Hiragana: the 46 basic characters

Characters

46 basic characters, plus marks that add voiced sounds (ga, za, da, ba) and small characters

Direction

left to right, or top to bottom in books

Time to learn

5 to 10 days

Tap the speaker on any character to hear it, where your device has a Japanese voice. Sounds are described with English comparisons, which are close but never exact: listen and repeat.

• Every character is a syllable (a consonant plus a vowel), except ん, which is a lone n.
• Two small marks (゛ and ゜) change a sound: か (ka) becomes が (ga), は (ha) becomes ぱ (pa).
• Hiragana is used for grammar words, endings and words with no kanji. Katakana is used for foreign words.
• は is read wa and を is read o when they act as particles.

1. 1

   Day 1: Vowels

   Learn 5 letters: あ い う え お. Say each one out loud three times, then cover the sounds and test yourself.

2. 2

   Day 2: K and S rows

   Learn 10 letters: か き く け こ さ し す せ そ. Say each one out loud three times, then cover the sounds and test yourself.

3. 3

   Day 3: T and N rows

   Learn 10 letters: た ち つ て と な に ぬ ね の. Say each one out loud three times, then cover the sounds and test yourself.

4. 4

   Day 4: H and M rows

   Learn 10 letters: は ひ ふ へ ほ ま み む め も. Say each one out loud three times, then cover the sounds and test yourself.

5. 5

   Day 5: Y, R, W rows and n

   Learn 11 letters: や ゆ よ ら り る れ ろ わ を ん. Say each one out loud three times, then cover the sounds and test yourself.

6. 6

   Day 6: Review and read

   Go back over every group, then read the 8 practice words below out loud. Slow is fine.

7. 7

   Day 7: Say real sentences

   Start Japanese sentences in 4ToSpeak. Seeing letters in context is what makes them stick.

Fifteen to twenty minutes a day is enough. Skip a day and pick up where you stopped.

You can already read these. Read each one aloud, then check the sound and meaning.

Katakana: the 46 basic characters use the same sounds. Learn hiragana first, then katakana.