The first step is to learn the alphabet. Or, at least, the sounds that exist in the Japanese language. There are absolutely no "tones" like in Chinese, Thai, etc. and there are only 2 exceptions within the alphabet which will be explained later. The characters listed below are called Hiragana. It is the main alphabet for Japanese. The Japanese language also consists of Chinese characters (Kanji), which we will get into later, and another alphabet, Katakana, which is mainly used for foreign words. Katakana will be covered in Lesson 2.
There are 5 vowels in the Japanese language. (a), pronounced "ahh", (i), pronounced like "e" in "eat", (u), pronounced like "oo" in "soon", (e), pronounced like "e" in "elk", and (o), pronounced "ohh". All Hiragana characters end with one of these vowels, with the exception of (n). The only "consonant" that does not resemble that of English is the Japanese "r". It is slightly "rolled" as if it were a combination of a "d", "r", and "l".
あ
a い
i う
u え
e お
o
か
ka き
ki く
ku け
ke こ
ko
が
ga ぎ
gi ぐ
gu げ
ge ご
go
さ
sa し
shi す
su せ
se そ
so
ざ
za じ
ji ず
zu ぜ
ze ぞ
zo
た
ta ち
chi つ
tsu て
te と
to
だ
da ぢ
ji づ
zu で
de ど
do
な
na に
ni ぬ
nu ね
ne の
no
は
ha ひ
hi ふ
fu へ
he ほ
ho
ば
ba び
bi ぶ
bu べ
be ぼ
bo
ぱ
pa ぴ
pi ぷ
pu ぺ
pe ぽ
po
ま
ma み
mi む
mu め
me も
mo
や
ya ゆ
yu よ
yo
ら
ra り
ri る
ru れ
re ろ
ro
わ
wa を
wo ん
n/m
Combinations
きゃ
kya きゅ
kyu きょ
kyo
ぎゃ
gya ぎゅ
gyu ぎょ
gyo
しゃ
sha しゅ
shu しょ
sho
じゃ
ja じゅ
ju じょ
jo
ちゃ
cha ちゅ
chu ちょ
cho
にゃ
nya にゅ
nyu にょ
nyo
ひゃ
hya ひゅ
hyu ひょ
hyo
びゃ
bya びゅ
byu びょ
byo
ぴゃ
pya ぴゅ
pyu ぴょ
pyo
みゃ
mya みゅ
myu みょ
myo
りゃ
rya りゅ
ryu りょ
ryo
Exceptions:
1. は (ha) is pronounced "wa" when it immediately follows the subject. It is usually only pronounced "ha" when it is part of a word.
2. へ (he) is pronounced "e" when it immediately follows a place or direction. Both of these are very simple to detect.
Click here if you'd like to know why these two exceptions exist.
Note: You probably noticed that there are 2 "zu" and 2 "ji". づ (zu) and ぢ (ji) are very rarely used. づ (zu) only occurs when there is a つ (tsu) in front of it like in つづく (tsuzuku - to continue) or when a Kanji (Chinese character) that starts with つ (tsu) is paired at the end with another character changing the つ (tsu) to a づ (zu). The same applies for ぢ (ji). Since they are used so rarely I wouldn't worry about them too much. I will let you know whenever we come upon a word in which they are used.
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