AP Japanese kanji practice: pick the right kanji, fast
The AP Japanese writing tasks are typed. On the exam you enter a reading with a Japanese input method, it offers a row of kanji, and you choose the one you mean. So what counts is recognising a kanji and knowing its reading, which is what these free quizzes drill. No sign-up, nothing to install.
What does AP Japanese ask you to do with kanji?
The writing section is two typed tasks in 30 minutes. College Board’s AP Japanese course description (opens College Board’s site in a new tab) tells teachers to keep students practising typing and choosing the right characters, and it lists a Kanji List of the kanji students should be able to read and use.
What does picking the right kanji look like?
Type kou (こう) and an input method offers every kanji that can be read that way. From the N5 and N4 lists on this site, that is:
- 高tall, high, expensiveN5
- 行going, journey, carry outN5
- 校school, examN5
- 後behind, back, laterN5
- 広wide, broad, spaciousN4
- 口mouthN4
- 考consider, think over, thinkN4
- 工craft, constructionN4
- 公public, prince, officialN4
Only one of them means “school”: 校. Pick the wrong one and you have written a different word. A real input method offers more candidates than this list; the quizzes ask the same kind of question, with one right answer among four.
How much of the AP kanji list do these quizzes cover?
The N5 and N4 sets here hold 255 kanji (82 and 173). College Board’s AP Japanese Kanji List is longer, about 410 according to teacher guides, and we have not matched it kanji by kanji, so treat these as a base to build on, not the whole list. Start here, then follow your textbook.
Is handwriting on the AP Japanese exam?
No, the writing is typed. Writing a kanji by hand is still a way some people make it stick, and the sheets are free: try one and see whether it helps you. There are stroke-order sheets for the N5 kanji, for the N4 kanji, and a builder for any set you choose.
What else do I need to prepare for AP Japanese?
These quizzes cover kanji only. They are not a practice exam and do not cover listening, speaking or reading passages, so use them next to your textbook and College Board’s own materials. You can also browse the N5 kanji list and the N4 kanji list in study order.
Do you teach AP Japanese?
The quizzes work as a ten-minute warm-up: no accounts, one right answer in four, nothing for students to install. Tell us which kanji your students miss most, or what you would want added: ari@michikanji.com.
Questions about AP Japanese kanji practice
- Are these the official AP Japanese kanji?
- No. They are the N5 and N4 kanji sets on this site (82 and 173). College Board publishes its own Kanji List, which is longer: teacher guides put it at about 410, and we have not matched our lists against it kanji by kanji. Treat these quizzes as a base to build on, not the whole list.
- Is handwriting on the AP Japanese exam?
- No. The writing tasks are typed. Writing a kanji by hand is still a way some people remember it, so the stroke-order sheets are free to print, but do not count on them for the exam.
- Is this a practice exam?
- No. It covers kanji only: not listening, speaking or reading passages. Use it next to your textbook and College Board’s own materials.
- Do I need to sign up or install anything?
- No. The quizzes run in your browser, with no account and nothing to install.
- Where do the readings and stroke diagrams come from?
- The readings come from the same kanji data as the rest of the site, which draws on the KANJIDIC dictionary file (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0). The stroke-order diagrams on the sheets come from KanjiVG (Ulrich Apel, CC BY-SA 3.0).
AP® is a registered trademark of the College Board, which was not involved in making this page.