Let’s Learn Japanese with
Hiragana and Katakana
Let’s Learn Japanese with
Hiragana and Katakana
By
Masumi Kai
Illustrations by Ms. Yi-Wei Chiu
Let’s Learn Japanese with Hiragana and Katakana, by
Masumi Kai
This book first published 2013
Cambridge Scholars Publishing
12 Back Chapman Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2XX, UK
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for
this book is available from the British Library
Copyright © 2013 by Masumi Kai
All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise,
without the prior permission of the copyright owner.
ISBN (10): 1-4438-4659-7, ISBN (13): 978-1-4438-4659-2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................................................... vii
Part One: Hiragana Practice ひらがな れんしゅう
Japanese Characters ....................................................................................................................................................... 2
Basic Sounds ................................................................................................................................................................. 4
Voiced Sounds and P-sounds ........................................................................................................................................ 5
Y-sounds ........................................................................................................................................................................ 6
Practice Writing ............................................................................................................................................................. 7
Voiced Sounds and P-sounds ...................................................................................................................................... 17
Stopped Sounds ........................................................................................................................................................... 22
Long vowels ................................................................................................................................................................ 23
Y-Sounds ..................................................................................................................................................................... 25
Practice 1 ..................................................................................................................................................................... 31
Practice 2 ..................................................................................................................................................................... 32
Practice 3 ..................................................................................................................................................................... 35
Practice 4 ..................................................................................................................................................................... 36
Practice 5 ..................................................................................................................................................................... 39
Practice 6 ..................................................................................................................................................................... 42
Practice 7 ..................................................................................................................................................................... 43
Practice 8 ..................................................................................................................................................................... 44
Practice 9 ..................................................................................................................................................................... 45
Part Two: Katakana Practice カタカナ れんしゅう
Basic sounds ................................................................................................................................................................ 48
Voiced sounds and Y-sounds ...................................................................................................................................... 49
Y-sounds ...................................................................................................................................................................... 49
Foreign sounds............................................................................................................................................................. 50
Practice Writing ........................................................................................................................................................... 51
Voiced Sounds and P-sounds ...................................................................................................................................... 62
Stopped Sounds ........................................................................................................................................................... 67
Long vowels ................................................................................................................................................................ 68
Y-Sounds ..................................................................................................................................................................... 70
Others .......................................................................................................................................................................... 72
Practice 1 ..................................................................................................................................................................... 74
Practice 2 ..................................................................................................................................................................... 75
Practice 3 ..................................................................................................................................................................... 77
Practice 4 ..................................................................................................................................................................... 78
Practice 5 ..................................................................................................................................................................... 79
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This book was published with the support of a grant from the University of Guam.
PART ONE:
HIRAGANA PRACTICE ひらがな れんしゅ
う
JAPANESE CHARACTERS
History of Japanese characters:
The Japanese language has three kinds of characters; hiragana, katakana and kanji. The Chinese character,
kanji, was brought from China. It is thought to have been introduced around the third or fourth century,
although this has not been proved. Kanji, which is an ideogram character (to represent meanings), started to
be used as a phonogram (to represent sounds) called Manyo-kana. As kanji became more widely used, it
was simplified. This simplified form became hiragana. Hiragana has a roundish shape as shown below, and
it was considered to be the letters for private use and female use.
ex. 安→ あ 以→ い 加→ か
Japanese word order and Chinese word order are different. Small size kanji (kun’ten)
were placed next to kanji to indicate the Japanese word order when reading classical
Chinese. Then it was simplified and became katakana. Many katakana were made
from a part of kanji as seen below. Katakana has rather straight lines.
ex. 阿 →ア伊→イ加→カ
example
of kun’ten
How to use the three kinds of characters:
The three kinds of characters are used in different ways. Normally katakana is used for loanwords and
foreign names like koohii (coffee) or nyuuyooku ( New York). Most content words are written using kanji.
Functional words like desu (to be), particles, and some Japanese origin words like oishii (tasty) are written
in hiragana. All three characters can be used in one sentence like below.
ex. 彼 は ミ ラ ー さ ん で す。
kanji hiragana katakana hiragana hiragana ‘he’ topic marker ‘Miller’ ‘Mr.’ ‘is’
‘He is Mr.
Miller.’
Japanese period and comma:
The Japanese language uses a maru (circle) at the end of sentences and ten (dot) for semantic separation in
a sentence. Traditionally Japanese does not use the question mark "?" for an interrogative sentence. Unlike
English there is no space between words. Instead a combination of the three kinds of characters can
indicate if it is a meaning word, a foreign word, or a functional word.
ex. 明日の朝、トムさんに会います。
tomorrow of morning Tom Mr. with meet
‘Tomorrow morning, (I) will meet
Tom.’
Hiragana Practice ひらがな れんしゅう 3
Roma-ji:
Roma-ji (romanized Japanese) is used to indicate the pronunciation of hiragana and katakana in this book. There
are two types of roma-ji; Hebon s ystem and Japanese system. Most are spelled the same, but a few are spelled
differently. Even though they are spelled differently, their pronunciations are the same. This textbook uses the
Hebon system.
Hebon system shi chi fu sha shu sho ja ji ju jo Japanese system si ti hu sya syu syo zya zi zyu zyo
Font type:
As in English, Japanese has several font types, some of which are a bit different. Below are examples. ex. き
=
Stroke end:
There are three features at the stroke ends of hiragana, katakana, and kanji. One is tome ( stop), the second is
hane (jump), and the third is harai ( sweep).
ex.
tome
さ=
hane
そ=
ふ= /
harai
ら=
り=
や=
Part One 4
BASIC SOUNDS ♪ ♫
aiueo あ い う え お k か
a i u e o ka
き く け こ さ し す
ki ku ke ko s sa shi su
せ そ た ち つ て と
se so t ta chi tsu te to n
な に ぬ ね の は ひ
na ni nu ne no h ha hi
ふ へ ほ mま
fu
みむめ he ho ma mi mu
me
も や (い) ゆ (え) よ
mo y ya yu yo r
ら り る れ ろ w わ (い)
ra ri ru re ro wa
(う) (え) を wo
(=o)
N
ん n
Hiragana Practice ひらがな れんしゅう 5
がぎぐ iueog
VOICED SOUNDS AND P-SOUNDS a ga gi gu
げ ご z ざ じ ず ぜ ぞ d だ ぢ
ge go za ji zu ze zo da ji
づ で ど b ば び ぶ べ ぼ p ぱ
zu de do ba bi bu be bo
ぴぷぺぽ pa pi pu pe po
Part One 6
きゃ きゅ きょ gy
Y-SOUNDS a u o ky kya kyu kyo
ぎゃ ぎゅ ぎょ sh しゃ しゅ
gya gyu gyo sha shu
しょ j じゃ じゅ じょ ch ち
ゃ
sho ja ju jo cha
ちゅ ちょ ny にゃ にゅ にょ hy
chu cho nya nyu nyo
ひゃ ひゅ ひょ by びゃ びゅ
hya hyu hyo bya byu
びょ my みゃ みゅ みょ ry りゃ
byo mya myu myo rya
りゅ りょ py ぴゃ ぴゅ ぴょ
ryu ryo pya pyu pyo
Listen to CD Lesson 1
for the sounds and the
stroke order.
PRACTICE WRITING
write!
あ
a to o
Let’s read and
あおい うえ え いえ
blue above painting house あおいうええいえ
Now you can write words using hiragana. Let’s try.
1) blue painting 2) blue house
あおいえあおいいえ
aoieaoiie
い i
い
う u
う
え e
え
お o
お
Hiragana Practice ひらがな れんしゅう 7
What is
Part One 8
ka to ko
か ka
Let’s read and write!
あかい えき き いけ ここ
red station tree/wood pond here あかいえききいけここ
Let’s write a sentence. In the sentence below, は (wa) is a topic marker meaning ‘as far as’, and です(desu)
corresponds to ‘is’ in English. は is read as ‘wa’ when it is used as a topic marker. The Japanese period is a small
circle ‘。’ at the lower left hand corner. Note that the Japanese word order is ‘Topic は noun です。’. Also notice
that the Japanese word order is ‘Topic は noun です。’.
1) (You are showing your friend around town)
Here is the station. ここはえきです。
ko ko wa e ki de su
き ki
く く ku
く く け ke
こ ko
かかか
ききき
けけけ
こここ
Now try CD L2 part 1 & L3 part 1.
What is wrong?
さ
sa to so sa
そそそ
Let’s read and write!
かさ おさけ いす せ そこ
umbrella alcohol chair height there
かさおさけいすせそこ
Let’s write words. In the second set of words below, の (no) is a connector between two nouns.
1) red umbrella 2) wood chair
あかいかさきのいす
a ka i ka sa ki no i su
し shi
し し し す su
せ せ se
せせ
そ so
さささ
すすす
Hiragana Practice ひらがな れんしゅう 9
What is wrong?
Part One 10
ta t o to
た ta
write!
た
What is wrong?
Let’s read and
たかい ちかてつ つくえ て
high/expensive subway desk hand たかいちかてつつ
くえて
そと した くつ
outside below/under shoes そとしたく
つ
Let’s write words. In the second set of words below, be aware that つくえ(tsukue) ‘desk’ comes first in
Japanese, and の (no) is a connecter between two nouns.
1) expensive shoes 2) under the desk
たかいくつつくえのした
ta ka i ku tsu tsu ku e no shi su
ち chi
と
つ tsu
て te
と to
ちち
つつ
てて
na t o no
な na
Let’s read and
write!
な
What is wrong?
Now try CD L2 part 2 & L3 part
あなた さかな くに
You fish country あなたさかなく
に
いぬ ねこ この
dog cat this いぬねここの
Let’s write
words.
1) your dog 2) this cat
あなたのいぬこのねこ
a na ta no i nu ko no ne ko
に ni
に
ぬ nu
ね ne ね
ぬ
の no Hiragana Practice ひらがな れんし
のの
Part One 12
write!
ha t o ho
は
は ha
Let’s read and
はこ ひと さいふ へた ほし
box person wallet be poor at star は こ ひ と さ い ふ へ た
ほし
Let’s write a word and a sentence. In the second sentence below, be aware
that the Japanese period is a small circle.
1) this person 2) (I) am poor at (something).
このひとへたです。
ko no hi to he ta de su
ひ ひ hi
ふ
ひひ
へ へ he
ふ fu
へ
ほ ho
ほほ
Now try CD L2 part 3 & L3 part
ma t o mo
ま ma
Let’s read and write!
なまえ うみ むすめ あめ
name ocean daughter rain なまえうみむすめあめ
もも かきます まち
peach to write/ to draw town/big city ももかきますまち
Let’s write words.
1) daughter’s name 2) blue ocean
む す め の な ま え あ お い う み mu su me no na ma e a o i u mi
み み mi
み み む mu
め me
も mo
ままま
むむむ
めめめ
ももも
Hiragana Practice ひらがな れんしゅう 13
What is wrong?
Part One 14
write!
ya to yo
や
What is wrong?
や ya
Let’s read and
やま ゆき よみます へや
mountain snow to read room やまゆきよみますへ
や
Let’s write a
word.
1) mountain snow 2) high mountain
やまのゆきたかいやま
ya ma no yu ki ta ka i ya ma
ゆ yu
よ yo
ゆゆ
よよ
ら ra
Let’s read and
write!
ら Now try CD L2 part 4 & L3 part
4.
ra to ro
おてら くすり はる はれ しろい
temple medicine spring clear sky white おてら くすり は る は
れ しろい
Let’s write words. In the first set of words below, be aware that はる(haru) ‘spring’ comes first in Japanese,
and の (no) is a connecter between two nouns. In the second set of words, と (to) means ‘and’ in English and
connects nouns.
1) temple in
Spring
は る の お て ら ha
ru no o te ra
2) white medicine and blue medicine
しろいくすりとあおいくすり
shi ro i ku su ri to a o i ku su ri
り ri
る
る ru
れ
れ re
ろ
Hiragana Practice ひらがな れんし
ろ ro
りり
Part One 16
write!
wa to n
わ
What is wrong?
わ wa
Let’s read and
わたし かわ なまえをかきます
I river to write a name わたしかわなまえをか
きます
ほん にほん せんもん しけん
book Japan major exam ほんにほんせんもんし
けん
Let’s write a sentence. In the second sentence below, を (wo) is a particle attached to an object noun. In this
case ほん (hon) ‘book is an object noun. よみます (yomimasu) means ‘to read’. Japanese word order is
Topic-Object-Verb.
1) my
major
わたしのせんもん
wa ta shi no se n mo n
2) I read a book.
わたしはほんをよみます。
wa ta shi wa ho n wo yo mi ma su
を wo
ん n
をを
んん
Now try CD L2 part 5 & L3 part 5.
VOICED SOUNDS AND
P-SOUNDS
Voiced sounds are indicated by basic hiragana with tenten ( two short lines on
top).
ga to
go
ga gi gu ge go
Let’s read and
write!
まんが おんがく かぎ かぐ
comic music key furniture まんがおんがくかぎ
かぐ
おみやげ にほんご ごご
souvenir Japanese language afternoon/PM おみやげにほ
んごごご
Let’s write
words.
1) Japanese magazine (a magazine written in the Japanese language) 2) Japanese souvenir (a souvenir from a trip to Japan)
にほんごのまんがにほんのおみやげ
ni ho n go no ma n ga ni ho n no o mi ya ge
Hiragana Practice ひらがな れんしゅう 17
Part One 18
za to zo
za ji zu ze zo
Let’s read and
write!
かんざし かんじ ちず
hair clip kanji map かんざしかんじち
ず
みず ごぜん かぞく
water AM family みずごぜんかぞ
く
Let’s write a
sentence.
1) I write
kanji.
わたしはかんじをかきます。
wa ta shi wa ka n ji wo ka ki ma su
Now try CD L3 part 6.
da to
do
da ji zu de do
Let’s read and
write!
だいがく ともだち はなぢ
university friend bloody nose だいがくともだち
はなぢ
みかづき でんわ どこ こども
crescent moon telephone where child みかづきでんわど
ここども
Let’s write a sentence. In the sentence below, か (ka) is a question marker attached to the end of the
question sentence. Be aware that the Japanese word order is ‘telephone-where-is’.
1) Where is the
telephone?
でんわはどこですか。
de n wa wa do ko de su ka
Hiragana Practice ひらがな れんしゅう 19
Part One 20
ba to
bo
ba bi bu be bo
Let’s read and
write!
かばん えび しんぶん
bag shrimp news paper かばんえびしんぶん
たべます たんぼ
to eat rice field たべますたん
ぼ
Let’s write a
sentence.
1) I read a
newspaper.
わたしはしんぶんをよみます。
wa ta shi wa shi n bu n wo yo mi ma su
Now try CD L3 part 7.
pa to
po
pa pi pu pe po
Let’s read and
write!
かんぱい えんぴつ さんぷん
toast pencil three minutes
かんぱいえんぴつさんぷん
*ぺんぎん たんぽぽ
penguin dandelion ぺんぎんたん
ぽぽ
Let’s write a sentence. In the sentence below, かいます
(kaimasu) means ‘to buy’.
1) I buy a
pencil.
わたしはえんぴつをかいます。
wa ta shi wa e n pi tsu wo ka i ma su
Note: This
word is usually
written in
katakana.
Hiragana Practice ひらがな れんしゅう 21
Now try CD L3 part 8
and L4 part 1 to part 6.
Part One 22
STOPPED
SOUNDS
Stopped sounds are indicated by small ‘つ’ (tsu). ‘つ’ is quarter size.
Let’s read and
write!
がっき きっぷ きって
musical instrument (transportation) ticket stamp がっききっ
ぷきって
きっさてん ざっし
coffee shop/cafe magazine きっさてんざ
っし
Let’s write a sentence. In the second sentence below, ひきます (hikimasu) means ‘to
play (musical instrument)’.
1) (I) buy a
stamp.
きってをかいます。
ki tte wo ka i ma su
2) I play a musical
instrument.
わたしはがっきをひきます。
wa ta shi wa ga kki wo hi ki ma su
つ
Now try CD L4 part 7.
