About AUN
What is AUN?
A 10-minute Japanese speaking test, scored by a Japanese listener
AUN (阿吽) is a Japanese speaking test that takes about 10 minutes on your phone. You get an AI review as soon as you finish. If you ask after the test, a Japanese person listens to your recording and sends back a result. That result shows how far you can get in 13 situations, and the one thing to fix next.
| Time and place | About 10 minutes. No booking. You take it in your phone’s browser or in the app (iPhone and Android). |
|---|---|
| Right away | An AI review (no scores) |
| If you ask | A result from a Japanese listener. You can ask once a week. Recordings are listened to in the order received, and results usually arrive in a few days. |
| Price | Both the AI review and the Japanese listener’s result are free for now (first come, first served). |
What you find out
The Japanese listener’s result gives you a ○△× mark for 13 situations, scores for six skills, and the one thing to fix next.
The 13 situations are places where people use Japanese day to day. Each gets a mark: ○ (you can handle it), △ (almost) or × (not yet).
| Daily life | Introducing yourself, shopping, city office or hospital, booking by phone |
|---|---|
| Socialising | Small talk, making plans with friends, talking at a drinking party |
| Work | Following instructions, customer service, job interview, meetings |
| School | Speaking up in class, seminar discussion |
The six skills are content, organisation, fluency, grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. Each gets a score from 0 to 5. In the sample above, raising grammar by one level would turn customer service and the job interview from △ to ○. So grammar is the thing to fix next.
For the thing to fix next, the result sets out how you speak now beside how the next level up sounds, so you can see what to aim for. Once you have two results from a Japanese listener, the app also shows how your scores have changed since last time.
The person who listens is Namba, the founder of AUN. He is not a Japanese teacher. What we want to find out is how much gets through to a Japanese person who is not used to hearing learners. The scores are decided by the listener, not by AI. The standards for the six skills and the way scores are decided are explained in How AUN results are decided.
Right away: the AI review
As soon as you submit the test, you get an AI review: the words the AI heard you say, the places that may have been hard to understand, and why. If you said 「会社に、おそいました」, for example, it tells you that for a moment it is unclear what happened, and gives 「会社に遅れました」 (“I was late for work”) as another way to say it.
The AI review has no scores. The AI can mishear a learner.
Who it suits, and what it can be used for
The Japanese-Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) has no speaking questions, so passing N2 or N1 does not tell you how well you speak. And when a Japanese person says “Your Japanese is so good,” you still do not know which parts did not get through.
AUN suits people who can read and listen but are not confident speaking. You can use it alongside the JLPT to find out how well you speak. It also suits people who want to know where their speaking stands before a job, an interview or study in Japan, and people who want to check, between practice sessions, what to fix and how they have changed since last time.
There are things it cannot be used for. The result is a guide and cannot be used as official proof. You cannot submit it for a visa, admission or a job application, and it does not promise how an interview will go. AUN is a test, not teaching material or a conversation partner.
There are also things it does not measure: reading, listening and writing; keigo (polite language); and back-and-forth, such as asking the other person to repeat or checking what they meant. The AI asks you questions and follow-ups during the test, but your own ability to ask back is not assessed.
If you cannot yet say short sentences, the result will tell you less. There is one listener at present, and we have not yet published any study of how much scores move when someone retakes the test.
What you are asked
You answer by voice: about yourself, asking for something in a shop, something that happened recently, explaining something, giving an opinion. In one task you answer a run of questions from an AI interviewer.
The questions change with your answers. Depending on how you answer, the test switches to easier questions, and if something is missing, the AI asks a follow-up such as “And then what happened?”
You do not need to book. You can take the test straight away in your phone’s browser. In the app (iPhone, Android), you get a notification when your result arrives, and your past results are kept.
Your recordings
Recordings are stored on Google Cloud in Tokyo. Transcription, the AI review and the draft are produced with the OpenAI API. Data sent through the API is not used to train its models.
You choose whether your recordings may be used to improve scoring, and you can change that later. Recordings are deleted once the period we have set has passed, and you can ask us to delete them at any time. Retention periods and the other details are in the Privacy Policy.
Frequently asked questions
Does the JLPT have a speaking test?
No. The Japanese-Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) measures reading and listening. AUN does not replace the JLPT, but taking it as well tells you how well you speak.
Can a Japanese person, not an AI, listen to my Japanese?
Yes. If you ask after the test, a Japanese person listens to your recording and sends back a result. You can ask once a week.
Is it free?
It is free for now (first come, first served). There is no charge for the AI review or for the Japanese listener’s result.
Can beginners take it?
Yes. Depending on your answers, the test switches to easier questions.