Transport is one of the most reliable settings in the JFT-Basic listening section, because it produces exactly the kind of question the exam wants: a short announcement with one detail that matters.
Station and train words
ใใ (station), ใงใใก (exit), ใใใใก (entrance), ใใฃใท (ticket), ใใใใค (ticket gate), ใใผใ (platform), ใฎใใใ (transfer), ใใใฟใก / ใใใตใ (one way / return), ใใฆใใใ (reserved seat).
And the train types, which decide the answer surprisingly often: ใตใคใ (local), ใใ ใใใ (express), ใจใฃใใ ใ (limited express). If a clip says the express does not stop at your station, the answer is about the local.
The two verbs that decide questions
ใจใพใใพใ - it stops. ใจใพใใพใใ - it does not.
An enormous share of transport questions hinge on a single negative. Listen to the verb ending, not the station name.
The same goes for ใฎใใพใ (board) and ใใใพใ (get off), and for ใพใกใพใ (wait) and ใงใพใ (departs).
Directions
Directions questions combine an ordinal and a direction, and both must be caught:
- ใฒใจใคใ / ใตใใคใ / ใฟใฃใคใ - the first / second / third one
- ใฟใ / ใฒใ ใ - right / left
- ใพใฃใใ - straight on
- ใใฉ - corner
- ใคใใใใ - the end of the road
- ๏ฝใฎ ใจใชใ / ใพใ / ใใใ / ใใใ - next to / in front of / behind / between
Listen for the counter and the direction. Almost every directions question is decided by those two words, and everything else in the clip is scenery.
Announcements
Station and in-train announcements are more formal than conversation, which is why they sound harder. The structure is fixed, though:
ใพใใชใใ๏ฝใซ ใจใใกใใใใพใ - we will shortly arrive at ~ ใคใใฏ ๏ฝใงใ - the next stop is ~ ใใฎ ใงใใใใฏ ๏ฝใใใงใ - this train is bound for ~ ใกใ ใใ ใใฆใใ ใใ - please take care
Once you have met the frame a few times, you stop parsing the polite verb endings and hear only the station name and the time, which is all the question wants.
Practise with real audio
Transport Japanese is one of the few areas where free authentic material is abundant: Japanese railway announcement recordings are all over the internet, and they repeat the same twenty patterns.
Two rules to keep the practice honest, borrowed from the exam: play each clip twice and then stop, and read the question before you listen. The listening section explains why that second habit is worth more than any amount of extra vocabulary.
Our free exam demo includes public-announcement listening items under exam conditions - the clips start on their own, play twice, and there is no replay button.