About
Japanese Vocab is a focused vocabulary practice tool for Japanese learners. You see a Japanese word, pick the correct English meaning from four choices, and move on. No accounts required, no clutter, no time limits.
What it covers
Words are grouped by JLPT level (N5 through N1), plus a collection of common words that don't fall into any level. You choose which lists to practice from in Settings (the gear icon at the top, or the summary line above the question).
JLPT does not publish official vocabulary lists. The levels used here are based on widely used community word lists and may not exactly match current exam content.
How it works
Each question shows a Japanese word (in kanji with furigana, or in kana only, depending on your setting) and four English translations. Pick the right one. If you get it wrong, the word goes onto your review list and comes up more often until you get it right. You can also practice just those words: open Stats and choose to review the words you got wrong.
Wrong answers are drawn from the same part of speech (noun, verb, adjective, etc.) as the correct answer, so you can't eliminate choices by grammar category alone.
The choices start hidden — try to recall the meaning on your own first, then tap to show them. That short pause makes the practice stick better than recognising the answer among the choices. If you would rather see them straight away, switch off “Think first” in Settings.
Daily goal and streaks
You can set a daily answer goal (default: 10 answers). The ring at the top tracks how far along you are. Reach your goal to extend your daily streak. Miss a day and the streak resets — though a streak freeze automatically saves you once every seven days.
Tap the ring to open your stats: your streak, accuracy by level, and all-time totals.
Works offline
The app is a Progressive Web App. After your first visit, the app, your settings and your stats all work without a connection. You can install it to your home screen on mobile for a native-app feel.
Each word list is downloaded and kept the first time you practice it. As long as you've practiced your lists once while connected, practice will work offline.
Your data
All practice data — settings, the words to review, stats — is stored locally in your browser by default. If you clear your browser data, it's gone.
You can optionally sign in with Google or Apple to back up your data to the cloud. Your data is preserved even if you clear your browser, switch browsers, or use a different device. Sync is entirely opt-in — without it, the app works fully offline with all data stored locally.
See the privacy policy for details on how synced data is handled.
Free and ad-free
The app is free to use with no ads. (The practice page does link to a tutoring service I am affiliated with.) If you find it useful and want to support it, you can make a donation. For feedback or bug reports, get in touch.
Practicing verb and adjective forms? Try the sister app, Japanese Conjugation Practice.
Word data
Vocabulary data comes from JMdict, a free Japanese-English dictionary project maintained by the Electronic Dictionary Research and Development Group, and is used in conformance with the Group's licence. JLPT level classifications are based on data from the jlpt-classifier project.