Let’s begin learning the Hiragana alphabet!
In the beginning, I will show you how to read Basic Hiragana alphabet letters.
Here is the Hiragana chart. You can see the Roman alphabet in the table. It’s called Romaji, which offers you a hint of how to pronounce the letters. But don’t rely on them too much. I will explain the reason later.
Audio
Let’s read the Hiragana alphabet together. Please listen to the audio and repeat afterward.
In the first row, you can see “あ、い、う、え、お”. They are our vowels.
In the second row. “か、き、く、け、こ”.
In the third, “さ、し、す、せ、そ”.
The pronunciation of the 2nd letter, “し” is a bit tricky. Romaji is “shi” but it’s different from the English “sh” sound. That’s the reason not to rely on Romaji too much.
To pronounce “し”, make your tongue close to the roof of the mouth near the front teeth (this place is called alveolar) and breathe out. Don’t make your lips tense and round. Please show us your smile!
In the fourth, “た、ち、つ、て、と”.
Many learners find it difficult to pronounce “ち” and “つ”.
To pronounce “ち”, first say “し”. You make your tongue close to the roof of the mouth near the front teeth and breathe out. Then, let your tongue tap the place. You can pronounce “ち”.
To pronounce “つ”, first say “す” for a few seconds. You can feel your tongue is close to the back of the tooth. Second, say “t”. Your tongue taps the same place. Then, say “t” and then immediately say “す”. The tip of the tongue tap and go back to keep a short distance. Now you can pronounce “つ”
Please listen carefully and practice again and again!
In the fifth, “な、に、ぬ、ね、の”. The sound of this row is nasal.
In the sixth, “は、ひ、ふ、へ、ほ”.
“ふ” is different from the English “f” sound. Don’t bite your lower lip! Imagine you blow a candle. That is “ふ” sound.
In the seventh, “ま、み、む、め、も”.
In the eighth, “や、ゆ、よ”.
You can see the blank cells in this row. A long time ago, we had some sounds there but we don’t use them anymore.
You will finish soon! In the ninth, “ら、り、る、れ、ろ”.
In Romaji, “r” is used in this row but it confuses learners. For example, if you are Italian, your r sound is a rolled r. It is very different from Japanese “らりるれろ” sounds.
Actually, Japanese “らりるれろ” sounds are similar to the English “l” sound.
Say English “l” sound. You can feel your tongue touch behind the upper tooth and an airstream comes out from the sides of your tongue. Then make the tip of the tongue tap at the same place. That is the sound of “らりるれろ”
In the last two-row, “わ、を、ん”. Again, there are some cells for the sounds which are already disappeared.
Quiz
Read each Hiragana alphabet letter. After reading, listen to the audio and check the answer.
あさ (morning)
くつ (shoes)
さかな (fish)
とり (bird)
なまえ (name)
ほん (book)
みせ (shop)
やさい (vegetable)
Congratulations!
You have learned all the basic Hiragana letters!
Written by the standard font that all the Japanese schools use to teach how to write Japanese letters properly.
Hiragana Learning Course contents
8 Reasons why you should learn Hiragana
46 basic Hiragana Alphabet Letters (this post)
More Hiragana Letters – Dakuon and Handakuon
Some More Hiragana Letters – Long Vowels and Small “っ”
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