Let's get you started!

Learning a new language is always a journey, and Japanese stands among the most challenging for English speakers. Its intricate writing systems, nuanced grammar, and unfamiliar tones can feel daunting at first. With so many different paths to begin, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. But every great voyage starts with a single step, so here are some starters to help you set sail on your exciting adventure into the world of Japanese.

The Japanese Writing System

Mastering the basics of reading Japanese characters is essential for writing, listening, speaking, and overall comprehension. Japanese uses three distinct writing systems:

1. Hiragana (ひらがな) - Used to represent native words and grammatical elements. (Beginner)
2. Katakana (カタカナ) -  Used for foreign words, names, and emphasis. (Basic)
3. Kanji (漢字) -  Complex characters borrowed from Chinese, used to convey meaning-rich words and concepts (Advanced)

Japanese syllables are almost always a consonant + vowel pair, or just a vowel alone.
The five vowels:

a  (あ) → like "ah"
i   (い) → like "ee"
u  (う) → like "oo"
e  (え) → like "eh"
o  (お) → like "oh"

Each consonant sound combines with these vowels to form a set of syllables. For example the consonant "k" combined with the vowels will look like:

Ka  (か) → like "Kah"
Ki   (き) → like "Ki"
Ku  (く) → like "Ku"
Ke  (け) → like "Keh"
Ko  (こ) → like "Koh"

Learning Hiragana

We recommend learning Hiragana first as it makes it far easier to recognize Japanese words by ear, pronounce new vocabulary correctly, and even reading romaji, the representation of Japanese sounds using the English alphabet. Here are some examples of words, in Romaji, English speakers often find challenging without understanding Hiragana:

Namae (なまえ) - Has consecutive vowels and if read in English it would be pronounce (nah-may)

Ryu (りゅう) - This type of combination of characters aren't used in English and commonly mis-pronounce as (Rye-you)

Tsue (つえ) - Combination of the 2 scenarios above. 

By learning hiragana, you’ll be able to break words into their proper syllables, making the entire learning process far more natural and easier to grasp! Get yourself started with the Hiragana chart below and once you master Hiragana, you can move onto Katakana!

 

Hiragana Chart

	a	i	u	e	o
a	あa	いi	うu	えe	おo
k	かka	きki	くku	けke	こko
s	さsa	しshi	すsu	せse	そso
t	たta	ちchi	つtsu	てte	とto
n	なna	にni	ぬnu	ねne	のno
h	はha	ひhi	ふfu	へhe	ほho
m	まma	みmi	むmu	めme	もmo
y	やya		ゆyu		よyo
r	らra	りri	るru	れre	ろro
w	わwa				をwo
n	んn

Katakana Chart

	a	i	u	e	o
a	アa	イi	ウu	エe	オo
k	カka	キki	クku	ケke	コko
s	サsa	シshi	スsu	セse	ソso
t	タta	チchi	ツtsu	テte	トto
n	ナna	ニni	ヌnu	ネne	ノno
h	ハha	ヒhi	フfu	ヘhe	ホho
m	マma	ミmi	ムmu	メme	モmo
y	ヤya		ユyu		ヨyo
r	ラra	リri	ルru	レre	ロro
w	ワwa				ヲwo
n	ンn