ひらがな
hiragana
Hiragana
Hiragana chart, with every sound voiced
Hiragana is the Japanese syllabary you learn first: 46 characters, each one a sound. Two small marks make 25 more sounds, and a small ゃ, ゅ or ょ joins two kana into one of 33 combinations. Tap any kana to hear it.
The 46 basic hiragana
Read across for the vowels, a i u e o, and down for the sound each row starts with. The gaps are sounds modern Japanese doesn't use.
Dakuten and handakuten: 25 more sounds
Two short strokes, the dakuten (゛), voice a sound: か (ka) becomes が (ga). A small circle, the handakuten (゜), turns the h row into p: は (ha) becomes ぱ (pa). ぢ and づ sound just like じ and ず, and you'll rarely see them.
Combinations: 33 sounds in two kana
Write a small ゃ, ゅ or ょ after a kana from the i column and the two are read as one sound: き (ki) and a small ゃ make きゃ (kya).
Practise the first 25 in Bubble Pop
Type a bubble's romaji before it lands to pop it. It's the game from Hiragana 1, with the lesson's own recordings.
シャボン玉
Bubble Pop
Type each bubble's romaji before it lands: か → ka. Forty-five seconds, three lives, combos up to ×3.
Space clears what you've typed.
How Ikou Benkyou teaches hiragana
Four free lessons cover this whole page, each with its recordings, its games and an exam at the end.
Hiragana 1
あ to の, the first 25 kana
Hiragana 2
は to ん, the rest of the 46
Hiragana 3
The 25 sounds with dakuten and handakuten
Hiragana 4
The 33 combinations, from きゃ to ぴょ
Katakana comes next, in five lessons on the pass, then twelve more stations of words and grammar through JLPT N5.
Hiragana questions
How many hiragana are there?
46 basic characters. Add the 25 made with dakuten and handakuten and the 33 combinations, and they write 104 sounds: everything on this page.
How long does it take to learn hiragana?
Days or weeks rather than months, depending on your pace. Ikou Benkyou spreads it over four short lessons, and its games bring each kana back until you read it without thinking.
Should I learn hiragana or katakana first?
Hiragana. It writes the grammar endings and little words in every sentence, so you'll read it everywhere. Katakana, used mostly for words from other languages, comes next.
Do I need hiragana before kanji?
Yes. A kanji's reading is written over it in hiragana (furigana), and every sentence mixes the two. Learn hiragana first and kanji have something to hang on.
What's the difference between を and お?
Both are usually said o. を only marks the object of a verb, as in 水を飲む (drink water), and お spells the sound everywhere else.
Learn hiragana free, then ride on.
The intro, Hiragana 1 to 4 and Greetings are free for good, with their audio and every game. When you want the rest of the line, the pass is $11.99 a month.
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