N2 roadmap

N2 is where most of your input can come from Japanese written for Japanese readers: news, commentary, and articles on topics you care about. You’re ready to start here if graded readers feel easy and you can follow easy-Japanese news without much help. Not sure? Try the official sample questions for N2 and N3. If N3 still feels hard, start with the N3 roadmap.

This guide suggests a study sequence, not a deadline or a guarantee of JLPT readiness. Everything below can be done for free. My suggested free route is a grammar list plus IMABI, Anki or renshuu reviews, nippon.com and MATCHA for reading, the NHK Radio News podcast and the official audio for listening, and the official practice tests. Where I mention a paid option, it is optional.

1. Know what N2 asks of you

The official level summary describes N2 as “the ability to understand Japanese used in everyday situations, and in a variety of circumstances to a certain degree.”

• Two timed sections. Vocabulary, grammar, and reading together (105 minutes), then listening (50 minutes), per the official breakdown.
• Three separate scores. Language knowledge (vocabulary and grammar), reading, and listening are each scored out of 60.
• What it takes to pass. At least 90 of 180 overall, plus at least 19 of 60 in each of the three, per the scoring rules.
• Changes from N3. Vocabulary adds word formation. Reading adds comparing two short texts (“integrated comprehension”), and its long passage becomes an opinion piece. Listening adds an integrated item where you combine several pieces of information, and drops N3’s items where you choose what to say from a picture.
• Scores are scaled, so a practice-test percentage can’t be turned into an official score.
• Every question is multiple choice, with no speaking or writing, and the JLPT publishes no official vocabulary, kanji, or grammar lists.
• CEFR reference. Since December 2025, score reports for people who pass N2 show a CEFR level: B1 for 90 to 111 points, B2 for 112 or more. It doesn’t cover speaking or writing.

Facts last checked: October 29, 2026, on jlpt.jp.

2. What changes at N2

The main change is the material, not a new kind of grammar. Texts at N2 explain, argue, and compare, and they use a more formal style.

Following an argument. Commentary usually states a view, gives reasons, raises a counterpoint, and returns to the view. Watch the words that mark each move: たしかに (admittedly) often introduces a point the writer will push back on, and だが or しかし (but) brings the turn. In a paragraph, ask which sentence is the writer’s view and which ones support it.

Formal written style. Expect both styles in the reading section. Some passages, including essays and opinion pieces, use です and ます, and others use plain forms, often the formal である style instead of だ. Notices, emails, and other practical texts usually use polite language. Don’t let a change of style slow you down. Formal texts also join clauses with the stem of a verb instead of the て-form.

雨が降り、気温が下がった。 (あめが ふり、きおんが さがった: It rained, and the temperature dropped.)

Here 降り does the job of 降って. You’ll also see ～ており for ～ていて, and news phrases such as ～とみられる (is thought to be).

Keigo you recognize. You don’t need to produce perfect keigo for the test, but you need to know who is doing what. Honorific verbs show respect for the person doing the action. Humble verbs describe what the speaker, or someone on the speaker’s side, does, in a modest way:

社長がいらっしゃいました。 (しゃちょうが いらっしゃいました: The company president has arrived.) 明日、私がそちらに参ります。 (あした、わたしが そちらに まいります: I’ll come to you tomorrow.)

If a dialogue seems to have no subject, the keigo often tells you who it is.

Comparing two texts. Integrated comprehension gives you two short texts on one topic. Practice by reading two articles or opinion pieces on the same story and writing one line each for where they agree and where they differ.

3. A routine that fits your day

Pick the version that fits today. You can switch any day.

• 15 minutes: your vocabulary reviews, then one short news article or one news clip. Finish by saying its main point in one sentence.
• 30 minutes: reviews, one grammar pair from section 4, one article, and one news clip, or a workbook recording using the loop in section 7.
• 60 minutes: the 30-minute version, plus a longer opinion piece read for its argument, and a few sentences of your own in reply, said aloud or written down.

If reviews take more than half of your time, stop adding new cards until they shrink. If you miss a week, do only your reviews for a day or two, then pick up where you left off.

4. Grammar: tell similar patterns apart

Many N2 grammar questions hinge on patterns that look close in meaning. Learn them in pairs, with an example of each:

• 次第 vs. たとたん. 準備ができ次第、出発します。 (じゅんびが でき しだい、しゅっぱつします: We’ll leave as soon as we’re ready.) ドアを開けたとたん、猫が飛び出してきた。 (ドアを あけた とたん、ねこが とびだしてきた: The moment I opened the door, the cat ran out.) 次第 looks ahead: once one thing happens, someone will do the next thing on purpose, so it isn’t used for things that already happened. たとたん describes something sudden right after another event, often unexpected. It usually reports past events, and the second half isn’t your own intention, request, or command.
• にとって vs. に対して. 私にとって、この仕事は大切です。 (わたしに とって、この しごとは たいせつです: This job is important to me.) 先生に対して失礼なことを言った。 (せんせいに たいして しつれいな ことを いった: I said something rude to the teacher.) In these examples, にとって gives an evaluation from someone’s standpoint, and に対して marks who an action or attitude is aimed at. (に対して can also mean “in contrast to,” which you’ll meet in reading.)

For more patterns, the JLPT Sensei N2 grammar list shows what is commonly taught at this level, and IMABI explains grammar in depth. There is no official list, so treat it as a map, not a checklist. When two patterns seem the same, look up example sentences for both and notice which situations each one appears in. Keep the habit from earlier levels: after reading an example, change one part and say the new sentence.

If you want a paid textbook, Quartet from The Japan Times is an intermediate course in two volumes that covers all four skills. For test-focused books, the paid Shin Kanzen Master and Nihongo Sō-matome series have N2 volumes split by skill. Bunpro is a paid option for grammar review. You don’t need any of them.

5. Grow vocabulary and kanji through words

The new word formation questions test words built from parts: prefixes, suffixes, and compounds. Learn the common parts with a few words each: 未 (み: not yet) in 未経験 (みけいけん: no experience), 再 (さい: again) in 再利用 (さいりよう: reuse), 非 (ひ: non-) in 非常識 (ひじょうしき: lacking common sense), and the suffix 化 (か: -ization) in 国際化 (こくさいか: internationalization).

Kanji that share a component often share a reading. 青 (せい) carries over to 清潔 (せいけつ: clean), 晴天 (せいてん: clear weather), and 静止 (せいし: standing still). Many lists still quote the old test’s figures of about 1,000 kanji and 6,000 words for this level. Treat them as a rough guide only; today’s JLPT publishes no list.

Keep your Anki (free on desktop and Android) or renshuu reviews going, and add words from your reading in a full sentence. A Japanese-Japanese dictionary such as Kotobank helps with near-synonyms, and Jisho is there when you need English.

6. Read Japanese written for Japanese readers

Keep most of your reading at a level where you can read on without stopping, and do a smaller amount slowly.

• NHK News has short, plainly written reports on current events. Try a story you already know from the news in your own language.
• nippon.com (Japanese edition) has longer explainers and commentary on Japanese society.
• MATCHA’s Japanese edition has travel and culture articles in regular Japanese.
• Satori Reader has intermediate stories with reading support. Some content is free, and the rest needs a paid subscription.

For careful reading, take one opinion piece and mark the writer’s view, the reasons, and any counterpoint. Then time yourself. Reading comes last in the 105-minute section, so pace matters as much as accuracy (see section 8).

7. Listen at nearly natural speed

N2 listening uses nearly natural speed, and the integrated items ask you to hold several details at once. Sources to try:

• NHK Radio News, a free podcast of short news bulletins. Pick one for your daily listening;
• NHK News, where many stories have a short video next to the article (some videos may not play outside Japan). The article isn’t a word-for-word script, but it helps you check the main points;
• the N2 audio in the official sample questions and the listening scripts in the workbooks.

For audio with a word-for-word script, such as the workbook recordings, use this loop:

1. Listen once without the text.
2. Read the text to see what you missed.
3. Listen again while following along.
4. Listen once more without help.

Once you understand a clip, try shadowing a few lines. For integrated items, practice taking quick notes while you listen: who wants what, and which option fits. The test gives no practice example before the last listening question, so learn its format from the official samples or workbooks.

8. Check yourself with official practice

Try the official sample questions early. They show one example of each question type, which tells you what feels slow, not whether you are ready.

For full practice tests, both official practice workbooks are free to download, with audio, answers, and listening scripts. Print the answer sheet and use today’s limits; N2’s times haven’t changed since the workbooks were made.

The first section mixes vocabulary, grammar, and reading in 105 minutes, so plan your time. One split to try: about 30 minutes for vocabulary and grammar, which leaves about 75 for reading. Some people like to read the questions before the passage; try both ways in practice and keep what works for you. Adjust the split after each timed run.

Keep a short list of what went wrong and why: a word, grammar, a sentence you couldn’t untangle, or time. Track your accuracy separately for language knowledge, reading, and listening. That shows where you are weak, but real scores are scaled, so it can’t tell you whether you’d meet the official minimums.

For dates, deadlines, fees, ID, and accommodations, check your local host institution on the official list of test sites if you are outside Japan. In Japan, see Taking the Test in Japan. Applications close well before test day, so check early.

Sitting the December test? It’s on Sunday, December 6, 2026. My 7-week plan for the December JLPT is written for N5 to N3, but its week-by-week structure works with N2 materials and the section times above. Check your test voucher for the N2 start time.

Pick tomorrow’s small step

Choose one news story you care about and read it in Japanese tomorrow, even if it’s just the first paragraph. You don’t need every step every day.

You can browse the resources by level or see the best free resources by level.

Next: N1 roadmap

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I’m Jason Kobayashi, and I run and update this site. How PeraNabi works.