In this skill

Here’s the entire grammar of this skill: there isn’t any. Japanese numbers from 11 to 99 are built from the ten words you’ve owned since Lesson 3, glued in the most obvious possible way. 47 is yonjuu-nana — “four-tens seven.” 23 is nijuu-san — “two-tens three.” The teens are just juu plus a digit: 14 is juuyon. There are no new words, no exceptions, no sound changes in this range. English speakers wish their language worked this way (“four-tens seven” beats “forty-seven” for honesty).

So why a skill? Because knowing the rule and hearing 68 at counter speed are different abilities. A clerk saying rokujuu-hachi gives you about half a second, and translating through the rule is too slow — the compound has to land as a number, whole. That’s a drilling problem, not a learning problem, and this page is the drill. The core stays sufficient without it: pointing, register displays, and kaite kudasai already cover you. Take this skill when you’re ready to stop needing them for two-digit numbers.

One honesty note: the course builds everything from yon, nana, and kyuu, and every number here uses them. Real Japan sometimes says shi, shichi, and ku instead (you met shichi-ji and ku-ji in the hour set) — if a number sounds odd by one beat, it’s the same digit in its other outfit.

As always: tap each number and listen first, say it back, then check yourself against the digits that appear. Tap again to listen as often as you like.

The drill: teens and tens

The two building patterns, heard pure — juu + digit for the teens, digit + juu for the tens:

Juuichi Juuyon Juunana Nijuu Yonjuu Nanajuu Kyuujuu

The drill: the full range

Both patterns at once — digit + juu + digit. Twenty-three numbers spread across every decade; if you can catch these, you can catch all eighty-nine:

Nijuu-ichi Nijuu-go Nijuu-hachi Sanjuu-ni Sanjuu-san Sanjuu-roku Sanjuu-kyuu Yonjuu-san Yonjuu-nana Gojuu-ni Gojuu-yon Gojuu-hachi Rokujuu-ichi Rokujuu-go Rokujuu-nana Rokujuu-kyuu Nanajuu-ni Nanajuu-roku Hachijuu-san Hachijuu-hachi Kyuujuu-ichi Kyuujuu-yon Kyuujuu-kyuu

Anki deck

The page teaches the pattern; the deck builds the speed: download the Numbers 11–99 Anki deck. Every card is audio-first — hear the number, know the digits before the reveal. Drill until the answer arrives as a number, not as a translation. When these feel instant, the Prices at Speed skill takes the same ear past 100.