How to Learn Japanese Vocabulary with Flashcards

The most efficient way to build Japanese vocabulary is to learn the most common words first, each inside an example sentence, with spaced repetition scheduling the reviews. That's what the Core 2000 and Core 6000 lists are: the most common Japanese words in a sensible order, each with a sentence.

Read kana before you start

Japanese vocabulary cards mix kanji with hiragana. You don't need to know kanji to start, because furigana (small hiragana over each kanji) gives the reading, but you do need hiragana. If you don't read it yet, learn hiragana first.

Why a sentence on every card

A Japanese word on its own doesn't tell you which particles go with it, whether it's polite or casual, or which of several English meanings is meant. The sentence does. In the Core 2000 deck each card shows the word and a sentence using it, with furigana; the back gives the meaning and the sentence's translation. See the first 100 words.

From recognition to recall: cloze cards

Once a word is familiar, recognising it isn't the same as being able to produce it. Cloze cards help: the sentence appears with the word missing, and you supply it. The Japanese Core 6000 deck uses cloze cards for all 6,000 words.

How fast to go

At 10 new words a day, the Core 2000 takes about 200 days; at 20, about 100. Reviews of earlier words come on top and grow as the deck does, so pick a pace you can keep every day. A slower pace you keep up beats a fast one you abandon.

Grammar alongside

Vocabulary decks teach words; grammar decks teach how sentences fit together. Tae Kim's Japanese Grammar deck covers his grammar guide in over 2,000 example sentences, with furigana and audio.