Pronounciation
While it's fine for Latin and other dead languages to not require knowing how to speak it aloud, if you are learning a new language, it's most likely to speak it for one reason or another and the first step to speaking a language is learning how to pronounce words. Thankfully, Japanese is a relatively simple language in this regard. Whereas in English we have numerous rules and exceptions to said rules and different pronounciations for words, Japanese has a relatively small amount of sounds that a word can be made up from and they form the basis for the kana.
For example, in English, just look at tomato. "You say tomato, I say tomato.", is a popular phrase that illustrates two distinct pronounciations for the same word, with the same meaning that is not associated with an accent or specific dialect.
In contrast, in Japanese, if you see か or し, they are always pronounced the exact same way with very defined exceptions and those exceptions cause the sounds to be identical every time. This means there is a very limited number of sounds from which a word can be pronounced which is a good and bad thing, as you will come to see later.
While it's fine for Latin and other dead languages to not require knowing how to speak it aloud, if you are learning a new language, it's most likely to speak it for one reason or another and the first step to speaking a language is learning how to pronounce words. Thankfully, Japanese is a relatively simple language in this regard. Whereas in English we have numerous rules and exceptions to said rules and different pronounciations for words, Japanese has a relatively small amount of sounds that a word can be made up from and they form the basis for the kana.
For example, in English, just look at tomato. "You say tomato, I say tomato.", is a popular phrase that illustrates two distinct pronounciations for the same word, with the same meaning that is not associated with an accent or specific dialect.
In contrast, in Japanese, if you see か or し, they are always pronounced the exact same way with very defined exceptions and those exceptions cause the sounds to be identical every time. This means there is a very limited number of sounds from which a word can be pronounced which is a good and bad thing, as you will come to see later.
So, for our first step to learning Japanese, you should familiarize yourself with the hiragana and katakana. Both are identical in the sounds they allow you to speak, but it would be beneficial to get a glimpse of two of the three writing systems Japanese uses.
Hiragana
Hiragana is used to show how all the kanji are pronounced and it's even used for many words, conjugations and particles that make up sentences. This makes it an invaluable asset and your top priority for starting out with learning Japanese. It literally tells you how to pronounce every word imaginable, which makes it more important than a foreigner learning English, who would not overly need to focus on learning the alphabet right away.
I'm posting the various hiragana and the English romanji equivilents, but I recommend you go to Kanji-Step's hiragana page for a more rigorous crash course on hiragana. It contains detailed stroke order and animated, oversized graphics of each kana along with written and downloadable audio files for each pronounciation.
あいうえお - a i u e o
かきくけこ - ka ki ku ke ko
さしすせそ - sa shi su se so
たちつてと - ta chi tsu te to
なにぬねの - na ni nu ne no
はひふへほ - ha hi fu he ho
まみむめも - ma mi mu me mo
やゆよ - ya yu yo
らりるれろ - ra ri ru re ro
わを - wa (w)o
ん - n
Dakuon Set
Distinguished from k-, s-, t-, and h- kana by quotation mark-like " on each hiragana.
がぎぐげご - ga gi gu ge go
ざじずぜぞ - za ji zu ze zo
だぢづでど - da ji zu de do
ばびぶべぼ - ba bi bu be bo
ぱぴぷぺぽ - pa pi pu pe po
With や (ya), ゆ (yu), よ (yo)
きゃきゅきょ - kya kyu kyo
しゃしゅしょ - sha shu sho
ちゃちゅちょ - cha chu cho
にゃにゅにょ - nya nyu nyo
ひゃひゅひょ - hya hyu hyo
みゃみゅみょ - mya myu myo
りゃりゅりょ - rya ryu ryo
ぎゃぎゅぎょ - gya gyu gyo
じゃじゅじょ - ja ju jo
ぢゃぢゅぢょ - ja ju jo
びゃびゅびょ - bya byu byo
ぴゃぴゅぴょ - pya pyu pyo
Katakana
Katakana is identical to hiragana in terms of proounciation, but differs in how each sound is drawn. They are much more primative and sharp looking in comparison and are easily distinguished from their hiragana counterparts. The primary use of katakana is to write foreign and new words in Japanese. By this, I mean things like coffee, computer, dollar and so on. It may sound like this is not nearly as important as hiragana, but trust me, the Japanese use katakana a lot more often than you'd think and it is just as important. If you want a poor English alphabet analogy, I'd consider this the lower case equivilent to the hiragana's upper-case.
Again, my listing is fairly mundane and I recommend going back to Kanji-Step's katakana page, which is identical to the hiragana one from above. It still has lots of example phrases, downloadable audio pronounciations and detailed stroke order and animated graphics. A must for anyone wishing to learn the language.
アイウエオ - a i u e o
カキクケコ - ka ki ku ke ko
サシスセソ - sa shi su se so
タチツテト - ta chi tsu te to
ナニヌネノ - na ni nu ne no
ハヒフヘホ - ha hi fu he ho
マミムメモ - ma mi mu me mo
ヤヨユ - ya yu yo
ラリルレロ - ra ri ru re ro
ワヲ - wa wo
ン - n
Dakuon Set
Distinguished from k-, s-, t-, and h- by quotation mark-like " on each katakana.
ガギグゲゴ - ga gi gu ge go
ザジズゼゾ - za ji zu ze zo
ダヂヅデド - da ji zu de do
バビブベボ - ba bi bu be bo
パピプペポ - pa pi pu pe po
With や (ya), ゆ (yu), よ (yo)
キャキュキョ - kya kyu kyo
シャシュシ ョ- sha shu sho
チャチュチョ - cha chu cho
ニャニュニョ - nya nyu nyo
ヒャヒュヒョ - hya hyu hyo
ミャミュミョ - mya myu myo
リャリュリョ - rya ryu ryo
ギャギュギョ - gya gyu gyo
ジャジュジョ - ja ju jo
ヂャヂュヂョ - ja ju jo
ビャビュビョ - bya byu byo
ピャピュピョ - pya pyu pyo
Conclusion
And there you have it! All the hiragana and katakana you'll ever need to know. You might not know what it all means, but you can now speak and read anything in the Japanese language. It is key you learn proper pronounciation. You might think something like 'kyu' sounds like 'Q', but there's a difference between sounding like and actually being that. Don't take shortcuts because native speakers will be barely able to understand your odd prounciations, making all this learning for nothing. Practice speaking and pronouncing each sound aloud. There's a difference between sounding it out in your head and physically speaking it.
Also, be sure to practice physically writing these out with the given stroke order. You may be tempted to take shortcuts and write the kana out whatever way you want, but the stroke order matters and it will matter even more so when you get to the kanji. Again, illegible handwriting, to a native Japanese person, on your part will make months of practice pointless when all it would take is a little extra effort early on to master how to write. Take some graph paper and use 2x2 blocks to write each character across a page over and over, just like when you were learning to print and write in cursive. We teach children that way because it works, not because they're children. So don't be afraid to do something that seems like it's just for kids.
Finally, you must learn these kana if you hope to continue along with me. I will never use the romanji again outside of these simple prounciation teachings for the kana. So, if you plan to read the transcripts for Absolute Pimsleur's Japanese I or the various other random posts I make, you had better learn these kana since it's all I'll be writing in outside of English translations. With flashcards or a little dedication, this should not take more than a week, two at the max. If you take longer, that's your perogative, but I believe you may not be putting enough time in if it does take longer.
Good luck and don't get discouraged!
Hiragana
Hiragana is used to show how all the kanji are pronounced and it's even used for many words, conjugations and particles that make up sentences. This makes it an invaluable asset and your top priority for starting out with learning Japanese. It literally tells you how to pronounce every word imaginable, which makes it more important than a foreigner learning English, who would not overly need to focus on learning the alphabet right away.
I'm posting the various hiragana and the English romanji equivilents, but I recommend you go to Kanji-Step's hiragana page for a more rigorous crash course on hiragana. It contains detailed stroke order and animated, oversized graphics of each kana along with written and downloadable audio files for each pronounciation.
あいうえお - a i u e o
かきくけこ - ka ki ku ke ko
さしすせそ - sa shi su se so
たちつてと - ta chi tsu te to
なにぬねの - na ni nu ne no
はひふへほ - ha hi fu he ho
まみむめも - ma mi mu me mo
やゆよ - ya yu yo
らりるれろ - ra ri ru re ro
わを - wa (w)o
ん - n
Dakuon Set
Distinguished from k-, s-, t-, and h- kana by quotation mark-like " on each hiragana.
がぎぐげご - ga gi gu ge go
ざじずぜぞ - za ji zu ze zo
だぢづでど - da ji zu de do
ばびぶべぼ - ba bi bu be bo
ぱぴぷぺぽ - pa pi pu pe po
With や (ya), ゆ (yu), よ (yo)
きゃきゅきょ - kya kyu kyo
しゃしゅしょ - sha shu sho
ちゃちゅちょ - cha chu cho
にゃにゅにょ - nya nyu nyo
ひゃひゅひょ - hya hyu hyo
みゃみゅみょ - mya myu myo
りゃりゅりょ - rya ryu ryo
ぎゃぎゅぎょ - gya gyu gyo
じゃじゅじょ - ja ju jo
ぢゃぢゅぢょ - ja ju jo
びゃびゅびょ - bya byu byo
ぴゃぴゅぴょ - pya pyu pyo
Katakana
Katakana is identical to hiragana in terms of proounciation, but differs in how each sound is drawn. They are much more primative and sharp looking in comparison and are easily distinguished from their hiragana counterparts. The primary use of katakana is to write foreign and new words in Japanese. By this, I mean things like coffee, computer, dollar and so on. It may sound like this is not nearly as important as hiragana, but trust me, the Japanese use katakana a lot more often than you'd think and it is just as important. If you want a poor English alphabet analogy, I'd consider this the lower case equivilent to the hiragana's upper-case.
Again, my listing is fairly mundane and I recommend going back to Kanji-Step's katakana page, which is identical to the hiragana one from above. It still has lots of example phrases, downloadable audio pronounciations and detailed stroke order and animated graphics. A must for anyone wishing to learn the language.
アイウエオ - a i u e o
カキクケコ - ka ki ku ke ko
サシスセソ - sa shi su se so
タチツテト - ta chi tsu te to
ナニヌネノ - na ni nu ne no
ハヒフヘホ - ha hi fu he ho
マミムメモ - ma mi mu me mo
ヤヨユ - ya yu yo
ラリルレロ - ra ri ru re ro
ワヲ - wa wo
ン - n
Dakuon Set
Distinguished from k-, s-, t-, and h- by quotation mark-like " on each katakana.
ガギグゲゴ - ga gi gu ge go
ザジズゼゾ - za ji zu ze zo
ダヂヅデド - da ji zu de do
バビブベボ - ba bi bu be bo
パピプペポ - pa pi pu pe po
With や (ya), ゆ (yu), よ (yo)
キャキュキョ - kya kyu kyo
シャシュシ ョ- sha shu sho
チャチュチョ - cha chu cho
ニャニュニョ - nya nyu nyo
ヒャヒュヒョ - hya hyu hyo
ミャミュミョ - mya myu myo
リャリュリョ - rya ryu ryo
ギャギュギョ - gya gyu gyo
ジャジュジョ - ja ju jo
ヂャヂュヂョ - ja ju jo
ビャビュビョ - bya byu byo
ピャピュピョ - pya pyu pyo
Conclusion
And there you have it! All the hiragana and katakana you'll ever need to know. You might not know what it all means, but you can now speak and read anything in the Japanese language. It is key you learn proper pronounciation. You might think something like 'kyu' sounds like 'Q', but there's a difference between sounding like and actually being that. Don't take shortcuts because native speakers will be barely able to understand your odd prounciations, making all this learning for nothing. Practice speaking and pronouncing each sound aloud. There's a difference between sounding it out in your head and physically speaking it.
Also, be sure to practice physically writing these out with the given stroke order. You may be tempted to take shortcuts and write the kana out whatever way you want, but the stroke order matters and it will matter even more so when you get to the kanji. Again, illegible handwriting, to a native Japanese person, on your part will make months of practice pointless when all it would take is a little extra effort early on to master how to write. Take some graph paper and use 2x2 blocks to write each character across a page over and over, just like when you were learning to print and write in cursive. We teach children that way because it works, not because they're children. So don't be afraid to do something that seems like it's just for kids.
Finally, you must learn these kana if you hope to continue along with me. I will never use the romanji again outside of these simple prounciation teachings for the kana. So, if you plan to read the transcripts for Absolute Pimsleur's Japanese I or the various other random posts I make, you had better learn these kana since it's all I'll be writing in outside of English translations. With flashcards or a little dedication, this should not take more than a week, two at the max. If you take longer, that's your perogative, but I believe you may not be putting enough time in if it does take longer.
or the various other random posts I make, you had better learn these kana since it's all I'll be writing in outside of English translations. With flashcards or a little dedication, this should not take more than a week, two at the max. If you take longer, that's your perogative, but I believe you may not be putting enough time in if it does take longer.Good luck and don't get discouraged!
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