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Let’s Get Ready For Learning Japanese!

Let’s embark on your Japanese learning journey!

To begin, mastering Japanese characters is essential. Japanese uses three scripts: Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji.

Hiragana and Katakana, collectively known as 仮名 (kana), form the Japanese syllabic writing system, with each character representing one sound.

First, we’ll focus on reading and pronouncing Hiragana and Katakana characters. While memorising them may seem daunting at first, mastering kana will pave the way for reading Kanji (漢字) later, as Kanji on this website will include furigana (phonetic kana guides).

Best of luck, and let’s get started! ☺︎

Japanese Scripts

ひらがな

Hiragana is a set of 46 syllabic characters used in Japanese writing. They serve two main purposes: 1) as okurigana, kana added to Kanji (Chinese characters) to form words, and 2) as grammatical elements, such as particles. Hiragana characters are written in a cursive, flowing style, giving them a smooth and elegant appearance.

カタカナ

Katakana, like Hiragana, consists of 46 syllabic characters. They are primarily used to write loanwords that have been incorporated into the Japanese language. Katakana characters are characterised by their angular, straight-edged style, giving them a distinct and sharp appearance.

漢字

Kanji, meaning Chinese characters, are ideograms adopted from ancient China. Approximately 2,000 to 3,000 Kanji are used in daily life. Most Kanji has two reading systems: kun-yomi (Japanese-style reading) and on-yomi (Chinese-style reading).

Japanese Vowels

There are 5 vowels in Japanese.

The Japanese Kana Syllabary

Hiragana / Katakana

Vowels		A		I		U		E		O
		あ / ア		い / イ		う / ウ		え / エ		お / オ
Unvoiced Consonants	K	か / カ		き / キ		く / ク		け / ケ		こ / コ
	S	さ / サ		し / シ		す / ス		せ / セ		そ / ソ
	T	た / タ		ち / チ		つ / ツ		て / テ		と / ト
	N	な / ナ		に / ニ		ぬ / ヌ		ね / ネ		の / ノ
	H	は / ハ		ひ / ヒ		ふ / フ		へ / ヘ		ほ / ホ
	M	ま / マ		み / ミ		む / ム		め / メ		も / モ
	Y	や / ヤ				ゆ / ユ				よ / ヨ
	R	ら / ラ		り / リ		る / ル		れ / レ		ろ / ロ
	W	わ / ワ								を / ヲ
		ん / ン
Voiced Consonants	G	が / ガ		ぎ / ギ		ぐ / グ		げ / ゲ		ご / ゴ
	Z	ざ / ザ		じ / ジ		ず / ズ		ぜ / ゼ		ぞ / ゾ
	D	だ / ダ		ぢ / ヂ		づ / ヅ		で / デ		ど / ド
	B	ば / バ		び / ビ		ぶ / ブ		べ / べ		ぼ / ボ
Semi-voiced Consonants	P	ぱ / パ		ぴ / ピ		ぷ / プ		ぺ / ぺ		ぽ / ポ
Contracted Consonants	KY	きゃ / キャ				きゅ / キュ				きょ / キョ
	SH	しゃ / シャ				しゅ / シュ				しょ / ショ
	CH	ちゃ / チャ				ちゅ / チュ				ちょ / チョ
	NY	にゃ / ニャ				にゅ / ニュ				にょ / ニョ
	HY	ひゃ / ヒャ				ひゅ / ヒュ				ひょ / ヒョ
	MY	みゃ / ミャ				みゅ / ミュ				みょ / ミョ
	GY	ぎゃ / ギャ				ぎゅ / ギュ				ぎょ / ギョ
	BY	びゃ / ビャ				びゅ / ビュ				びょ / ビョ
	PY	ぴゃ / ピャ				ぴゅ / ピュ				びょ / ピョ

Brief Introduction to Kanji

As mentioned earlier, approximately 2,000 to 3,000 Kanji characters are commonly used in daily life. Most Kanji have two reading systems: kun-yomi and on-yomi.

Kun-yomi (訓読み), the native Japanese reading, is typically used for stand-alone words or, in the case of verbs, for words combining a single Kanji with okurigana (kana added to a Kanji to form a word).

Examples:
港みなと Port｜橋はし Bridge｜手て Hand
話はなす To talk｜食たべる To eat｜読よむ To read

On-yomi (音読み), derived from Chinese pronunciation, is a reading style for Kanji. Typically, words using on-yomi consist of two or more Kanji characters combined.

Examples:
会話かいわ Conversation｜食事しょくじ Meals｜読書どくしょ Reading
💡 Turn these words into verbs by adding “する”
会話かいわする To have a conversation｜食事しょくじする To have a meal｜読書どくしょする To read a book

Glossary – Dictionary form, Plain form, and Polite form

Dictionary form

The dictionary form is the base form of a word as listed in a dictionary. It serves as the foundation for all other conjugations and is the most fundamental form of a verb or adjective.

Plain form

Plain forms encompass the dictionary form, the simple negative form (nai-form), the simple past tense (ta-form), and the simple past negative form (nakatta-form). These are informal and commonly used in casual settings.

Polite form

The polite form, also known as the “desu/masu” form, is used to show respect and politeness. This form is commonly used in formal settings, with people of higher status or older, or when speaking to someone you do not know well.

Are you ready?

Ok, enough for the introduction! Let’s get started!