Japanese Alphabet Katakana and Hiragana

Do you want to learn the Japanese alphabet “Katakana” and “Hiragana“?

If so, what I’m going to say must help you to learn Japanese.

Basically, people do not like just remember something.

when I was a kid, learning English is just boring.

But now, I can learn English with enjoyment because I can choose the way to study everything.

Nowadays, there are a lot of ways to get knowledge while having fun.

So I will tell you how to learn Japanese during enjoying.

 

Hiragana ひらがな

な  na	た  ta	さ  sa	か  ka	あ  a
に  ni	ち  chi	し  shi	き  ki	い i
ぬ  nu	つ  tsu	す  su	く  ku	う  u
ね  ne	て  te	せ  se	け  ke	え  e
の  no	と  to	そ  so	こ  ko	お  o

わ  wa	ら  ra	や  ya	ま  ma	は  ha
	り  ri		み  mi	ひ  hi
を  wo	る  ru	ゆ  yu	む  mu	ふ  fu
	れ  re		め  me	へ  he
ん  n	ろ  ro	よ  yo	も  mo	ほ  ho

ぱ  pa	ば  ba	だ  da	ざ  za	が  ga
ぴ  pi	び  bi	ぢ  di	じ  ji	ぎ  gi
ぷ  pu	ぶ  bu	づ  du	ず  zu	ぐ  gu
ぺ  pe	べ  be	で  de	ぜ  ze	げ  ge
ぽ  po	ぼ  bo	ど  do	ぞ  zo	ご  go

びゃ  bya	ぢゃ  dya	じゃ  jya	しゃ  sha	ぎゃ  gya
びゅ  byu	ぢゅ  dyu	じゅ  jyu	しゅ  shu	ぎゅ  gyu
びょ  byo	ぢょ  dyo	じょ  jyo	しょ  sho	ぎょ  gyo

ひゃ  hya	にゃ  nya	ちゃ  cha	きゃ  kya	ぴゃ  pya
ひゅ  hyu	にゅ  nyu	ちゅ  chu	きゅ  kyu	ぴゅ  pyu
ひょ  hyo	にょ  nyo	ちょ  cho	きょ  kyo	ぴょ  pyo

		りゃ  rya	みゃ  mya	ひゃ  hya
		りゅ  ryu	みゅ  myu	ひゅ  hyu
		りょ  ryo	みょ  myo	ひょ  hyo

Above, this graph is Hiragana. Can you see あ and below A, か and Ka? Top of the line is all “a” end of the alphabet. If you speak Alphabet in the top line slowly, you will understand the end of pronunciation is the same. Actually, every line is the same structure so learning pronunciation is easier than you expect.
Basically, Hiragana is used when we can not use Kanji. For example, ”明日晴れるといいな” Ashita hareruto iina = I wish it will be fine.

We can not use Kanji instead of いいな. Because いいな does not exist in Kanji and also れる as well. Plus, We do not use Kanji too much in 1 sentence. For example, ”何卒よろしくお願いいたします” Nanitozo yorosiku onegai shimasu = Best regards, In Kanji, ”何卒宜しくお願い致します” same pronunciation with the above one. Some of Japanese use this phrase in Kanji. But when you use Kanji too much, even the Japanese cannot read easily. So balance is important between Kanji and Hiragana. I suggest you remember vocabulary only made in Hiragana at the beginning. For example, ”かわいい” Kawaii = cute

I think everybody has already known this word so you should remember words you have already heard and also words you like is easy to understand than words you are not interested in.
I will give you some examples.

りんご Ringo   apple

いちご   Ichigo   strawberry

みかん   Mikan     orange

あめ   Ame   candy, rain

おこめ   Okome   rice

けん   Ken   sword,  Prefecture

なまえ   Namae   name

さる   Saru   monkey

はな   Hana   flower, nose

ひと   Hito   person

あした   Ashita   tomorrow

にんじゃ   Ninja

さむらい   Samurai

まんが   Manga   cartoon

おたく   Otaku

にほん   Nihon   Japan

くるま   Kuruma   car

すし   Sushi

のみもの   Nomimono   drink

すもう   Sumou

やきゅう   Yakyu   baseball

じてんしゃ   Jitensya   bicycle

つなみ   Tsunami

じしん   Jishin  earthquake.

Katakana カタカナ

ナ  na	タ  ta	サ  sa	カ  ka	ア  a
ニ  ni	チ  chi	シ  shi	キ  ki	イ  i
ヌ  nu	ツ  tsu	ス  su	ク  ku	ウ  u
ネ  ne	テ  te	セ  se	ケ  ke	エ  e
ノ  no	ト  to	ソ  so	コ  ko	オ  o

ワ  wa	ラ  ra	ヤ  ya	マ  ma	ハ  ha
	リ  ri		ミ  mi	ヒ  hi
ヲ  wo	ル  ru	ユ  yu	ム  mu	フ  fu
	レ  re		メ  me	ヘ  he
ン  n	ロ  ro	ヨ  yo	モ  mo	ホ  ho

パ  pa	バ  ba	ダ  da	ザ  za	ガ  ga
ピ  pi	ビ  bi	ヂ  di	ジ   ji	ギ  gi
プ  pu	ブ  bu	ヅ  du	ズ  zu	グ  gu
ぺ  pe	ベ  be	デ  de	ゼ  ze	ゲ  ge
ポ  po	ボ  bo	ド  do	ゾ  zo	ゴ  go

ビャ  bya	ヂャ  dya	ジャ  jya	シャ  sha	ギャ  gya
ビュ  byu	ヂュ  dyu	ジュ  jyu	シュ  shu	ギュ  gyu
ビョ  byo	ヂョ  dyo	ジョ  jyo	ショ  sho	ギョ  gyo

ヒャ  hya	ニャ  nya	チャ  cha	キャ  kya	ピャ  pya
ヒュ  hyu	ニュ  nyu	チュ  chu	キュ  kyu	ピュ  pyu
ヒョ  hyo	ニョ  nyo	チョ  cho	キョ  kyo	ピョ  pyo

		リャ  rya	ミャ  mya	ヒャ  hya
		リュ  ryu	ミュ  myu	ヒュ  hyu
		リョ  ryo	ミョ  myo	ヒョ  hyo

Above, this graph is Katakana. Pronunciation is exactly the same between Hiragana and Katakana. Did you think why two types of alphabet exist in Japanese? Basically, Katakana is needed for loan words.

For example

”ローン” ro-n = loan.

“マシーン” mashi-n = machine.

”ワーキングホリデー” wa-kinguhoride- = working holiday.

Something like that. And Katakana is often used for name of foreigners. ケビン Kevin, マイク Mike, レオナルド・ディカプリオ Leonardo DiCaprio, ミランダ・カー Miranda Kerr アンジェリーナ・ ジョリー Angelina Jolie.

You should check your name in Katakana. Also, Katakana is often used for companies name. Everyone knows “TOYOTA” but it should have been 豊田 because the president of this company used to be 豊田. But this company hoped it going to be a worldwide company so the name must have been a clear name which foreigners can understand So TOYOTA is トヨタ in Japan. Panasonic パナソニック and Uniqlo ユニクロ as well. If you like cars and bikes, why do not you remember the name of a car or bike company at the beginning such as Suzuki スズキ, Honda ホンダ, Yamaha ヤマハ? I will give you some example.

コンピューター computer

コーヒー coffee

ショップ  shop

マイクロソフト  Microsoft

ゴリラ  Gorilla

ハット  hut

ネットフリックス  Netflix

ロゴ  Logo

レター  letter

ワード  word

ジョブ  job

バトル  battle

バリュー  value

ボーイ  boy

ガール  girl

ジェンダー  gender

ゲーム  game

ライオン  lion

ペンギン  penguin

コピー  copy

タイム  time

クローゼット  closet

ルーム  room

リビング  living

Conclusion

If you want to get the ability to use Japanese, you have to remember the Japanese alphabet Hiragana and Katakana. I know it is the most boring part to learn Japanese. But after that, you can see the beautiful Japanese language world. This is just the first step but it is a huge step to study Japanese. I hope you will get a good start.

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