
Can I use immit for JLPT N4 vocabulary instead of Anki?
Yes. immit handles popup dictionary lookup and built-in FSRS review in one tool, available as a Chrome extension, with an optional desktop app for Mac, Windows, and Linux. You hover a Japanese word, look it up, save it in one click, and review on a spaced schedule. Everything is free; syncing across devices is free too with an optional account.
What spaced repetition schedule works best for 1,500 words at N4?
A sustainable pace for most learners is 8 to 12 new cards per day, with 25 to 40 minutes of daily review, targeting completion of the 700 new N4 words in three to four months. The review queue is the constraint, not the new-card pile. Slow down the input if your queue keeps growing week over week, regardless of which tool you use.
Do I need to learn N5 vocabulary before starting N4?
Yes, in practice. N5 vocabulary is the foundation that N4 grammar and reading questions reuse. Starting N4 without solid N5 means you are learning two layers at once: the new vocabulary and the old vocabulary you skipped. Most schedules assume N5 is internalized and continues to review automatically in your SRS as N4 cards are added on top.
Is there a free JLPT N4 vocabulary app with SRS?
Yes. Anki is free on desktop and Android (AnkiDroid). Renshuu has a generous free tier with JLPT-tiered curriculum content and works well for learners who want a structured course. immit is free: popup dictionary lookup and the built-in FSRS review, in Chrome (and the optional desktop app). Each tool fits a different study style, and the right choice depends on whether you want curriculum (Renshuu), maximum control (Anki), or integrated reading-plus-review (immit).
How is immit's SRS different from Anki's FSRS for JLPT prep?
Anki's FSRS is a heavily-tested algorithm with rich configuration and a deep card-template system; it pairs with Yomitan and AnkiConnect for mining workflows. immit uses FSRS too, built in, and is the integrated alternative: lookup, save, and review happen in the same tool, with no separate bridge layer. For JLPT N4 prep specifically, both can carry you through the 1,500-word range. The difference is whether you spend your prep time on Japanese or on tool configuration.
Where to go from here
If you finished N5 and are sizing up the N4 ramp, the work is the schedule, not the wordlist. Pick a tool that you will actually open every day, decide on a daily input pace you can hold for three months, and add a reading source that brings new words into your queue from real context.
If you want the integrated lookup-plus-SRS workflow without configuring Anki and Yomitan first, install the immit Chrome extension. It is free, and multi-device sync is free too with an optional account.