The Greatest Hiragana & Katakana Studying Sources

Hiragana and katakana are actually the ABCs of Japanese. They’re essentially the most fundamental varieties of Japanese characters and important components of the Japanese language. Studying these two varieties of characters is usually the very first step to studying Japanese, too.

With the ability to learn hiragana and katakana is wonderful as a result of it is such an instantly sensible talent. You see them in every single place in Japan. The surroundings of Japan, and even your neighborhood Asian grocery retailer could begin to look totally different as soon as you realize hiragana and katakana.

Fortunately, they’re pretty simple to grasp, too. No, you do not want a photographic reminiscence or superpower to memorize all of them. All you want is the suitable methodology and instruments to review successfully and effectively.

There are 46 hiragana characters for hiragana and katakana respectively. Memorizing 92 characters with unfamiliar shapes may sound intimidating now, however belief me. Individuals have realized them in a pair weeks, a number of days, or perhaps a few hours with these efficient strategies.

If you wish to examine hiragana and katakana pretty rapidly, and always remember them, you have come to the suitable place. I will speak about how you are able to do it, and introduce a number of the greatest kana studying sources you need to use for a profitable kana studying expertise.

How To Study Hiragana & Katakana

First, let me undergo the three key factors for profitable kana studying.

1. Use reminiscence hints aka “mnemonics”

Reminiscence hints, aka mnemonics, are actually the sport changer in remembering international characters like hiragana, katakana, and even kanji. Utilizing mnemonics, you may simply affiliate the form of kana with the studying.
Curious how mnemonics really work? Here is an instance to recollect hiragana “ki” (き). This one is fairly easy. Simply consider a key! 🔑

Remembering a bunch of unfamiliar shapes immediately sounds doable, proper? Mnemonics make issues simple to recollect, recall, and never neglect. It truly is a robust instrument for kana studying.

2. Prioritize “studying” over “writing”

Concentrate on studying first. Not writing. I do know, it isn’t the normal method youngsters be taught their characters. However, studying to learn is extra vital as the commonest type of “writing” these days is typing. (In the event you can learn kana, you may kind them.)

With the ability to handwrite hiragana from reminiscence is a superb talent to have too, nevertheless it takes much more time to grasp and has fewer real-life advantages. I like to recommend you put it aside for later. Handwriting or tracing over the characters together with your fingers will be a good way to spend time observing the shapes carefully, however at all times take note the “studying” precedence slightly than having the ability to handwrite out of your reminiscence. At the least, for now.

3. Observe recalling

When you grow to be accustomed to the kana, follow studying repeatedly. Be certain to evaluation objects you have realized and stick with it. And once you evaluation, focus in your recall. The extra effort you place into recalling one thing, the stronger reminiscence your mind will find yourself constructing.

The Greatest Sources for Studying Hiragana/Katakana

So now that we have talked in regards to the three key factors for profitable kana studying, you could be pondering, “What instruments can I exploit to be taught hiragana and katakana?”

I acquired you — I put collectively a listing of a number of the greatest kana studying sources. They, after all, have small variations, however all of them function mnemonics and studying follow, that are the important thing factors for profitable kana studying.

Now, let’s take a more in-depth take a look at every useful resource.

Tofugu’s Study Hiragana/Katakana Books

Earlier than something, let me speak about Tofugu’s personal merchandise — our Study Hiragana/Katakana Guide collection. It is a shameless plug as I’m very pleased with all of the learners who efficiently realized kana with our books and proved them to be efficient. They’re additionally obtainable without cost, so nothing to lose should you give them a strive.

Tofugu’s Study Hiragana/Katakana Guide collection consists of two PDF workbooks, so you may print or use them in your gadget offline. The workbooks cowl all the pieces it is advisable to learn about hiragana and katakana. You may discover ways to pronounce, and find out how to bear in mind every character with mnemonics and writing follow sheets. There are additionally studying follow workouts that will help you evaluation what you have simply realized by filling in romaji. The quiz makes use of precise phrases constituted of the characters you have realized, making a rewarding second that hopefully makes you go “Woah, I can learn Japanese phrases!” and motivates you to maintain going.

Greater than something, the final word focus of our content material is the standard of mnemonics. We have been updating and bettering our mnemonics ever since we first revealed them, and that is what makes our kana content material particular. For instance, to clarify the pronunciation of every kana, we use an English phrase that makes use of the identical or very related sound in order that you realize precisely find out how to pronounce it. And, when attainable, we use the English key phrase for mnemonics too. For instance, the hiragana い sounds similar to “e” as in “eel.” And that will help you affiliate the sound and the form of the characters, we use the identical key phrase “eel,” and say い seems like two eels hanging out. One other frequent mnemonic for い is that it seems just like the quantity eleven as in 11 (which, it completely does!) however we select “eels” for the extra correct pronunciation. We imagine that studying kana can be about studying the sounds of the Japanese language and the fundamentals of Japanese pronunciation, so we hope these key phrases enable you bear in mind the right pronunciation.

We additionally maintain our mnemonic artwork easy in a method that makes it simple to see the unique form of the character. Not many mnemonics on the market have this high quality, and it is generally arduous to acknowledge the unique form within the mnemonic artwork.

In case you are in search of a one-stop resolution for kana studying, you will not be disenchanted with Tofugu’s Study Hiragana/Katakana Books.

For many who need to have the ability to take heed to the pronunciation of every kana…

we’ve net web page variations too — Study Hiragana: The Final Information and Study Katakana: The Final Information. Whereas these do not include writing sheets, you may play the audio, which is at all times a bonus.

So there you might have it. We even have extra kana studying instruments in numerous codecs and for various functions, so try the record under to seek out one thing that fits your desire and wishes. You may combine and match too — they’re all free!

• Net Pages
  They arrive with audio so you may hear how every character is pronounced.
• YouTube Video Classes
• Mnemonic Charts
  A fast reference chart of our mnemonics.
• Quiz/Overview

HIRAGANA/KATAKANA Reminiscence Trace

HIRAGANA Reminiscence Trace and KATAKANA Reminiscence Trace are cell apps that will help you be taught kana with reminiscence hints (aka mnemonics). Developed by The Japan Basis Japanese-Language Institute, Kansai, each apps can be found without cost.
The apps are divided into two components: Reminiscence Hints and Quiz.

The reminiscence hints are total useful and intuitive, they usually all include cute illustrations. If something, the distinctive artwork type makes it a bit arduous to acknowledge the unique characters within the illustration. Most of the illustrations kind of modify the shapes to make sense of the visible mnemonics (or a minimum of, many look loads totally different from generic font textual content). So should you ever use these apps, maintain that in thoughts, and ensure to match the illustration to what the character really seems like. There are a pair choices within the app that enable you with this; one to see the mnemonic illustration and the unique aspect by aspect, and one other to play an animation of the illustration steadily fading out and the unique character showing after that.

In the event you go to the Quiz display, there are 4 varieties of quizzes you may choose from. Along with the standard follow of selecting the corresponding romaji studying for every kana, the choices embrace Pay attention & Select, the place you hear a sound and select a corresponding kana out of three decisions, and Related Hiragana / Related Katakana, the place you see a sound written in romaji and select a corresponding character out of two or three kana choices that look alike, comparable to あ, め, and ぬ.

One other good factor in regards to the quiz function is which you could slim down the characters you wish to follow by choosing a gaggle(s) of kana. Every group comprises two kana rows of eight to 10 characters. Not many individuals cram all of the kana in a single sitting, so it is good to have the ability to choose and follow the kana you simply grew to become accustomed to, earlier than shifting ahead to review extra.

Nonetheless, it is value noting these quizzes are all in multiple-choice format. In comparison with typing or writing, it is a much less strict methodology of testing your information, or practising your recall. However should you desire easing into kana with a extra relaxed method, this may very well be a great possibility. No matter your reply being right or not, you may be proven the mnemonic illustration of the reply proper after you reply every query. It is a good gesture for individuals who had a tough time recalling a lot of the characters, however this feels redundant once you attempt to get by the session as rapidly as attainable or once you’re already assured and needn’t see them. Quiz classes are timed to encourage folks to undergo rapidly, so being proven the mnemonic picture can really feel extraneous.

Total, regardless of minor particulars that you could be want to change, HIRAGANA/KATAKANA Reminiscence Trace is a respectable choice to be taught kana with the assistance of mnemonics. And it is free!

As a aspect be aware… As of reviewing the apps (February, 2023), the audio was sadly not working in any respect on my iPhone 13 mini. Audio play buttons to examine the pronunciation of every character would not work, and the Pay attention & Select quiz would not play the audio both.

Study Languages with Dr. Moku (Hiragana & Katakana)

Study Languages with Dr. Moku is a cell app that makes use of the ability of mnemonics to assist visible learners examine the characters of international languages, together with Japanese — hiragana, katakana, and even fundamental kanji.
Of their hiragana and katakana programs, you may be introduced with mnemonic illustrations and a brief phrase or two that will help you affiliate the form of the character with the way it’s pronounced.

Upon tapping the mnemonic picture, it performs an animated model of the visible mnemonic (You may hear Dr. Moku studying the mnemonic aloud for you!), then an animation displaying how the character is written following its stroke order. Many mnemonics are intelligent, however simply remember that there are some popular culture references used within the mnemonics, comparable to Mr. T or Ed Sheeran, which might not be relatable to everybody.

Following mnemonics is an audio play button to listen to the pronunciation together with some helpful details about every character — find out how to pronounce it or the place you may see the character. It additionally exhibits a number of phrases the place the character is used.

After studying a set of characters, you may be prompted with quizzes to evaluation what you have simply realized. It provides numerous codecs of quizzes, comparable to typing in romaji, and choosing a personality akin to the sound you hear. It quizzes you with not solely single characters but additionally generally phrases which are made out of a number of characters.

The app total has an excellent design and high quality illustrations and animations, however it’s a must to pay for what you get — it isn’t free to be taught all of the kana. You should use it without cost to review eleven hiragana and eight katakana, however after that, you may should make a one-time in-app buy to improve to the total kana protection. Every kana bundle prices $5.99, however there is a Japanese Bundle bundle for $7.99, which incorporates each kana in addition to fundamental kanji and a phrase e-book.

The improve additionally unlocks some bonus options, together with a follow instrument the place you are able to do further quizzes, however this follow function will not actually be helpful till you are already accustomed to the entire set of 46 fundamental kana plus variation characters. You may select what number of questions you wish to undergo in a session, nevertheless it would not contemplate what kana you have already realized on the app, nor does it let you choose kana you are already accustomed to and wish to quiz.

Study ALL Hiragana/Katakana in 1 Hour – Tips on how to Write and Learn Japanese (JapanesePod101.com)

Study ALL Hiragana/Katakana in 1 Hour is a collection of two video classes obtainable without cost on YouTube. Every video is an hour lengthy, specializing in both an entire set of hiragana or katakana.
The video provides an summary of hiragana and katakana utilizing graphics and charts, then goes by every character that will help you bear in mind find out how to write and browse them. Every character is launched with the stroke order of the character, and what the character seems like in several sorts of fonts. Additionally they present an illustration mnemonic for every character to make it simple to recollect. You may additionally hear a short rationalization of the place you may see the character in Japanese grammar. Once they introduce a brand new kana that has an analogous form to the one you have already realized, they take the time to match and clarify the variations.

As soon as every column (a set of three to 5 characters) is launched, they do a fast quiz to evaluation, displaying you the characters you have simply realized whereas supplying you with a second to recall how they’re pronounced. Some quizzes use precise phrases the place the character seems.

The host of the video classes, Risa, is a local speaker of Japanese, so that you get to listen to her genuine pronunciation of every character. Nonetheless, take note there’s generally a niche between the precise Japanese sound and the English key phrases they use of their mnemonics. For instance, they encourage you to think about the form of an apple to recollect a hiragana あ (a). Nonetheless, あ is nearer to the sound of “ah” (ɑ), not “apple” (æ). This will likely journey you up, so strive specializing in how the host reads the character, slightly than the mnemonic key phrases for correct pronunciation.

They do cowl all of the kana in an easy-to-understand method utilizing illustrations and animations. Nonetheless, an hour lengthy video lesson is loads to pack in. In the event you’re concerned about utilizing this video lesson collection for studying kana, do not drive your self to undergo it multi functional sitting.

The collection is created by JapanesePod101.com, who’re identified for providing an enormous quantity of Japanese studying content material. Nonetheless, on the similar time, their content material group tends to be tough to navigate. For instance, these YouTube movies do not have timestamps, so you could discover it arduous to maintain coming again to the place you left off.

In the event you desire a set of bite-size classes, you may try the 10-Day Hiragana Problem and 10-Day Katakna Problem playlists. Every of the 2 movies from the Study ALL Hiragana/Katakana in 1 Hour collection are divided into ten components with movies simply a number of minutes lengthy. The draw back of this 10-Day Problem collection although is that it contains extra commercials for JapanesePod101.com merchandise.

For Further Quiz Observe and Critiques

The sources that I’ve talked about up to now are all one-stop options that enable you bear in mind kana with mnemonics and evaluation and follow by quizzes. As I’ve talked about, kana is in every single place. When you begin learning different features of the Japanese language, you may see them continuously. So in a method, you may be naturally reinforcing your kana information shifting ahead. That mentioned, you may wish to first follow loads and be sure to solidify your kana information.

You will get some follow in with the sources above, however I additionally wished to introduce you to a few different instruments particularly designed to quiz your kana information for further follow. One standout function is that they allow you to really kind in romaji for the kana readings as a substitute of simply providing you a number of selection solutions. This implies they’re a greater evaluation of your true kana information, and might help you determine what kana you could be struggling to recollect.

Tofugu’s Study Kana Quiz

That is one other shameless plug (okay okay, I promise this would be the final).

Tofugu’s Study Kana Quiz is an online app initially designed to be a quiz instrument that will help you solidify the kana information from our kana merchandise, such because the workbooks and net pages I launched earlier. Nonetheless, it might be an excellent companion for actually any form of kana-learning useful resource as what it does is will let you follow no matter kana you need, as many occasions as you need. It additionally lets you determine the characters you continue to have a tough time with.

The way in which it really works is easy. On the primary web page, you get to decide on the kana you wish to follow by column (a set of three to 5 characters). You may examine all hiragana or all katakana with a single button too, should you’re already accustomed to all of the kana listed.

Throughout the quiz, you may be prompted with a set of the chosen hiragana characters and requested to kind within the readings for every one. You may select to skip objects so it can save you those you might have a tough time recalling and circle again on these later. We imagine the act of recalling is vital, so not like some other quiz instruments, we really will not inform you the right reply even once you get issues improper. (We deliberately make it arduous to cheat, and it is all for you!) Nonetheless, you may strive answering the identical merchandise till you kind in the suitable reply so you may check your recall again and again.

Then, once you end a session, the outcomes present you what number of failed makes an attempt you had with the characters you could not reply appropriately on the first go. It will enable you determine what kana characters should not nonetheless sticking in your reminiscence so you are able to do one thing about them — revisiting the mnemonics, inventing new mnemonics, or tracing the characters — no matter you gotta do to lastly bear in mind them!

Actual Kana

So that is it! Hope you discovered one thing that you simply wish to give a strive on this article. Once more, having the ability to learn kana is a giant first step, and it isn’t as arduous as you suppose. I hope the strategies and sources that I talked about provides you with an excellent head begin in your Japanese studying journey! Glad Kana Studying!