The vocabulary (Kotoba) section is the foundation of the Minna no Nihongo series. While the textbook is famous for being entirely in Japanese, the audio component is the key to actually speaking and understanding the language.
Japanese is a pitch-accent language. The word hashi can mean "bridge" (high-low) or "chopsticks" (low-high). Without the , a beginner has no way of distinguishing these. The audio files provide a consistent model of Tokyo-standard pitch. minna no nihongo n5 kotoba audio