The Study Tool Coding System

The study tool sheets follow a simple coding system so that you can find the kind of activity that you'd like to do quickly. In the upper
left of each sheet there is a handy little color coded box that helps you easily understand where and when to schedule this particular
activity. It should look something like this:

First off, there is a basic color scheme that you might have noticed that generally goes from easy to difficult:

Easiest Easy Intermediate Difficult Most Difficult

If you look in the upper left corner, this is where you'll find where you can do this activity.

Do you have to be sitting? Can you be anywhere? Red means you must be at a desk to do the activity, whereas blue means you can do
it just about anywhere.

If you look in the upper right corner, this is where you'll find the minimum amount of time you need to complete this activity.

Red generally means a lot of time usually about an hour or so, whereas blue means hardly anytime at all. You could squeeze it in
anytime.

If you look in the lower left corner, you can find what level(s) the activity is best suited for.

This one is pretty straight forward. There are 5 colors and each color corresponds to a level of the JLPT.

Finally, if you look in the lower right corner, you'll find how much brain power is needed to complete the task.

This is measured on a scale of 1 to 10. If an activity is a 1, it means you can be just barely awake and pretty exhausted and still be able
to complete the activity. A 10 is the complete opposite. You should get a full night's rest, have a full stomach, and be alert and ready.

Below this 4-box legend is a rank of how well the particular activity will help those particular weaknesses. If you are looking to
strengthen a particular weakness, try to scan through the activities and find the one that addresses that weakness.
 Comprehension Reading
Sitting 20 minutes Steps:
N3+ 8.5 1) Pick out a book or blog article that is appropriate to your level.
2) If it is an article from the internet, print it out. It'll be easier for you to take notes. Or you
Fluency can use the free Adobe Reader app (PC, mobile) to add notes to it.
Grammar 3) Read through the entire article, or 2 pages of the book. Don't look anything up, and try
your best to move through the material quickly, but still read for details.
Kanji 4) Don't get hung up on what you don't know, you can go back to it later.
Listening 5) After the first reading, write down what you think are the main ideas of the passage. This
could be important points the author made or events if you are reading a novel.
Reading 6) Read the article or 2 pages again, this time slowly.

Speaking 7) When you come across a word you don't know, take a best guess at the meaning of the
word by using context clues. You don't need to spend an incredible amount of time on this,
Vocabulary just make a quick guess. (Reading Tips)
8) After you take your best guess, check it with a dictionary to see if you are correct.
Writing
9) Write down the definition on the page behind the page you are reading or as a sticky note
if you are using Adobe Reader. This will keep you from cheating.
• An appropriate level reading
book 10) If it's a common use word, be sure to throw it into your flashcard system for review.
• Japanese to English 11) Now, read the passage again and check if your first guesses about the main points of the
dictionary, or for N1 a reading were correct or not.
Japanese to Japanese
dictionary
• pencil
• Flashcard system
 Essay Writing
Sitting 20 minutes Steps:
N4+ 9 1) In order to write an essay, you'll need to have a topic first. This can be a little tricky the first
couple of times. Think about something you can react to, like a news story, a movie, a book, or
Fluency even something that happened to you.

Grammar Another thing you can do to get some ideas is to find some random images and try to form a story
from them. For example, you could visit Flickr.com, they have the most interesting images from
Kanji the last 7 days you can look at for ideas. Or if you are really in the mood for something nutty, you
can try out random plot lines to write stories from.
Listening 2) Once you have an idea to write about it's time to start writing. The easiest place to do this is on
a computer. You might want to try that the first couple of times before writing on paper just to get
Reading
started. A computer will help you by giving you the appropriate kanji so that you don't have to
worry about that.
Speaking
3) Keep a grammar textbook nearby to peek at every once in awhile to see if you can add anything
Vocabulary to your writing from it. You don't want to try to force the language too much. Don't worry about
making mistakes either.
Writing
4) Don't be afraid to try out a FEW new words. Don't jam the essay full of everything you possibly
can. If you DO add a few words (that are new to you), be sure to add them to your flashcard
• Notebook or Computer system.
• pencil
• Japanese to English 5) After you are done writing the essay, either submit it to a website like lang-8.com or
dictionary, or for N1 a ABCLoop.com for review or have a native speaker look it over and proofread it.
Japanese to Japanese 6) For an extra challenge have your native speaker friend point out WHERE the mistake is, but not
dictionary WHAT the mistake is. Then, try to correct it yourself.
• Grammar textbook
• Flashcard system
 Note Taking
Sitting 5~10 minutes Steps:
N5+ 9 1) Play the listening material.

Fluency 2) While the CD is playing, think about the following details: What is the relationship of the people
in the conversation, are they mother and daughter? Husband and wife? Boss and employees?
Grammar What are they doing now? What are they (probably) doing next? How do they feel? Happy? Sad?
Where are they? Are they at work? At home?
Kanji Write all of these details down as fast as you can while still listening. It's okay (and advisable) to
take notes in romaji or whatever you can write fast. For an extra challenge of course, you can take
Listening notes in kana or even kanji if you wish, whatever is easiest for you. The point of this exercise is
not to make good notes in Japanese though.
Reading
Remember it is important to think about context. On the test, there will be little context (usually
Speaking just a short sentence about the relationship of the two or three speakers), you'll only be listening to
a recording without any images to tell you where they are or give you clues to what is going on in
Vocabulary the dialog. You'll have to imagine it all yourself.

Writing
• Listening Material
• Notebook or scrap
paper and a pencil
• Japanese to English
dictionary, or for N1 a
Japanese to Japanese
dictionary
• Flashcard system
3) After you've finished listening, check your notes against the listening script. Be sure to look up
any words you don't know. Were you correct? If you had some problems with listening, check out
these listening tips for help on what to improve.
4) Listen to the CD one more time and try to listen for what you missed.
5) Don't forget to add any new words you didn't recognize to your flashcard system. Also if you do
know the word, but didn't recognize a particular conjugation of the word make note of the grammar
structure. You might want to listen to the CD one more time and listen carefully for the missed
conjugation. This will help build the link in your head.
 Test Taking
Desk 1 hour+ Steps:
N5+ 10 1) You want to follow the times for the different sections exactly. Make sure you set your timer to
the exact time and don't look at the test booklet until you hit the start button.
Fluency
Continue through the whole test without stopping the timer, looking up any words in your dictionary
Grammar or peeking at the answers. You'll be able to check the answers soon enough when you are finished.
This includes also staying in your seat. In the real test, you will not be given the opportunity to get
Kanji up and stretch so you'll have to make do with what you can do while sitting down.
This may seem a bit over the top, but it's best to try to simulate the testing environment as much
Listening as possible, especially if you are not a good test taker.
Reading 2) After you have finished the test, check your answers and see how you did.

Speaking 3) Generally speaking if you scored less than 80% on a particular section, you should consider that
a weakness to improve. If that means you are weak in all areas, then use the 50% rule to help
Vocabulary prioritize what you need to improve.
4) Be sure to go over the questions one by one with a native speaker if you can. If you can't, try
Writing your best to figure out the answer to the question on your own. If you are simply stumped, you
can go get some help online.
• A Practice or Mock 5) After you've checked and asked about all your incorrect answers. Go back over the test and
Test analyze what type of questions you got wrong. For any grammar points you missed, go to that
• pencil page in your grammar textbook and circle the grammar point with a red pin. You can then review
• Some kind of Timer these points in your final month before the test.
Spend a little time critically thinking about why you got the question wrong? Did you not
understand the vocabulary or grammar? Did you misread a question or section of the passage?
Did you mishear something in the listening? The answers to these questions will help you focus
your efforts on your weaknesses.
 Studying an Exercise Book
Sitting 15 minutes Steps:
N5+ 6 1) Pick out an exercise book that focuses on your weaknesses for the JLPT. I wrote up a short
guide to help you with choosing a good exercise book in the appendix.
Fluency
2) Choose a section to do of the exercise book. Try to make it short, something you can do in
Grammar* about 15 minutes. The So-Matome series have days built into them, you can use these as natural
dividers.
Kanji* 3) Try to complete the section in about 15 minutes, you can time yourself if you want to, but it's
not necessary. The reason for having a time restraint is to help keep you focused for those 15
Listening* minutes; it is also great practice for the test. If you feel you can get it done faster than 15
minutes don't be afraid to reduce the time and challenge yourself a bit.
Reading*
4) After you are done, check your answers. If you are studying a grammar, vocabulary or kanji
Speaking book put a big red circle at the head of the section that introduced the points you got wrong. For

Vocabulary* example if you got a question wrong about わけだ, go back to where this point was explained and
circle it.
Writing You don't want to answer any of the questions with pen however, because you might want to go
*depends on what kind of drill book through these exercise questions again in the future.
The reason for the red circles is so, in the last month before the test, when your study time is all
• Exercise Book the more precious, you can skim through your exercise books looking for red pen and study just
• pencil and red pen what you were having trouble with and not everything. You can perform a bit of study triage, if
you will.
• some kind of timer
(optional)
 Casual Writing on Twitter
Anywhere 1 minute Steps:
N3+ 4 1) Setup a Twitter account if you haven't already. And go to Twitter search at
http://search.twitter.com
Fluency
2) Search for a topic that is of interest to you. It could be anything from hiking to skiing. Type
Grammar the search term in Japanese.
3) Reply to one of the messages that catches your eye in the search stream and follow that
Kanji person. Asking any kind of question is a good way to get a response and a follow back (where the
person will see your updates)
Listening
4) Some people won't follow back or reply, but that's okay, you still got your practice in. Again,
Reading Japan is a lot more privacy-oriented than other countries, so some people won't follow/respond to
people they don't know.
Speaking
5) You can also visit sites like http://twitter.grader.com to see the most popular people in your area
Vocabulary if you are in Japan. Or if you are outside of Japan you can check your favorite city and see who is
the most popular and follow them.
Writing Again, remember to at least introduce yourself or ask them a question so you can get some
interaction out of them. Don't be a dead fish, you really don't have anything to lose by trying out
• Some kind of internet- your Japanese and seeing where it takes you.
connected device (PC, Another great site is http://watashiha.com/en which is a Twitter directory for Japan with prominent
tablet, smartphone, Japanese Twitter users listed. The Tweets are translated too, so you can use it to cheat. :)
etc...)
 Casual Writing on Blogs
Anywhere 1 minute Steps:
N3+ 4 1) Once you've picked out a blog that you want to read from the variety of blog directories out
there. Read through the article and try to understand as much as you can.
Fluency
2) Be sure to use the variety of tools (like Rikai-chan, etc...) that are available for you to read and
Grammar practice Japanese with a web browser.
3) Try to write a comment that contributes to the article or possibly asks a question. You want to
Kanji try to get some interaction with the blogger. Don't be afraid to make mistakes either. It's just a
blog.
Listening
4) If there is an RSS feed, you can use that to read the blog in a blog reader like Google Reader.
Reading This is a great way to remember to keep up on that particular blog.

Speaking

Vocabulary

Writing

• Some kind of internet-

connected device (PC,
tablet, smartphone,
etc...)
 Dictation
Sitting 10 minutes Steps:
N5 4 1) Once you have chosen an unheard appropriate-level listening material with a script (very important!).
Play the piece all the way through first.
Fluency 2) Try to understand as much as you can about the main points of the dialog the first time through.
Grammar 3) Now, select a small section of the dialog (about 10 to 15 seconds) and listen to it.
Kanji 4) Write down as much as you can of the sentence (on paper or in a text document on your PC). You can
try to write the kanji if you want to practice writing kanji, but it isn't necessary.
Listening
5) If you had a hard time writing everything down, listen a second time and fill in what you missed. You
Reading might want to do this in another color pen so you can check what was difficult for you to hear.
Speaking 6) Continue on through the dialog, selecting small sections like this until you come to the end.
Vocabulary 7) Lastly, check your sentences against the script for the dialog you listened to. What kind of mistakes did
Writing you make? If you had problems with a particular grammar point, be sure to take your grammar book and
circle that chapter or section with a red pen. That way the month before the test you can save time by just
reviewing these difficult grammar points.
• Appropriate-level 8) OPTIONAL: If you really want to lock in what you just learned and you have some extra time, you can
listening material with practice writing 2 or 3 of the sentences you had the most trouble with. Just write out the sentences as
a script fast as you can 5 times while repeating them out loud. This is a way to get yourself used to
• pen and paper seeing/hearing the correct grammar so that it will look weird if you make the same mistake again. You
can also combine this with 'Dueling Speakers' afterwards to get some speaking practice, too.
Tips: You can slow down the audio if it is going too fast for you. If the audio is too dynamic (gets really
soft and really loud) try using the compressor filter, it's under Effect -> Compressor.... The default settings
should work just fine.

Tutorial Video (on YouTube)

 Dueling Speakers
Sitting 10 minutes Steps:
N5 4 1) Open Audacity and open the audio (with a script) that you want to practice with.
2) Plug your headphones in and 1st listen to the part you want to practice following along with the script.
Fluency
3) Now, select a part that you want to practice.
Grammar
4) Hit record and record your voice. You will hear the voice of the recording in your headphones but it
Kanji won't show up on the recording, so you will have a good clean copy of your voice.
Listening 5) Now play back the two tracks together. Where do you and the voice you are emulating not match? Try
to practice those parts again until you have a pretty good match. Doesn't have to be perfect. You might
Reading end up going crazy if you try to make it perfect.
Speaking Tutorial Video (on YouTube)
Vocabulary
Writing

• Appropriate-level
listening material with
a script
• headphones
 Kanji Writing Drills
Sitting 10 minutes Steps:
N5 4 1) First off, you'll need kanji writing drill sheets. You can either pick them up at a bookstore in
Japan or make them yourself (online). I would recommend making them yourself as it is pretty
Fluency easy and then they will be specific to your needs.
Grammar 2) You never want to write too many of the same kanji in a row. It's a bit of a waste of time to
Kanji do anything over about 5 in a row. For me, this is about where my brain shuts off and I stop
paying attention to what I'm doing. So, if you have a drill book with more than 5 in a row, just
Listening cut them short.
Reading 3) While writing the kanji, it's helpful to repeat the word over and over again. This is to get in
some extra speaking and listening practice along with your kanji writing practice. You might as
Speaking
well, right?
Vocabulary
4) As you are writing the kanji, be sure to think about the individual radicals of the kanji not the
Writing kanji as a whole. By breaking down the kanji into its respective parts it'll be a lot easier to
remember and also to distinguish it from other kanji.
• Kanji writing drill sheets
from the store, or ones
you made yourself
(online)
• pen or pencil
 Personal Phrasebook
Sitting 10 minutes Steps:
N5 4 1) As you go through your day, consciously think about what you are saying. Can you say it in
Japanese?
Fluency
2) If you can't or are not sure. If it is an expression or phrase like “How do I get to the post
Grammar office?” then just write the English and Japanese phrase in the book. If it is a particular word you
are having trouble with try to write antonyms (opposites), synonyms (similarly meaning words)
Kanji
and an example sentence using the word like the Mind Map activity. You could possibly draw or
Listening find a picture that goes with it to.
Reading 3) Get it checked by a native or a service like lang-8.com
Speaking 4) Optional: Record your native friend saying the phrase or use a service like Rhinospike to get
Vocabulary a recording of it.

Writing 5) Save it to your flashcard system. Evernote is especially handy for this, but you can use
other systems as well.
• a PC with Internet 6) Be sure to review the phrases often and try to use them as much as you can in conversation.
• paper notebook or
digital notebook
 Vocabulary Mind Mapping
Sitting 10 minutes Steps:
N5 4 1) Open up Freemind (or another similar mindmapping piece of software) and start with a new
word as your center node or mind as they are sometimes called. Type the word you want to
Fluency study into this node in its 'native' form, how you would see it in a dictionary. In other words in
Grammar kanji or if the kanji is extremely rare, like 其れ（おれ） meaning 'that', then use just the hiragana.

Kanji 2) Start by adding the English of the word as well as the kana reading if necessary as nodes that
branch off from the center node.
Listening
3) You might want to try adding a picture from flickr that illustrates the word.
Reading
4) Add in example sentences from Tatoeba. Try to find the simplest sentence that still manages
Speaking
to show the meaning of the word. For example, それは　ねこです。(This is a cat.) is probably not
Vocabulary the best choice.
Writing 5) You might want to add a few synonyms as well. Use a good thesaurus to find a few synonyms
that make sense to you.
• Freemind 6) If you want to take it even further, you could add antonyms or opposites of the word as well.
• a PC with Internet Again, add as many things as you can to 'root' the word in your head.
 Studying with Music Videos (PVs)
Sitting 20 minutes Steps:
N3+ 4 1) Pick out a PV from http://www.musicpv.jp (tutorial: pv-tutorial.mp4).

Fluency 2) At first, listen to the song 2~3 times to get comfortable with the rhythm and see how much of
it you can understand.
Grammar
3) Click on the link to the lyrics (歌詞 or かし in Japanese). Musicpv.jp has lyrics for most songs,
Kanji but occasionally you might get an error message that they couldn't find lyrics. If this is the case,
Listening you'll have to move on to another song. Alternatively, you can try jplyrics.com

Reading 4) Listen to the song while reading the lyrics. This is so you can link the sound and kanji/kana
together in your head. You might want to hum along so you can get comfortable with how the
Speaking song is sung.
Vocabulary 5) Look up any words you don't know. You can use a browser tool to help you with meanings on
Writing jplyrics.com (browser extensions don't seem to work on musicpv.jp lyrics).
6) Practice ondoku with the lyrics a few times and try to get as comfortable as you can with the
• Internet surfing device words. Try to think about the meaning of the words as you do this part.
(tablet, PC, Mac) 7) You can try to echo the song, by playing a little bit, pausing, and then singing it. Work your
way through the song until you are pretty comfortable.
8) Finally, you can try to sing-along with the song to help you practice the rhythm.
 Ondoku
Anywhere 5 minutes Steps:
N5 3
1) First off, listen to the listening you have chosen paying attention to the
Fluency
pronunciation. Pay close attention to any kanji that you might not be completely
familiar with.
Grammar
2) Read the script out loud as fast as you can and time yourself.
Kanji
3) Underline the parts that you had trouble saying quickly and any other difficult to
Listening
pronounce Japanese words.
Reading
4) Listen to the listening again, pay attention to the parts that you had trouble
Speaking
with.
Vocabulary
5) Practice the parts of the dialog you had trouble with. Repeat them multiple
Writing times until they roll off your tongue.
6) Read the script out loud as fast as you can again and time yourself again. This
• Listening with a script
time try to beat your previous time.
(Textbook dialog,
JapanesePod101, etc...) 7) Listen to the CD a third time. This time though, pay attention to the intonation
• audio player of the dialog.
• timer
8) One last time, read the script out loud as fast as you can matching the
intonation as best as possible. Try to act out the script as much as you can.
9) OPTIONAL: One last time, play the listening and try to match the dialog as best
as you can. You want to speak at the same time and speed as the speakers in the
listening. This will help you get a feel for native-speaker speed Japanese.
 Flashcards
Anywhere 1 minute Steps:
N5+ 4
1) After , it's now time to lock them into your memory by slapping them on some
Fluency flashcards. First, write the Japanese in kanji on one side of the card, and the kana
and English on the other side of the card. This way you get two for the price of
Grammar
one.
Kanji
2) Take a peek at the kanji side of the card and try to make a guess at the meaning.
Listening Try to actively recall the word. Sometimes you might have to hunt deep into your
Reading memory before you can recall it. As long as you have something, try to fish for it.
Speaking If you draw a blank, flip it over and check the meaning and kana reading. Repeat
Vocabulary the word over a few times in your head. If you know this is your second or third
time missing the card, you might want to try building a mnemonic to help you
Writing
remember the word completely. Alternatively you can try to visualize a situation
where this word might come up. Remember, images are incredibly powerful.
• Blank flashcards
• pen (no pencil), The point is, that some words are just going to 'pop' into your head, others will
multiple colors are need some persuading. For the words that just pop into your head, you shouldn't
optional do anymore work because they are already locked in. For other words, that you
• flashcard sleeves draw a blank on, those have to be engraved or they are most likely going to just fall
• English to Japanese right back out again. Spend the few extra moments now to come up with
Dictionary, Japanese to mnemonic or image and save yourself the frustration later.
Japanese dictionary 3) If you want to, you can 'recycle' your cards by putting different words in different
colors or on different places on the card, but I would make this a separate set that
you study at a different time (after you've mastered the first set). This is to cut
down on interference between the two sets of words.
 Power Labeling
Home 1 minute Steps:
N5+ 4
1) Find an object in your house or apartment that you want to use more often or
Fluency are not familiar with.
Grammar 2) Look up an example sentence using the object from a resource like Tatoeba.org.
Or write your own sentence and have it checked with a native or a service like lang-
Kanji
8.com.
Listening
3) Write the example sentence at the top of a sticky note, then the word in kanji (if
Reading
it is used with kanji), then the word in hiragana at the bottom of the note.
Speaking
4) Stick the note to the object.
Vocabulary
5) At first, practice just saying the word. Once you can say it easily without looking
Writing
at the hiragana, rip off the bottom part of the note (the section that has the
hiragana on it).
• Sticky notes (aka Post-
Its) 6) Later, once you are pretty comfortable with the word, rip the word off and just
• things to label leave the sentence. Add more sentences and actions you can do with the object.
7) Remember to act out the action and really get into it. Seeing (and the other 4
senses) help you lock in the new word.
 Teach Yourself Grammar
Anywhere 2-3 minutes 1) Say the grammar point you are focusing on in Japanese. This is to help you focus on the main point of
the 'lesson'. We are going to shuffle these audio files around and so they'll pop up randomly and you'll need
N5+ 4 to be able to focus quickly on the point.

Fluency So for example, if you are studying the particle は, you would say 'the particle は'. If you are studying some
of the higher levels, which are more phrases than grammar points, you could say something like 'the phrase
Grammar ついでに'. Some of the higher level phrases are two parts, so you can say something like 'the phrase もし な
Kanji になに たなら', where なになに needs to be filled in with something.

Listening 2) Say a sentence that uses the grammar point in Japanese. This is to help give you context and a feel for
the grammar point. I feel like it is important to see the grammar point being used before you go into any
Reading rules about it.
Speaking For example, if you are studying は, you could make a simple sentence like 'これは　ほん　です。'. At the
higher levels, there are usually example sentences in the textbook that you can practice with. The So-
Vocabulary
Matome series in particular has lots of great examples using the grammar point.
Writing
3) Say the English translation of the sentence. This is to check your understanding of the grammar point
and how it is used. Alternatively, you can use the Japanese re-wording of the particular sentence if you
• Grammar textbook want a good challenge, but I prefer the English translation because it gives me one more way to look at the
• something to record grammar point.
audio with (e.g. 4) Repeat 2 and 3 as many times as you prefer. The point here is to give as many examples as you need to
smartphone, computer show all the usages, but be careful not to bore yourself with too much. Usually 2 or 3 examples are enough
and mic) to get the point across.
• Audacity (free) 5) Finally, finish off the recording by explaining the meaning of the grammar point and its usage. Be sure to
mention how it is used. For example, can be used with a noun? Can be used with just adjectives? Also,
note the connotation of the grammar point if there is one. Is it negative? Or affirmative? Is it used to
declare something?
6) Stop the recording and save it off. You can now put it into rotation with your other audio flashcards.
 Accelerated Reading
Anywhere 1 minute Steps:
N4+ 4
1) Find some appropriate level listening material with a script and listen to it one
Fluency
time while following along with the script.

Grammar 2) Repeat step 1 until you are fairly comfortable with the sounds and can read at
that pace. (This may just be one time.)
Kanji
Listening 3) Speed up the tempo of the piece with Audacity by 10% (or more if you want a
challenge).
Reading
4) Listen to the piece again and try to follow along with the script. Make sure you
Speaking
are able to read at that pace.
Vocabulary
5) Repeat steps 3 and 4 until you can't keep up, you need a break, or your brain
Writing
starts to 'fog'.

• Appropriate level 6) Try to read through the piece one more time as fast as you can. Pay attention to
listening material each word and make sure you are comprehending the piece not just blindly reading.
• Audacity (free)
 Shiritori
Anywhere 1 minute Steps:
N4+ 4
1) Start out by saying a word in Japanese.
Fluency 2) The next person in line has to say a word that begins with the same mora as
Grammar the last mora of the word you said. So for example,
Kanji Player 1: きれい (pretty)
Listening
Player 2: いたい (painful)
Reading
Speaking 3) Keep playing until you run out of ideas. One rule to keep in mind is that no word
Vocabulary can end with the ん sound because no words in Japanese begin with the ん sound.
Writing 4) For added difficulty, players can say the word and then use the word in a
sentence to check usage.
• Absolutely nothin'
 I bought ...
Anywhere 1 minute Steps:
N4+ 4
1) The first person starts out by making a simple sentence with one item. For
Fluency example, りんごを買った。(I bought an apple.)
Grammar
Kanji 2) The second person adds another item. For example, りんごとバナナも買った。
Listening 3) This continues until someone can't add another item or they forget one of the
Reading items in the list.
Speaking 4) For added difficulty, you can have categories that the words need to belong in
Vocabulary like animals, food, buildings, etc...
Writing

• Absolutely nothin'
 The 'if' game
Anywhere 1 minute Steps:
N4+ 4
1) The first person starts off by making an 'if' statement. For example, お金持ち
Fluency
だったら船を買う。 (If I were rich, I would buy a boat.)
Grammar
Kanji 2) The second person has to use the last part of the sentence to make a new 'if'
Listening sentence. For example, 船を買ったらびわ湖に行く。(If I buy a boat, I will go to
Reading Lake Biwa.)
Speaking 3) Keep going until you run out of ideas. Again, it's a good way to use your
Vocabulary imagination and help the time go by waiting in line.
Writing

• Absolutely nothin'