{"id":105716,"date":"2023-10-06T12:13:26","date_gmt":"2023-10-06T16:13:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/learn\/how-to-learn-hiragana-katakana\/"},"modified":"2025-02-26T01:11:16","modified_gmt":"2025-02-26T06:11:16","slug":"how-to-learn-hiragana-katakana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/japanese\/how-to-learn-hiragana-katakana\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Learn Hiragana and Katakana"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Japanese uses three main scripts: <strong>hiragana, katakana and kanji.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Kanji (\u6f22\u5b57) is not an alphabet\u2014it&#8217;s a system of <strong>logographic characters. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>They&#8217;re actually\u00a0adopted Chinese characters used in modern Japanese writing. Most Japanese words (nouns, adjectives and verbs) are written in kanji. There are about 50,000 kanji in Japanese.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"OOAKaSNL1O\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/japanese\/how-to-learn-kanji\/\">How to Learn Kanji: 18 Tips from a Guy Who Did It and Survived<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;How to Learn Kanji: 18 Tips from a Guy Who Did It and Survived&#8221; &#8212; FluentU\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/japanese\/how-to-learn-kanji\/embed\/#?secret=uI7B3O0Uex#?secret=OOAKaSNL1O\" data-secret=\"OOAKaSNL1O\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>But in this post, we&#8217;ll be focusing on hiragana and katakana.<\/p>\n<p>For very good reason.<\/p>\n<p>Hiragana and katakana are both alphabets\u2014something we&#8217;re more familiar with as English speakers.<\/p>\n<p>They consist of <strong>less than 50 characters each<\/strong>. Not too hard to manage compared to those 50,000 kanji, I&#8217;d say.\u00a0And if you really think about it, between capital and lowercase letters, cursive and print,<b> <\/b>English has 104 different letter appearances in its alphabet. This should be doable for us.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Hiragana and katakana characters make phonetic sounds. Just like the English alphabet. This means that \u3053 makes the \u201cko\u201d sound, \u3093 makes the \u201cn\u201d sound, \u306b makes the \u201cni\u201d sound, \u3061 is \u201cchi\u201d, and \u306f in this situation is pronounced as \u201cwa.\u201d Together, \u3053\u3093\u306b\u3061\u306f reads as \u201c<em>konnichiwa<\/em>.\u201d Easy, right? And the best part is that hiragana and katakana use the same sounds (so, it&#8217;s just two ways of writing the same thing.)<\/p>\n<p>[fluentu-toc]<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<h2>What Is Hiragana?<\/h2>\n<p>Hiragana (\u3072\u3089\u304c\u306a) is used mainly for grammatical purposes.<\/p>\n<p>Participles, expressions, and words with extremely difficult or rare kanji are mostly written in hiragana. \u00a0Hiragana characters are easy to identify because they\u2019re usually a bit curvy and look simpler than kanji characters.<\/p>\n<p>\u79c1<b>\u306e<\/b>\u540d\u524d<b>\u306f<\/b>\u512a\u4e5f<b>\u3067\u3059<\/b>\u3002<br \/>\n\u5bff\u53f8<b>\u3092<\/b>\u98df<b>\u3079\u307e\u3059<\/b>\u3002<br \/>\n\u82f1\u8a9e<b>\u306f<\/b>\u96e3<b>\u3057\u3044<\/b>\u2026<\/p>\n<p>There are some cases where Japanese words use hiragana more often than kanji such as \u304b\u308f\u3044\u3044 (<em>kawaii<\/em>) or \u3055\u3088\u3046\u306a\u3089 (<em>sayonara<\/em>).<\/p>\n<p>And when you first start learning Japanese, you&#8217;ll find that a lot of early learning materials are written out for you in hiragana. So it&#8217;s a natural first Japanese lesson!<\/p>\n<p>Start practicing now, and you can have this alphabet under your belt in a few days.<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/japanese\/japanese-hiragana-practice\/<\/p>\n<h2>Hiragana Chart<\/h2>\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-1706666\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-1706666\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><\/td><th class=\"column-2\">a<\/th><th class=\"column-3\">i<\/th><th class=\"column-4\">u<\/th><th class=\"column-5\">e<\/th><th class=\"column-6\">o<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"row-striping row-hover\">\n<tr class=\"row-2\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-8c0c3027e3cfc3d644caab3847a505b0-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u3042        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-3\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-655dcb0e6519c34baf6d9d53e1932389-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u3044        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-4\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-31e55ff7f86aaee740277059a9983d89-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u3046        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-5\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-456505723301b8cedd1e5aaf7f050f5f-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u3048        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-6\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-1cfa7b2136e348d87bab68f254a1f01c-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u304a        <\/a>\n    <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-3\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">k<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-b19ca85e627a381c23a7d2c466f82b93-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u304b        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-3\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-02485a52b7c7e4e5230398e628b6247e-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u304d        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-4\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-d9d3327f0d6b4789578781260e874827-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u304f        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-5\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-fbd0909bdc603dc71ceaaf4f4be6a7dc-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u3051        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-6\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-9b9b7e95c6d37ddb6db9018830f55c0d-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u3053        <\/a>\n    <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-4\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">s<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-880beff92bcec2fcd3c44cd06b6d0367-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u3055        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-3\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-fc0e89edd8004187b2a858b7e09019e6-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u3057        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-4\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-052cd511c8cd42254944a6ace1813f84-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u3059        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-5\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-18f507c55c1f9065ee89ad75c8b99c0c-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u305b        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-6\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-2d5f27ce2f0f2f8e471694673c5755cf-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u305d        <\/a>\n    <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-5\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">t<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-14cc9288ee620865e7e4fa61973d2442-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u305f        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-3\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-033547bb33790ef882823b4246a317cf-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u3061        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-4\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-38332eba4797c5c6ba51a345f5c2c78d-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u3064        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-5\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-66b6491143c9e5636596dead2114de08-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u3066        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-6\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-a5401f0cb2567f32278a53d28087a50e-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u3068        <\/a>\n    <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-6\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">n<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-2b8cb2efd8ab6c77a95c478d45bd5e45-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u306a        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-3\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-8b63626ad336c57674a390c73db6c2cb-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u306b        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-4\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-0240ca37aa8a24b7c7c4a86c5241376f-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u306c        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-5\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-448d36c51ab4eead31da6a6a5fb75a2d-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u306d        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-6\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-359ebee169e24b368d456ed0940b6b3a-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u306e        <\/a>\n    <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-7\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">h<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-b7a83b3be2f3bc388bd7e03a38cd67a1-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u306f        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-3\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-c89b06a70bca6265ce06e1183606227d-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u3072        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-4\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-ab8c953c8926ffb896cf89707a193465-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u3075        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-5\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-40346ed000e4f02eda131939693f5a18-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u3078        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-6\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-4b77b80010acce57d70ab2dc4a6e3bdf-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u307b        <\/a>\n    <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-8\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">m<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-f25fb3210b65449fe2929a4d1cc929d9-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u307e        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-3\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-810c1371789adf0e96feae2f644dd6f9-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u307f        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-4\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-08f736b4e1dd63c78c55a26939193cc9-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u3080        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-5\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-9f7031cd04b5f8d8f2ace95ccafae074-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u3081        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-6\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-ac50f83054ad82e6dd5e2f3e9e5ab7d7-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u3082        <\/a>\n    <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-9\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">y<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-3cb21c442c12ac4e680b9b6ec1935ae2-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u3084        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-3\"><\/td><td class=\"column-4\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-31c8f22ffa3370b57dc6aaf1605cd64d-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u3086        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-5\"><\/td><td class=\"column-6\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-66cb79a0064b68cc4ff41900d99df059-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u3088        <\/a>\n    <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-10\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">r<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-fa887b39a3ee44df101186b5bb01ee7b-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u3089        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-3\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-0e8f23d1bc9e17bbc3cf6c85f4730717-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u308a        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-4\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-c1dbaa16c4d9ead825c2a5fcc4137a67-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u308b        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-5\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-2573123cacb22ecd6722e7d13e758eac-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u308c        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-6\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-6d338062aaf8fd9014385baf1d42122f-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u308d        <\/a>\n    <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-11\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">w<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-95ae7ce6fb03c5f4868799260d50d108-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u308f        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-3\"><\/td><td class=\"column-4\"><\/td><td class=\"column-5\"><\/td><td class=\"column-6\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-96ac23a7525c5fbfca8aa68dbb774e18-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u3092        <\/a>\n    <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-12\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">n<\/td><td class=\"column-2\"><\/td><td class=\"column-3\"><\/td><td class=\"column-4\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-8a9f198246c5a908ea62b75502d7420e-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u3093        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-5\"><\/td><td class=\"column-6\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-1706666 from cache -->\n<h2>What Is Katakana?<\/h2>\n<p>While <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/japanese\/katakana-words\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">katakana<\/a> (\u30ab\u30bf\u30ab\u30ca) represents the same sounds as hiragana, it\u2019s mainly used to represent foreign words. Foreign names are represented in katakana, as are many foreign foods. Japan&#8217;s fun and quirky onomatopoeia appears in both katakana and hiragana. Katakana characters take a boxier form than hiragana characters do, and appear simpler than kanji. Every katakana character has a hiragana counterpart that makes the same sound.<\/p>\n<p>\u30ec\u30c7\u30a3\u30fc\u30fb\u30ac\u30ac (Lady Gaga)<br \/>\n\u30dc\u30f3\u30fb\u30b8\u30e7\u30f4\u30a3 (Bon Jovi)<br \/>\n\u30b8\u30e7\u30f3\u30fb\u30b9\u30df\u30b9 (John Smith)<\/p>\n<p>The small circle in between the previous names separates a first name from a last name (or separates two names) so Japanese readers can tell where a foreign name begins and ends.<\/p>\n<p><b>\u30d3\u30fc\u30eb<\/b>\u3092\u98f2\u3093\u3067\u307f\u307e\u3057\u3087\u3046\uff01(Let\u2019s drink <b>beer<\/b>!)<br \/>\n\u79c1\u306f<b>\u30a2\u30e1\u30ea\u30ab\u30f3\u30d5\u30c3\u30c8\u30dc\u30fc\u30eb<\/b>\u304c\u597d\u304d\u3067\u3059\uff01(I like <b>American football*<\/b>.)<br \/>\n<b>\u30de\u30af\u30c9\u30ca\u30eb\u30c9<\/b>\u3067\u98df\u3079\u308b\u3002(Eat at <b>McDonald\u2019s<\/b>.)<\/p>\n<p>*American football can also be called <b>\u30a2\u30e1\u30d5\u30c8<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p>Because these words aren\u2019t native to Japan, they\u2019re written in katakana. Many sound words (like sound effects in manga or animal noises) are also written in katakana.<\/p>\n<h2>Katakana Chart<\/h2>\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-1716666\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-1716666\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><\/td><th class=\"column-2\">a<\/th><th class=\"column-3\">i<\/th><th class=\"column-4\">u<\/th><th class=\"column-5\">e<\/th><th class=\"column-6\">o<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr class=\"row-2\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-b51b28a79559b6fb30682b6602cf8068-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u30a2        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-3\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-43186d8b884865ddc5c22c1372114e3f-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u30a4        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-4\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-3b54b9b14cf5ccdd21f89605963e6a83-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u30a6        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-5\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-76d73b3f4b0cc4a9ef95356efdc2adff-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u30a8        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-6\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-9443763d2d3cecc7492a8d5115c35254-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u30aa        <\/a>\n    <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-3\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">k<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-5e962fab704af6b1c22334f98c66be91-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u30ab        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-3\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-22684eb1fc0222bc28ba2d33bc3aaa92-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u30ad        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-4\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-eef07ab0eb84dfdffd5c44119d67ae09-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u30af        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-5\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-65f3e5096aa0fedad1fc0c1647e37d83-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u30b1        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-6\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-4d1ba3b17dac16f51c20a3cc39ffc330-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u30b3        <\/a>\n    <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-4\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">s<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-1f82b147f81196872e691c7dc76bf1a4-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u30b5        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-3\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-9d1f65bba484af0c604bba17fc109f3d-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u30b7        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-4\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-3117b0da576ea40792328e8daa584aa8-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u30b9        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-5\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-0299b1e5578dc3a1ec08fa814e756266-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u30bb        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-6\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-7dcf77018ab1abbac2e8ce92d32f94d1-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u30bd        <\/a>\n    <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-5\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">t<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-3488717f69bbfea37a32383f84a4ec7f-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u30bf        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-3\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-9c94662d3cf560a6acfa9a0bfbd968b4-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u30c1        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-4\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-c3b5e4de19d4111ae1d682b86e921671-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u30c4        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-5\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-4e72bee1b5ce02e032f2aba435319f5f-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u30c6        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-6\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-80adf30999aecb1683aa612c59ab450a-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u30c8        <\/a>\n    <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-6\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">n<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-2827ebc7b5e5f1b0bf8c3f5de3551dad-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u30ca        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-3\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-cfeb13a203751f049cf397ea8d8a11dc-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u30cb        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-4\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-0bb8cbd38a1aca70ca93b524385ab28e-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u30cc        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-5\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-304535411bb8b285e96f258757896bc7-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u30cd        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-6\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-8d20a0463d8e0fe9a34dd72a3c7568d4-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u30ce        <\/a>\n    <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-7\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">h<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-3606d21592da24b8e26ff9214d5db2e5-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u30cf        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-3\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-768354ad0ac47c8d922df20618c759eb-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u30d2        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-4\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-ea603393f445f981081b54e0b35496ea-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u30d5        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-5\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-280dec021c81869abd86b0e67c0aa47a-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u30d8        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-6\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-4369a4af99ce23d55329a712ba86fb8c-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u30db        <\/a>\n    <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-8\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">m<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-a21dfa55f31e344af9e980d17095bd7a-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u30de        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-3\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-76907aef513ce49aaf984d87cc8a07b9-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u30df        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-4\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-e4358d29faadbac9efb42416a519221c-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u30e0        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-5\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-127ee5859ce1854db68f75a5387beee4-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u30e1        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-6\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-99e77afb73fe1fb017b81171ffd04716-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u30e2        <\/a>\n    <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-9\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">y<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-7097a067be191f9514bd947499a33e8d-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u30e4        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-3\"><\/td><td class=\"column-4\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-cb57e616d6af05488ae701edb5399b01-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u30e6        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-5\"><\/td><td class=\"column-6\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-47f86f2cf22708ce4f752c25f9cdb13d-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u30e8        <\/a>\n    <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-10\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">r<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-166a5dfd0eb97a476d9ed21bfc793ca0-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u30e9        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-3\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-fca041145fbd325065419f494e72b528-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u30ea        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-4\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-9185257ad1a9f97af7bf0a88524679f1-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u30eb        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-5\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-2462ab670b6199d55179141e7a9a28e2-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u30ec        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-6\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-d889ec9d0a035ba9de061a3a653f5065-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u30ed        <\/a>\n    <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-11\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">w<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-761c74bbd21224c255d53a509ba48793-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u30ef        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-3\"><\/td><td class=\"column-4\"><\/td><td class=\"column-5\"><\/td><td class=\"column-6\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-8f5d7af701d929f8f4432825a10a39d2-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u30f2        <\/a>\n    <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-12\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">n<\/td><td class=\"column-2\"><\/td><td class=\"column-3\"><\/td><td class=\"column-4\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-f5b937166da234ea47943f39e838057f-neural-Takumi.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u30f3        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-5\"><\/td><td class=\"column-6\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-1716666 from cache -->\n<h2>How to Learn Hiragana and Katakana<\/h2>\n<p>Fellow moderns, let&#8217;s admit that we&#8217;re all terminally online.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s important to practice writing things out by hand, sure.<\/p>\n<p>But as a first step, I&#8217;d make sure that I can read and write in Japanese on my computer and on the phone which is glued to my hand:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"VvSwwctFTS\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/japanese\/japanese-typing\/\">How to Type in Japanese: Keyboards and Practice Ideas<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;How to Type in Japanese: Keyboards and Practice Ideas&#8221; &#8212; FluentU\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/japanese\/japanese-typing\/embed\/#?secret=1sUa2YRLWM#?secret=VvSwwctFTS\" data-secret=\"VvSwwctFTS\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3>Typing in Japanese<\/h3>\n<p>One way that I learned hiragana and katakana was by writing things out in Japanese whenever I had the opportunity.<\/p>\n<p>Whether I was jotting down my grocery list, <a href=\"http:\/\/lang-8.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">writing to a pen pal<\/a> or having another pointless Twitter feud about the latest political fiasco, I&#8217;d type it in Japanese.<\/p>\n<p>To type in Japanese, select Japanese input on your computer. Type as you usually would on your normal (English) keyboard. So if you write \u201ca\u201d on your keyboard the character \u3042 (which makes the same phonetic sound) will appear. If you type \u201cko\u201d the character \u3053 will be created.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re satisfied with what you\u2019ve written, hit \u201center\u201d on your keyboard. If you\u2019d like to change the text from hiragana to katakana, press the \u201cspace key\u201d on your keyboard. A drop-down menu should appear with a list of possible katakana to choose from.<\/p>\n<p>This will have you recognizing characters with hardly any effort. For more detailed instructions on how to type in Japanese, you can check out <a href=\"http:\/\/www.coscom.co.jp\/learnjapanese801\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">CosCom&#8217;s Japanese typing tutorial<\/a>\u00a0or <a href=\"http:\/\/redcocoon.org\/cab\/j4mactyping.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Redcocoon&#8217;s Japanese typing tutorial<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>Writing by hand in Japanese<\/h3>\n<p>After frequently typing in Japanese, I was able to recognize more and more characters, but actually writing in Japanese with pen and paper is what really engraved each character into my memory. By keeping a small journal, a study notebook, or flashcards, you can regularly practice writing.<\/p>\n<p>I keep a small calendar of daily activities and special events, all written in Japanese. When I first started writing in Japanese, my handwriting was atrocious and I disliked writing in kanji. Nowadays, it feels like second nature to record my daily events in Japanese script. Practice makes perfect, so even if it\u2019s just a few words a day, try jotting them down somewhere.<\/p>\n<p>Here are some practice sheets if you prefer some structured writing:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/japanese-lesson.com\/characters\/hiragana\/pdf\/hiragana_writing_practice_sheets.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hiragana writing practice sheets (PDF)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/japanese-lesson.com\/resources\/pdf\/katakana_writing_practice_sheets.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Katakana writing practice sheets (PDF)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.kids-points.com\/drill\/hiraganap.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kana writing practice sheets for kids<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/japanese\/japanese-writing-practice\/<\/p>\n<h3>Reading in Japanese<\/h3>\n<p>Now the big challenge: Reading in Japanese! When I first began to read in Japanese, I disliked it. I read slowly, I had a hard time pronouncing words and I would often give up shortly after scanning some text. Luckily, there are some great resources available for beginner readers!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/chokochoko.wordpress.com\/the-great-library\/beginner-level\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chokochoko Library offers free downloads of short Japanese stories<\/a> with furigana, which is hiragana that appears over unfamiliar kanji characters, spaces and translations. This is extremely helpful if you\u2019re just introducing yourself to Japanese script.<\/p>\n<p>The next text that is highly recommended is Japanese Graded Readers. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/dp\/4872176243?tag=fluentu-20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The hard copy of Japanese Graded Readers<\/a> consists of an assortment of books that are separated into levels. The beginner books have furigana, so readers who don\u2019t know kanji quite yet can still read with hiragana. The books also come with audio so that you can listen to a native speaker as you read. Following along with the native speaker or mimicking them is great for improving the speed at which you read and speak.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"vQ2dN1IdZl\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/japanese\/learn-japanese-by-reading\/\">Learn Japanese by Reading: 22 Resources for Eager Students<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;Learn Japanese by Reading: 22 Resources for Eager Students&#8221; &#8212; FluentU\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/japanese\/learn-japanese-by-reading\/embed\/#?secret=xxvoyzf5gL#?secret=vQ2dN1IdZl\" data-secret=\"vQ2dN1IdZl\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3>Using Furigana<\/h3>\n<p>To recap, <strong>furigana is hiragana that is displayed over kanji characters<\/strong>. This is especially useful for anyone who wants to learn hiragana or kanji. A furigana plug-in on your web browser will allow you to browse Japanese websites and hover over words that you don\u2019t know. When you hover over an unfamiliar word, a hiragana and an English translation will appear. <a href=\"https:\/\/chrome.google.com\/webstore\/detail\/furigana\/ingbigompaecaefaoihaicmkgepkmkeg?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Furigana Inserter is one such plug-in for Firefox and Google Chrome.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>If you use an internet browser that doesn\u2019t support a furigana plug-in, then you can use a furigana generator. Furigana generators are websites that will take a web page and insert furigana over any kanji. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hiragana.jp\/en\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hiragana Megane is a great furigana generator<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>With <a href=\"https:\/\/link.fluentu.com\/qje\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">FluentU<\/a>, you can watch videos with subtitles that use kanji with furigana, accompanied by English translations. <p><strong>FluentU<\/strong> takes authentic videos\u2014like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks\u2014and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.<\/p>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<p>You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/us\/app\/fluentu-learn-language-videos\/id917892175\">the iOS app<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=com.fluentflix.fluentu&amp;hl=en&amp;gl=US\">Android app.<\/a><\/p>\r\n<p><i><a data-bid=\"1\" data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/try\/april-sale-3331\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">P.S. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)<\/a><\/i>\r\n<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\r\n  <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/site\/\/6\/NativeAd-Japanese.jpg\" alt=\"FluentU Ad\" \/>\r\n  <p style=\"text-align: center\">\r\n    <button class=\"btn-blue\" style=\"border: none;font-size: 18px;text-align: center;padding: 0.75rem 1.5rem;cursor: pointer\">\r\n      Try FluentU for FREE!\r\n  <\/button>\r\n  <\/p>\r\n<\/a>\r\n<\/p>\n<h3><b>Studying online and with apps<\/b><\/h3>\n<p>If you have some time on your hands, then why not have a one-on-one session with yourself and kana? Whether you\u2019re a person who needs visuals and sounds to remember characters, or if you can make do with simple flashcards, there are numerous resources available online that will help you study with ease.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"3rlhc5z2gK\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/japanese\/best-apps-for-learning-japanese\/\">6 Best Apps to Learn Japanese and Advance Your Language Skills in 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;6 Best Apps to Learn Japanese and Advance Your Language Skills in 2024&#8221; &#8212; FluentU\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/japanese\/best-apps-for-learning-japanese\/embed\/#?secret=FOo0tu8Hfc#?secret=3rlhc5z2gK\" data-secret=\"3rlhc5z2gK\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.realkana.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Real Kana is a flashcard maker <\/a>that you can use on your desktop (or on iOS mobile). you choose the hiragana or katakana characters that you\u2019d like to study, and even allows its users to select the font in which the Japanese characters will appear. Similarly, <a href=\"http:\/\/genki.japantimes.co.jp\/self_en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Genki Self Study has simple Japanese learning resources <\/a>directed at those who are trying to learn Japanese script. You can quiz yourself on hiragana and katakana by using flashcards, games or a listening quiz.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, when you need to reference a dictionary, I recommend\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/mokudekiru.com\/2009\/06\/use-the-mac-osx-built-in-japanese-dictionary\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Japanese Dictionary (Mac)<\/a>\u00a0and <a href=\"http:\/\/tangorin.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tangorin\u00a0English \u21c6 Japanese Dictionary<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/japanese\/best-japanese-english-dictionary-app\/<\/p>\n<p>Do you have a favorite study method yet? For me, writing and typing in Japanese are my favorites.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>I hope that these methods can help you read and write!<\/p>\n<p>Try some (or all) of these methods and see which one works for you. You&#8217;ll be surprised by how quickly and easily learning katakana and hiragana can be.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<h2>And One More Thing\u2026<\/h2>\r\n<p>\r\nIf you\u2019re like me and prefer learning Japanese on your own time, from the comfort of your smart device, I\u2019ve got something you\u2019ll love.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\nWith <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">FluentU<\/a>\u2019s Chrome Extension, you can turn any YouTube or Netflix video with subtitles into an interactive language lesson. That means you can <strong>learn Japanese from real-world content<\/strong>, just as native speakers actually use it. \r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\nYou can even import your favorite YouTube videos into your FluentU account. If you\u2019re not sure where to start, check out our <strong>curated library of videos<\/strong> that are handpicked for beginners and intermediate learners, as you can see here:\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\n<a data-bid=\"1\" data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/try\/april-sale-3331\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/site\/\/6\/Japnaese-5.png\" alt=\"fluentu-Japanese-video-library\" width=\"320\" height=\"569\" \/><\/a><\/p>\r\n<p>\r\nFluentU brings native Japanese videos within reach. With <strong>interactive captions<\/strong>, you can hover over any word to see its meaning along with an image, audio pronunciation, and grammatical information.\r\n<\/p><p>\r\n<a data-bid=\"1\" data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/try\/april-sale-3331\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/FluentU-Japanese-video-interactive-subtitles.jpg\" alt=\"learn-Japanese-with-interactive-subtitled-videos\" width=\"600\" height=\"390\" \/><\/a><\/p>\r\n<p>\r\nClick on a word to see more examples where it's used in different contexts. Plus, you can <strong>add new words to your flaschards<\/strong>! For example, if I tap on \u4e88\u7d04, this is what pops up:\r\n<\/p><p>\r\n<a data-bid=\"1\" data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/try\/april-sale-3331\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/FluentU-Japanese-vocab-appointment-booking.jpg\" alt=\"learn-Japanese-vocab-with-interactive-subtitles\" width=\"320\" height=\"569\" \/><\/a><\/p>\r\n<p>\r\nWant to make sure you remember what you've learned? We\u2019ve got you covered. Each video comes with <strong>exercises to review and reinforce key vocab<\/strong>. You\u2019ll get extra practice with tricky words and be reminded when it\u2019s time to review so nothing slips through the cracks.\r\n<\/p><p>\r\n<a data-bid=\"1\" data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/try\/april-sale-3331\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/FluentU-Japanese-vocab-quiz.jpg\" alt=\"fluentu-Japanese-vocab-quiz\" width=\"600\" height=\"390\" \/><\/a><\/p>\r\n<p>\r\nThe best part? FluentU tracks everything you\u2019re learning and uses that to create a <strong>personalized experience just for you<\/strong>. Start using the FluentU website on your computer or tablet or, better yet, download our app from the <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/us\/app\/fluentu-learn-language-videos\/id917892175\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">App Store<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=com.fluentflix.fluentu&amp;hl=en&amp;gl=US\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Google Play<\/a>.<\/p><p><a data-bid=\"1\" data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/try\/april-sale-3331\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)<\/a>\r\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Japanese uses three main scripts: hiragana, katakana and kanji. Kanji (\u6f22\u5b57) is not an alphabet\u2014it&#8217;s a system of logographic characters. They&#8217;re actually\u00a0adopted Chinese characters used in modern Japanese writing. Most&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":252453,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"slim_seo":{"title":"How to Learn Hiragana and Katakana Fast: the Complete Guide to Two Key Japanese Writing Systems | FluentU Japanese Blog","description":"If you're curious how to learn Hiragana and Katakana quickly, then you've come to the right place! Read this post to learn all about these two key Japanese writing systems, and then check out our list of methods (reading, typing, writing and using Furigana) as well as a collection of resources where you can study more."},"footnotes":""},"categories":[545,550],"tags":[],"coauthors":[622],"class_list":["post-105716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-japanese","category-reading-and-writing-japanese"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105716"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105716\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":146584,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105716\/revisions\/146584"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105716"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=105716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}