Why Follow JLPT N5 → N1?

We roughly follow the JLPT N5 → N1 progression with our main kanji/vocab track. If you’re not familiar with the JLPT it’s a Japanese language proficiency test which runs twice a year (once a year in some countries) to test your ability with the language. N5 is the lowest level, and N1 is very advanced. Even if you never plan to take those tests it's a good order to learn in, because the N5 vocabulary is much simpler and more common, so it's more useful right away. Also if you’re studying in parallel in a Japanese class or app, you’ll run into much the same vocabulary in the same order, so the two will synergize and reinforce each other nicely.

It does mean that occasionally you’ll learn a more complex looking kanji before simpler looking kanji because that more complex looking kanji will actually be a much more common word. But we feel that trade-off is worth it to have the most useful vocabulary learned first and because it will mesh well with your other Japanese studies.