Levels
Japanese podcasts by JLPT level
Wakatta tags every show in its catalogue from N5 to N1 and groups them beginner-first, so you can start at a level you can actually follow instead of guessing from a show description. Fifty-two curated shows, and a search that reaches the rest of the Japanese podcast directory.
Tap a level chip. This is the real Shows tab — single-select, filtered on the device, grouped N5 → N1 exactly as the app groups it.
The hardest part of learning by listening is not finding Japanese audio. It is finding Japanese audio you can almost understand — hard enough to teach you something, easy enough that you do not give up in the first four minutes.
How the levels work
Wakatta's curated catalogue is 52 shows, and every one carries a JLPT tag. The Shows tab opens grouped from easiest to hardest — N5 · Beginner, N4 · Upper beginner, N3 · Intermediate, N2 · Upper intermediate, N1 · Advanced — and the chips along the top narrow it to one level at a time.
The split is deliberately bottom-heavy where people actually start: 9 shows at N5, 11 at N4, 10 at N3, 12 at N2 and 10 at N1. Beginner material is the hardest kind to find, so it gets the most attention.
Pick your level once
The first thing Wakatta asks is how much Japanese you know — five options from Beginner ("just starting, I know little or nothing") to Expert ("I understand almost everything, even native"). You can skip it, and you can change it later.
What it does: it puts one show at your level at the top of Home under FOR YOUR LEVEL, and it sorts the Recommended rail by how close each show is to where you are. Nothing is hidden from you — the whole catalogue stays browsable, it is just ordered around you.
Past the curated list
The search field is not limited to those 52. It queries the Japanese podcast directory directly, so if a show exists in Japan you can find it, add it and Wakatta will transcribe it the same way. The curated list is a starting point, not a boundary.
Which level should you start with?
Lower than you think. The test is not whether you recognise the words — it is whether you can follow the thread while your hands are busy. If you are stopping every sentence, drop a level; you will learn more from an hour you mostly understand than from ten minutes you decode.
Full guide: the best Japanese podcasts for beginners
Start at a level you can follow
Free to start, no account needed. iOS and Android.
