Katakana Mastery

Learn to Read Hiragana

Estimated Time: 1 day to 1 week

Hiragana is Japan's version of the alphabet. It is one of three Japanese writing systems you need to learn to be able to read. The other two are katakana and kanji, but hiragana is where everything starts. The ability to read hiragana is going to be a prerequisite for most beginner Japanese textbooks and resources. It's the first thing you learn in a traditional classroom. Surprisingly, I agree with everyone else. This is a good place to start. Most Japanese classrooms spend an entire month learning how to read and write hiragana. That's too long. Instead of writing out each hiragana character over and over to memorize them, use the guide below and you may be reading hiragana later tonight. It uses mnemonics and worksheets that are designed to help you learn and be able to recall hiragana faster than you thought possible. It's important to note that this guide is going to teach you how to read hiragana and not how to write it. This has a purpose. While it is important to learn how to hand write Japanese eventually, right now it will slow you down immensely with very little payoff. Typing covers 99% of modern day writing so you will learn how to type hiragana (and katakana and kanji) instead. This, in combination with mnemonics and worksheets, will allow you to learn how to read hiragana in a day or two instead of a month. In order to complete this section and move on, you need to get to the point where you can read all of the hiragana. Even if you're slow, as long as you can recall each character, as well as the contractions, without cheating, that's enough. You're about to get plenty of practice and your reading speed will naturally increase over time as you move on. Note: Read "Japanese Pronunciation, Part 1" (below) before you start learning hiragana.

<p>Basic Japanese Pronunciation</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Estimated Time: n/a</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Good pronunciation starts with hiragana. While hiragana alone won't teach you everything, it is the key to understanding how and why Japanese words sound the way they do. It will also help you get the foundation you need for a native-sounding accent. At the very least, hiragana will get you 80% of the way there. For the remaining 20%, we wrote a guide covering the basics of Japanese pronunciation. Before you begin learning how to read hiragana, you should read up to the &quot;Japanese Sounds and Your Mouth&quot; section. Once you've finished learning how to read hiragana, go through that section again, but this time read about &quot;Important Differences&quot; as well. This section will cover all of the sounds that don't exist in English, giving you a head start. Make sure you can pronounce all of the hiragana characters correctly before moving on. With pronunciation, it's best to put the time and work in now, at the beginning. Don't ignore it because it's hard. When things get more difficult, it's very important that you've spent time speaking and hearing these sounds so that you can learn about all the differences and exceptions headed your way. Okay, now go ahead and get back to learning how to read hiragana. Get to the point where you can read and recall everything, then move on to the next section.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Learning to Type Hiragana in Japanese</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Estimated Time: 1-2 days (or less)</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Prerequisite: Able to read hiragana</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Now that you can read and pronounce hiragana (remember, slowly is okay.) it's time to learn how to type it on your computer or</p> Signup and view all the answers