Nihongo 101

ひらがな

Hi guys! So the very first step to learning any language really, I believe is to understand the culture and the very simple basics. The chapter is mainly for the people who want to learn to read and write. I will say that I am the kind of person who learns a lot better by writing the alphabet or whatever down. But I understand there are some people out there who learn better by learning how to speak then write. So what I'm going to do is make this guide to go both ways. If you are a person who wants to learn the Japanese "alphabet" then continue with this chapter. If not you can skip it!

To begin with, the Japanese "alphabet" has 3 different parts. The first and far most basic part is called Hiragana. This part is the most used "alphabet" in Japan. It's also the first taught. This is also the one I'll be teaching with this book. The second alphabet that is taught is Katakana. Now katakana is used in Japan, but for strictly foreignized words only. It's important to know katakana, but is not a necessity to make your way through Japan. This takes me to the most "difficult" alphabet which is Kanji. The cool thing about Kanji is, you can basically travel to China and understand most things you read. Now yes, Japanese Kanji is different from Chinese Kanji in the difference of pronunciation but the cool part is the meaning of the Kanjis are the same. The other difference between Chinese and Japanese Kanji is that the Japanese language does not strictly use kanji like the Chinese. Instead it is intermixed with hiragana to make life easier. Does this all make sense? The other cool part about Kanji is that each complicated looking kanji is made up of a bunch of basic Kanji. In Japan, basic Kanji is taught in 1st-2nd grade. If you all want, I can make a book on kanji.

Okay so let's begin!
I've attached a hiragana chart link at the bottom for those who want to read along. I'm starting at the far left, top of the row and reading down. In parenthesis is how to pronounce the letter.
あ- A (ah)
い- I (e)
う- u (ou)
え- e (eh)
お-o (oh)
Next row!
か- ka ( like a crow noise)
き- ki (key)
く- ku (coo!)
け- ke (kay)
こ - ko
Next row!
さ- sa (saa)
し- shi (she)
す- su (sue)
せ- se (say)
そ- so (sew)
Next row!
た- ta
ち- chi (CHIcago)
つ- tsu ( this one is difficult!)
て- te
と- to (toe)
Next row!
な- na
に-ni (knee)
ぬ- nu (new)
ね- ne
の- no
Next row! Noticing a pattern yet?
は- ha
ひ- hi (he)
ふ- fu ( kinda difficult! Kung FU)
へ- he (hay)
ほ- ho
Next row!
ま- ma
み- mi (me)
む- mu (like a cow noise)
め- me (MEg)
も- mo
Next!
や- Ya (yay)
(い)- place holder
ゆ- yu (you)
(え)- place holder
よ- yo
These next are hard to pronounce.
ら- ra (da)
り- ri (di)
る- ru (du)
れ- re (dei)
ろ- ro (do)
Last!
わ- wa
ん- nn ( hold breath and grunt)

Did anyone notice that pattern? Basically it's just a new letter with the repeating sound of a, i,u, e,o. Neat right?
Here's the second part to hiragana. You can add what we can てんてん( tenten) to a letter, or a small circle. This will change the sound of a letter. However, this only applies to some of them.
が- ga (lady GAga)
ぎ- gi
ぐ- gu (gew)
げ- ge (gay)
ご- go

ざ-za
じ- zi (z)
ず- zu (zoo)
ぜ- ze
ぞ- (zo)

だ- da
Skip ち
Skip つ
で- de (day)
ど- do (dough)

ば- ba
び- bi (bee)
ぶ- bu (boo)
べ- be
ぼ- bo

ぱ- pa
ぴ- pi
ぷ- pu (poo)
ぺ- pe
ぽ-po

Now, there's another part to hiragana. With some characters, you can put a "big" letter and add a "small" letter to get yet another different sound. This I will admit are difficult when it comes to pronunciation.

きゃ-kya
きゅ- kyu
きょ- kyo

ぎゃ-gya
ぎゅ-gyu
ぎょ-gyo

しゃ- shya
しゅ-shyu
しょ-shyo

じゃ-jya
じゅ-jyu
じょ-jyo

ちゃ-chya
ちゅ-chu
ちょ-chyo

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-riya
りゅ-ryu
りょ-ryo

So here are some links that anyone who wants to learn how to write the ひらがな properly or want extra practice on. Also, I'm going to attach some links with pronunciation.

Pronunciation: http://japan-cc.com/hiragana.htm

http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/language/hiragana/index.html

Learn to write:
http://www.easyjapanese.org/write_hiragana.html

If you have any questions about anything, feel free to comment, or message me to ask! Also, comment on what you want to learn next!
Thanks! ありがとう！！