JFT-Basic test format: the four sections, the questions and the one 60-minute clock

The JFT-Basic at a glance

The Japan Foundation Test for Basic Japanese (JFT-Basic) checks whether you can handle the Japanese of everyday life in Japan: shops, stations, the clinic, the city office, simple talk at work. It is a computer-based test (CBT). You sit in a booth at a Prometric test centre, read questions on a screen, hear audio through headphones, and click your answers.

Some things the test does not have:

• No speaking test and no writing test. Every answer is a click.
• No choice of sections. The official FAQ says you cannot sit for only some sections.
• No separate time limit per section. One clock covers all four sections.
• No pass or fail per section. Your level comes from the total score across all four. (See the score and pass mark guide.)

What are the four sections of the JFT-Basic?

The sections always come in the same order. Each has about 12 questions, and about 50 in total.

The Japan Foundation builds every question from "Can-do" descriptions at CEFR levels A1 and A2. Each question puts you in a real situation from life in Japan and asks you to complete a small task: understand a sign, reply to a co-worker, pick the right bus, follow a safety announcement. The official test description names hospitals and disaster preparedness as examples of topics. The questions are not tied to a particular job, so you will not see construction or care-work vocabulary as the tested point.

Section 1: Script and Vocabulary (文字と語彙)

This section checks that you can read everyday Japanese script and know basic words. It has four question types:

In the official samples, these items have three choices. The kanji-reading choices often differ by only one sound: a voiced sound (く or ぐ), a long vowel, or a small っ. Reading the word aloud in your head helps.

Section 2: Conversation and Expression (会話と表現)

This section checks the grammar and set phrases you need in daily conversation.

• Grammar. A short written dialogue with a gap in one line. In the official sample there are four choices, often the same verb in four different forms. Only one form fits the words around the gap.
• Expression. A short exchange shown like chat bubbles. You choose the phrase that fits the situation: a greeting, a thank-you, a polite refusal, a reply to an apology. The official sample has three choices.

Grammar is the only type in the official samples with four choices. Every other sample item has three. Our free JFT-Basic grammar quiz drills the particles and verb forms this section uses most.

Section 3: Listening Comprehension (聴解)

You hear audio through headphones and answer a question written in English. Three kinds of listening appear:

1. Conversations: two people exchange information or chat, for example about plans or a past event.
2. At shops and public places: a customer and a clerk, a passenger and station staff, a patient and a receptionist.
3. Announcements and instructions: a public announcement, a broadcast or a supervisor's instructions. In the official sample, one audio clip carries two questions.

In all the official samples, the listening choices are pictures, not words. You hear the Japanese, read the English question, and click the picture that matches.

Section 4: Reading Comprehension (読解)

• Comprehending content. A short text such as a message, letter, email or newsletter. In the official sample, it is a few hundred characters long and is followed by two questions.
• Information search. A realistic document: a notice, timetable, leaflet, price list or label. You find the one piece of information the question asks for.

In reading, the questions and choices are in Japanese, though the instruction line above them is in English.

How does the 60-minute timer work?

This is the rule most first-time candidates get wrong. There are not four separate 15-minute blocks. There is one 60-minute clock for the whole test. The screen shows it in the top bar as "Section Time Remaining", and it keeps counting down from section to section.

That has three consequences:

• Time you save is not lost. If you finish Script and Vocabulary in 8 minutes, the rest of the time carries on into the later sections.
• Time you overspend is gone for good. If you spend 25 minutes on the first two sections, Listening and Reading must share what is left.
• Reading comes last. It is usually the slowest section, and it is the one squeezed when time runs short.

When the clock reaches zero, a "Time Expired" screen appears and the test ends, according to Prometric's guide to the test screen. Unanswered questions score nothing.

A simple time plan

The Japan Foundation does not publish a recommended time split. This is our suggestion, based on how long each type takes:

Practise this split under a real timer before test day. Our full mock test uses the same single 60-minute clock.

Can you go back and change answers?

Navigation is strict, and it differs by section.

Inside a section (except Listening): you can move freely with the Back and Next buttons, change any answer, and mark questions with a flag for review. The question list shows which items you have answered, which you have not, and which you flagged.

Between sections: once you finish a section, you cannot go back. To leave a section you press Finish Section at the top right. Prometric's guide says the screen then asks you to confirm, and warns you if any questions are unanswered or flagged. After a second confirmation your answers are submitted and the section closes for good.

In Listening: you cannot move to the previous or next question to review. Each question is answered once, in order. If you press Next without choosing an answer, a warning asks if you really want to move on.

How do the listening rules work?

Listening has its own rules, and they are worth knowing before you sit down:

• You start each clip yourself by pressing the play button.
• Each clip plays up to 2 times. After the second play, you cannot hear it again.
• There is no going back. You cannot return to an earlier listening question.
• The question is in English on screen, together with a short scene line telling you who is talking and where. Read both before you press play, so you know what to listen for.
• The answers are pictures. Look at all three before playing. Notice what is different between them: a time on a clock, a place, an object, an action.

A good habit: on the first play, listen for the answer. On the second play, check it, especially if the speakers change their minds. Listening items often mention all three pictures and then settle on one, so listen to the end before you click. You can build this habit with the short clips in our JFT-Basic listening practice.

The volume is controlled on the headset, and Prometric's test-day guide says there is a sound check before you start. Tell the staff straight away if the headset does not work.

What does the test screen look like?

The official test description shows the screen layout. Around the edge of the screen you will see:

• Top bar: the question number, the section name, "Section Time Remaining" and the Finish Section button. In the last section it changes to Finish Test.
• Instruction band: one English line, such as "Look at the illustration and choose the correct word."
• Your Language button: opens a pop-up with the instruction translated.
• Question area: the Japanese text, picture, dialogue or audio player, and the answer choices as large boxes. The box you click changes colour.
• Question list: a row of numbered buttons. In the official description, grey means answered, green means unanswered or the current question, and a flag means you marked it for review.
• Back, Next and a flag button to move around and mark questions.

Some long reading items need scrolling. If an item looks cut off, scroll down before you answer.

You can see the screens in practice before test day. The Japan Foundation publishes sample questions and a YouTube video on how to operate the test screen, both linked from the official About page. Our sample questions copy the layout with new, original items.

What language are the instructions in?

Every instruction and every listening question is shown in English. You do not need good English, though. A Your Language button opens a translation. The official site lists these languages:

There are a few points to know:

• The translation covers the instructions and question lines, not the Japanese being tested. The sentences, dialogues, audio and reading texts stay in Japanese.
• Some major test-taker languages, such as Hindi, Sinhala, Urdu and Tagalog, are not on the official list. Candidates from India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and the Philippines use the English instructions. If that is you, learn the dozen English instruction lines before test day so they cost you no time.
• Prometric also publishes translations of the screen's buttons and warnings. Its guide says candidates in Japan cannot view that translated material during the test, so learn it in advance if you test in Japan.
• When you book, you choose the exam and language on the Prometric site, and Prometric warns that a mistake there cannot be changed or refunded. Check carefully. Our registration guide walks through it.

Is there furigana on the kanji?

The official pages do not state a rule. In the official sample questions, the kanji carry no furigana, and one question type (kanji reading) asks you to supply the reading, so it could not show it. In those samples, only basic kanji appear in sentences, and harder words are written in hiragana. Information-search documents look like real Japanese notices and use more kanji.

The practical advice is simple: practise reading without furigana from the start. The free JFT-Basic vocabulary and kanji list covers the basic kanji words.

What is the JFT-Basic level, compared with other tests?

The questions target CEFR A1 to A2. The score is reported on a scale from 10 to 250, and 200 or more is the level used for the Specified Skilled Worker (i) visa. The full explanation is in our score and pass mark guide.

Compared with the JLPT N4, the JFT-Basic is shorter (one hour against almost two), is held about monthly instead of twice a year, and shows your score at the end of the test. The JFT-Basic vs JLPT N4 comparison covers the differences in detail.

How to prepare for the format

1. Learn the screen first. Take the free 12-question practice test to get used to the instruction lines, flags and picture answers.
2. Train with one clock. Sit a full mock in one go, without pausing, and note where your time went.
3. Read before you play. In every listening practice item, read the English question and look at the pictures before pressing play.
4. Finish sections deliberately. Make "check for blanks, then Finish Section" an automatic habit.
5. Read without furigana. Use materials without reading aids from the start.

For a week-by-week plan, see the JFT-Basic study plan.