N4 matters more than N5 for one concrete reason: N4 or above satisfies the language requirement for the Specified Skilled Worker visa, alongside JFT-Basic. See the SSW visa explained.
Six months of consistent daily study takes most beginners there. Here is the plan.
Months 1-2: foundations
Both scripts, the first 500 words, basic sentence patterns, and the particles. The same ground as the N5 three-month plan, compressed slightly.
The non-negotiable: finish hiragana and katakana in the first three weeks. Everything downstream is slower if the script is not automatic.
Month 3: verbs
The whole month on verbs, because N4 is largely a verb exam:
- Verb groups, and how to tell them apart - verb groups
- ます-form, plain form, ない-form, た-form
- The て-form and its family: ています, てください, てもいいです, てから - the te-form
If verbs are secure by the end of month 3, N4 is very likely. If they are not, nothing later will compensate.
Month 4: N4 grammar proper
Conditionals (と, ば, たら, なら), potential form, giving and receiving, comparisons, ～そうです and ～ようです, plain-form connections.
Work from a checklist so you can see the gaps: the N4 grammar checklist.
Vocabulary continues in parallel throughout - roughly 1,500 words total by the end of the month, with about 300 kanji.
Month 5: reading and listening volume
Grammar study drops to review. Most of the hour goes to input:
- Short graded readers and simple articles daily.
- Twenty minutes of listening daily, at natural speed. Listening speed training.
- The first full timed past paper, mid-month, to find the weak section.
Month 6: exam conditions
Two full timed papers, two weeks apart. Review each one properly - two hours of review per paper, sorting every question into knew it, guessed it, got it wrong.
Last ten days: no new material, error list only, and rest before the day. JLPT test day.
Keep an eye on the sectional minimums
A passing total with one section below its floor is a fail. Check every mock against the floors, not just the total: sectional minimums.
If the visa is the goal, compare the two exams
JLPT runs twice a year. JFT-Basic runs roughly monthly, tests a narrower and more practical range, and satisfies the same requirement.
For candidates whose deadline is a job rather than a qualification, JFT-Basic is usually the faster route: JFT-Basic or JLPT. Our free exam demo is a complete 48-question mock of it, under exam conditions, so you can compare the two formats before committing six months to either.