There are three types of letters in Japanese.
- 1. Hiragana (phonetic sounds) are basically used for particles, words and parts of words.
- 2. Katakana (phonetic sounds) are basically used for foreign/loan words.
- 3. Kanji (Chinese characters) are used for the stem of words and convey the meaning as well as sound.
We suggest you start learning Hiragana, then Katakana and then Kanji. If
you learn Hiragana first, it will be easier to learn Katakana next. Hiragana
will help you learn Japanese pronunciation properly, read Japanese beginners'
textbooks and write sentences in Japanese.
Katakana will help you read Japanese menus at restaurants. Hiragana and
Katakana will be a good help to your Japanese study and comfortable living
in Japan.
Master Hiragana and Katakana Free E-mail lesson
Now, we are offering free lessons to master Hiragana in 13 days (or 25 days). We will send you links to the learning material via email in 8 lots. Once you have downloaded the learning material, follow the instructions and take the quizzes to master Hiragana!
Hiragana is basically used to express 46 different sounds used in the Japanese language. You will learn these 46 Hiragana over the course of 8 lessons - Japanese will become a lot easier to study after having learned Hiragana. Also, as you will be able to write sentences in Japanese, you will be able to write E-mails in Hiragana.
It's simple to register - just choose the course of your preference and enter your email address!
Hiragana mail contents: If you do not receive an email, please get the content of the email from this page. We apologize for the trouble. Thanks for your cooperation.
Katakana mail contents: If you do not receive an email, please get the
content of the email from this page. We apologize for the trouble. Thanks for your cooperation.
Download Hiragana and Katakana Worksheet (PDF file)
Audio
- a, i, u, e, o, ka, ki, ku, ke, ko
- sa, shi, su, se, so, ta, chi, tsu, te, to
- na, ni, nu, ne, no, ha, hi, fu, he, ho
- ma, mi, mu, me, mo, ya, yu, yo
- ra, ri, ru, re, ro, wa, o, n/m
- ga, gi, gu, ge, go, za, ji, zu, ze, zo, da, ji, zu, de, do, ba, bi, bu, be, bo, pa, pi, pu, pe, po
- kya, kyu, kyo, sha, shu, sho, cha, chu, cho, hya, hyu, hyo, pya, pyu, pyo, rya, ryu, ryo, gya, gyu, gyo, ja, ju, jo, nya, nyu, nyo, bya, byu, byo, mya, myu, myo
Videos
Learn Hiragana and KatakanaHow to write Hiragana
How to write Katakana
Basic Hiragana 22 min. lesson
How to write shi & tsu, so & n (シ&ツ ソ&ン) in Katakana
Katakana words for PC and IT
Download Hiragana and Katakana table (PDF file)
Download Katakana table (PDF file)
Download Hiragana and Katakana Table (PDF file)
Quizlet