Free CEFR A1 Anki deck — 1,060 words
A CEFR A1 English vocabulary list built for Chinese and Japanese speakers. Each card carries IPA pronunciation, a Chinese gloss, a Japanese gloss, and an English example sentence showing the word in use.
Sample words
12 entries taken from across the list, exactly as they appear in the file. A dash means the reading would just repeat the word.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 'm | /əm/ | 是（am的缩写） |
| best | /bɛst/ | 最好的 |
| cinema | /ˈsɪnəmə/ | 电影院 |
| dream | /driːm/ | 梦；梦想 |
| food | /fuːd/ | 食物 |
| hole | /hoʊl/ | 洞 |
| lovely | /ˈlʌvli/ | 可爱的；令人愉快的 |
| note | /noʊt/ | 笔记；便条 |
| princess | /ˌprɪnˈsɛs/ | 公主 |
| shout | /ʃaʊt/ | 喊叫 |
| sunny | /ˈsʌni/ | 晴朗的 |
| ugly | /ˈʌɡli/ | 丑陋的 |
Who this deck is for
Beginner learners of English who read Chinese or Japanese. If you want English-to-English definitions, this is not the deck for you — the glosses are deliberately in the learner's own language.
How to import it into Anki
- Download the file above, then open Anki and choose File > Import.
- Set the note type to Basic and the deck to whatever you like.
- Set the field separator to Tab, and tick "Allow HTML in fields" so readings show on their own line.
- Map the three columns to Front, Back and Tags, then import.
The file is plain text, so it also opens in Excel, Google Sheets, or any flashcard app that reads TSV or CSV.
Questions
How do I import this into Anki?
Easiest is the .apkg: double-click it and Anki imports the deck, tagged by level, with nothing to configure. If you prefer the TSV, use File > Import, set note type Basic and separator Tab, tick "Allow HTML in fields" so readings appear on their own line, then map the three columns to Front, Back and Tags.
Are the definitions in English?
No. Each word is glossed in Chinese and Japanese, with an English example sentence. These lists were built for Chinese and Japanese speakers learning English.
Can I share or reuse this deck?
Yes. These lists are free to download, use in class, and redistribute. Teachers are welcome to hand them to students directly.
After the word list
A deck builds recognition, which is necessary and not sufficient — words settle once you meet them somewhere you actually wanted to read. InputDojo imports any article or video and tells you what share of it you already know. InputDojo
Teaching this level? The printable CEFR A1 worksheets generate quizzes and answer keys from this same list.