Vocabulary will unlock when you’ve proven your knowledge of the kanji through Reviews. For example, unlocking the vocabulary word 左右 requires both the kanji 左 and 右 to be at the Guru SRS stage. When a vocabulary word unlocks, it will appear in your Lessons queue. To do them, simply click on the Start Lessons button on the dashboard.

Vocabulary Lessons

Just like radicals and kanji, a vocabulary Lesson takes you through a series of tabs that are designed to help you to memorize the key points of the item.

Vocabulary Kanji Composition

The first tab is Kanji Composition. This shows you what kanji the word is made up of.

Take a look. In your own vocabulary Lessons, you should already know all of the kanji listed in the breakdown (otherwise, it would not be unlocked)!

Vocabulary Meaning

The “Meaning” is the English translation of the vocabulary word.

While the main meaning is listed in the purple banner at the top, if there are other valid meanings, they’ll be listed here under Other Meanings. Possible parts of speech are given under Word Type, and a mnemonic to help you to memorize the meaning is written under Meaning Explanation. Read it carefully—it will use your past knowledge of the kanji used to make up this vocabulary word.

Vocabulary Reading

The Reading tab will show you the accepted reading (i.e. how the word is read in Japanese) along with a mnemonic. This mnemonic will help you to remember how to read a vocabulary word, though there is also a good chance you’ll have already learned the reading from learning the kanji that make up this word.

In the cases where the reading is different from what you learned with the kanji, there will be a special mnemonic to help you.

You can hear the vocabulary word spoken in the Vocab Reading sub-section.

Vocabulary Context

The Context tab helps you understand how to put the word to use. The Patterns of Use sub-section lists ways the vocab can be used grammatically. Click a pattern to see common word combinations listed for that pattern.

Below that are example sentences demonstrating how to use the vocabulary.

While some sentences will be level appropriate for your reading ability, these sentences are meant for context, not necessarily study. You can use these sentences to figure out the meanings of ambiguous or similar words.

The Vocabulary Lesson Quiz

Upon completing a Lesson Set, you’ll be taken to the Lesson Quiz. Here you’ll be tested on what you just learned.

Like kanji, vocabulary have a meaning and reading side to them and you’ll need to answer both to complete the connected pair.

The meaning is the English meaning of the vocabulary word:

And the reading is the Japanese reading.

Learn how to tell the difference between meaning and reading reviews on our Meanings and Readings page.

Doing Your Vocabulary Reviews

When you complete a set of Lessons, those items will be sent to your Reviews queue. As with everything else, you should try to complete your Reviews as they are available. Although vocabulary items don’t contribute to you leveling up they are important for reinforcing your kanji knowledge and teaching you the other readings of a kanji.