Learn Japanese - Katakana Lesson 1: Basic Syllables

Objective: Learn to read/write the basic katakana syllables

Introduction to Katakana

Katakana is the set of Japanese syllables that can be used to write Japanese words that have been borrowed from other languages. Just like you probably learned the English alphabet before you started reading, learning to read and write Japanese will be a lot easier if you first spend some time memorizing the Japanese syllables (i.e., hiragana and katakana) that you will be using. This page will introduce the basic set of katakana characters, including a set of animations to help you learn the stroke order of each hiragana character. Please familiarize yourself with these basic characters before moving on to learn the rest of the katakana characters.

Examples:

ハンバーガー = Hamburger

ファイナル　ファンタジー = Final Fantasy

ダメ！ = だめ　a word meaning useless; no good; hopeless

Animated Katakana Writing Guide

The graphic below illustrates the 46 basic katakana characters. To learn how to write a katakana character, click on a syllable below to open a pop-up window containing an animation illustrating the correct stroke order and method of writing the katakana character by hand. Click on the katakana character in the pop-up window to start the animation.

a i u e o ka ki ku ke ko sa shi su se so ha hi hu he ho ta chi tsu te to ma mi mu me mo na ni nu ne no ra ri ru re ro ya yu yo wa wo n

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Pronunciation Guide

Vowels

あ = like the "a" in "water"

い = like the "ee" in "meet"

う = like the "oo" in "food"

え = like the "e" in "fed"

お = like the "o" in "hold"

*Note: The u vowel sound in す is often whispered or not pronounced at all, so words like すこし may sound like "skoshi", and words like です may sound like "des".

Extended Vowels

In hiragana, extended vowels are held for two syllable-counts instead of one and are written by simply adding a hiragana vowel character.

Long あ sound: ああ (e.g., )

Long い sound: いい (e.g., )

Long う sound: うう (e.g.,

Long え sound: ええ (e.g., おねえさん = older sister)

Long お sound: おお (e.g., おおきい = big) or sometimes おう (e.g., koukou = high school)

Writing long O and E vowels can be a bit tricky because they are written a little differently than they are pronounced. Often, instead of writing おお when a long O sound is used it is usually written as おう; like in the word koukou (high school). Often instead of ええ, words with long E sounds are written as えい; like in the word せんせい　sensei (teacher).

Vowel Combinations

Also there are combinations such as "ei" and "ai" that have a different sound.

えい = the "ay" in "way"

あい = the "ie" in "tie"

あう = the "ow" in "how"

おい = the "oy" in "toy"

うえ = the "we" in "web"

Character Notes:

hu/fu: Sometimes you will see words written beginning with fu. Please don't be confused, hu/fu is the same character. To me, the pronunciation sounds more like hu than fu.

ra, ri, ru, re, ro: the "r" is made by placing your tongue at the roof of your mouth as if to say "l", but saying "r" instead.

を= wo is pronounced like the "o" in go.

ん= n is pronounced like the "n" in the word under.

Please familiarize yourself with these Hiragana characters before proceeding to the next lessons. I suggest making flashcards, so you may quickly memorize all of the characters.