Lesson 1

Basic Japanese

Hiragana - ひらがな

There are 5 vowels in Japanese. (a), pronounced "ahh", (i), pronounced like "e" in "eat", (u), pronounced like "oo" in "soon", (e), pronounced like "e" in "elk", and (o), pronounced "oh". All Hiragana characters end with one of these vowels, with the exception of (n). The only "consonant" that does not resemble that of English is the Japanese "r". It is slightly "rolled" as if it were a combination of a "d", "r", and "l".

あ  a い  i う  u え  e お  o か  ka き  ki く  ku け  ke こ  ko が  ga ぎ  gi ぐ  gu げ  ge ご  go さ  sa し  shi す  su せ  se そ  so ざ  za じ  ji ず  zu ぜ  ze ぞ  zo た  ta ち  chi つ  tsu て  te と  to だ  da ぢ  ji づ  zu で  de ど  do な  na に  ni ぬ  nu ね  ne の  no は  ha ひ  hi ふ  fu へ  he ほ  ho ば  ba び  bi ぶ  bu べ  be ぼ  bo ぱ  pa ぴ  pi ぷ  pu ぺ  pe ぽ  po ま  ma み  mi む  mu め  me も  mo や  ya ゆ  yu よ  yo ら  ra り  ri る  ru れ  re ろ  ro わ  wa を  wo ん  n/m

Combinations きゃ  kya きゅ  kyu きょ  kyo ぎゃ  gya ぎゅ  gyu ぎょ  gyo しゃ  sha しゅ  shu しょ  sho じゃ  ja じゅ  ju じょ  jo ちゃ  cha ちゅ  chu ちょ  cho にゃ  nya にゅ  nyu にょ  nyo ひゃ  hya ひゅ  hyu ひょ  hyo びゃ  bya びゅ  byu びょ  byo ぴゃ  pya ぴゅ  pyu ぴょ  pyo みゃ  mya みゅ  myu みょ  myo りゃ  rya りゅ  ryu りょ  ryo