Revise Your First 800 Kanji
Ten matching games, easiest first, in the order Japanese schools teach them. Each one holds
80 kanji and asks for one thing: the character, and how it is read in hiragana. Start at
Level 1 and work up, or drop into the level that matches where you are — then finish with
two games that put those characters back together into real words.
Teachers
Project a game on the board and play it as a class, or hand the levels to students for
revision. There's a QR code in the top left corner of every game; tap it to enlarge it
for the room.
Students
Kids, and adults reminiscing about those days in Kyoto — work through them on your own,
on a phone, tablet or computer. Nothing is timed.
Level 1
Beginner
School Grade 1
80 kanji
The characters Japanese children meet first — numbers, days of the week, up and down, people and nature.
一右雨円王音下火花貝学気
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Level 2
Beginner
School Grade 2
80 kanji
Everyday words start forming: seasons, family, coming and going, thinking and speaking.
引羽雲園遠何科夏家歌画回
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Level 3
Beginner
School Grade 2
80 kanji
Time and direction, buying and selling, reading and answering — the first long compounds.
場色食心新親図数西声星晴
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Level 4
Elementary
School Grade 3
80 kanji
Bodies, places and daily actions, and the first properly abstract characters.
丁予化区反世主仕他代写去
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Level 5
Elementary
School Grade 3
80 kanji
School, weather and travel, plus the vocabulary of describing and comparing things.
品客屋度待急指持拾昭柱洋
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Level 6
Elementary
Grade 3 into Grade 4
80 kanji
Closes out Grade 3 and steps into Grade 4 — study, nature and measurement.
短童等筆葉落軽運遊開階陽
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Level 7
Intermediate
School Grade 4
80 kanji
Place names, formal verbs and the language of plans, records and requests.
努労完岐希折改材束沖求臣
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Level 8
Intermediate
School Grade 4
80 kanji
Society and work: industry, trade, competition and judgement.
健側副唱埼崎巣康敗望械梨
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Level 9
Intermediate
Grade 4 into Grade 5
80 kanji
The last of Grade 4 into Grade 5 — cause, condition and consequence.
競議久士仏支比刊可句史圧
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Level 10
Upper intermediate
School Grade 5
80 kanji
The most abstract set: economy, law, evidence and argument.
破粉素耕能脈航財造停務基
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