Hiragana - ひらがな
Hello! Here we will begin to learn the most basic of Japanese writing systems: Hiragana.
Japanese has, technically, four writing systems: Hiragana, Katakana, Kanji, and Romaji. Hiragana is the "meat and potatoes" of the writing systems. It is almost always taught first, and for good reason: it is used to write native Japanese words. Everyday words and sentences will be written using Hiragana. Learn it well, learn it fast, and learn it inside out.
Here are links to non-pdf Hiragana lessons that you can hopefully learn from. Each link will contain a video of me explaining how to write the characters and a some practice for you write on your own.
Japanese has, technically, four writing systems: Hiragana, Katakana, Kanji, and Romaji. Hiragana is the "meat and potatoes" of the writing systems. It is almost always taught first, and for good reason: it is used to write native Japanese words. Everyday words and sentences will be written using Hiragana. Learn it well, learn it fast, and learn it inside out.
Here are links to non-pdf Hiragana lessons that you can hopefully learn from. Each link will contain a video of me explaining how to write the characters and a some practice for you write on your own.
Just below, you'll see a complete Hiragana chart. The image is a horizontal chart, which is the type they use in Japan. I'm not sure why, but when teaching the chart to American students, it is usually written vertically. It's annoying.
And, just below the Hiragana chart is my Hiragana Practice Workbook. To use the workbook, just download it (it's a .pdf file), and you can either print it, or just look off of your screen. You'll want to have a separate sheet of paper to write down your answers. Each question I ask in the workbook has the answer written at the bottom! However, this pdf is basically the exact same practice provided in each of the above listed lessons.
How long does it take to learn Hiragana? Well, that entirely depends on two things: How fast do you want to learn them, and how much time can you devote to practicing them. I took it really slow in high school, and I didn't have Katakana memorized until about 6 months into my first year. In all honesty, you could each writing system memorized in an afternoon, but only so many people would want to do that to themselves.
And, just below the Hiragana chart is my Hiragana Practice Workbook. To use the workbook, just download it (it's a .pdf file), and you can either print it, or just look off of your screen. You'll want to have a separate sheet of paper to write down your answers. Each question I ask in the workbook has the answer written at the bottom! However, this pdf is basically the exact same practice provided in each of the above listed lessons.
How long does it take to learn Hiragana? Well, that entirely depends on two things: How fast do you want to learn them, and how much time can you devote to practicing them. I took it really slow in high school, and I didn't have Katakana memorized until about 6 months into my first year. In all honesty, you could each writing system memorized in an afternoon, but only so many people would want to do that to themselves.
The big green letters are the hiragana, the small blue letters are katakana, and the English characters is the pronunciation guide.
I just googled "Hiragana Chart" and picked this one. It came from tanos.co.uk
Soon to be first graders.
|
The Hiragana WorkbookHere is the Hiragana Workbook!
| ||||
