The Greatest Hiragana & Katakana Studying Assets

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

With the ability to learn hiragana and katakana is superb as a result of it is such an instantly sensible talent. You see them all over the place in Japan. The surroundings of Japan, and even your neighborhood Asian grocery retailer might 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 appropriate 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 research hiragana and katakana pretty shortly, and always remember them, you have come to the appropriate place. I will speak about how you are able to do it, and introduce a few of the finest kana studying sources you should 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 truthfully the sport changer in remembering overseas characters like hiragana, katakana, and even kanji. Utilizing mnemonics, you possibly can 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 instantly sounds doable, proper? Mnemonics make issues simple to recollect, recall, and never neglect. It truly is a strong instrument for kana studying.

2. Prioritize “studying” over “writing”

Concentrate on studying first. Not writing. I do know, it isn’t the standard manner kids be taught their characters. However, studying to learn is extra necessary as the commonest type of “writing” these days is typing. (In the event you can learn kana, you possibly can sort them.)

With the ability to handwrite hiragana from reminiscence is a superb talent to have too, but it surely takes much more time to grasp and has fewer real-life advantages. I like to recommend you reserve it for later. Handwriting or tracing over the characters together with your fingers may be an effective way to spend time observing the shapes carefully, however all the time consider the “studying” precedence reasonably than having the ability to handwrite out of your reminiscence. At the very least, for now.

3. Apply recalling

When you develop into conversant in the kana, apply studying repeatedly. Ensure that to assessment objects you have realized and stick with it. And while you assessment, focus in your recall. The extra effort you set into recalling one thing, the stronger reminiscence your mind will find yourself constructing.

The Greatest Assets for Studying Hiragana/Katakana

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

I bought you — I put collectively an inventory of a few of the finest kana studying sources. They, in fact, have small variations, however all of them characteristic mnemonics and studying apply, 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 E book sequence. 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 at no cost, so nothing to lose if you happen to give them a attempt.

Tofugu’s Study Hiragana/Katakana E book sequence consists of two PDF workbooks, so you possibly can print or use them in your gadget offline. The workbooks cowl the whole lot you should learn about hiragana and katakana. You may learn to pronounce, and keep in mind every character with mnemonics and writing apply sheets. There are additionally studying apply workout routines that can assist you assessment what you have simply realized by filling in romaji. The quiz makes use of precise phrases comprised 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 last word focus of our content material is the standard of mnemonics. We have been updating and enhancing our mnemonics ever since we first printed 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 comparable sound in order that you realize precisely pronounce it. And, when potential, we use the English key phrase for mnemonics too. For instance, the hiragana い sounds identical to “e” as in “eel.” And that can assist 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 consider 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 aid you keep in mind the proper pronunciation.

We additionally hold our mnemonic artwork easy in a manner 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 typically laborious to acknowledge the unique form within the mnemonic artwork.

If you’re searching for a one-stop answer for kana studying, you will not be dissatisfied with Tofugu’s Study Hiragana/Katakana Books.

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

now we have net web page variations too — Study Hiragana: The Final Information and Study Katakana: The Final Information. Whereas these do not include writing sheets, you possibly can play the audio, which is all the time a bonus.

So there you will have it. We even have extra kana studying instruments in numerous codecs and for various functions, so take a look at the listing beneath to search out one thing that fits your desire and desires. You possibly can combine and match too — they’re all free!

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

HIRAGANA/KATAKANA Reminiscence Trace

HIRAGANA Reminiscence Trace and KATAKANA Reminiscence Trace are cell apps that can assist you be taught kana with reminiscence hints (aka mnemonics). Developed by The Japan Basis Japanese-Language Institute, Kansai, each apps can be found at no cost.
The apps are divided into two elements: Reminiscence Hints and Quiz.

The reminiscence hints are total useful and intuitive, they usually all include cute illustrations. If something, the distinctive artwork fashion makes it a bit laborious to acknowledge the unique characters within the illustration. Most of the illustrations type of modify the shapes to make sense of the visible mnemonics (or at the least, many look so much totally different from generic font textual content). So if you happen to ever use these apps, hold 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 aid 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 step by step fading out and the unique character showing after that.

In the event you go to the Quiz display, there are 4 forms of quizzes you possibly can choose from. Along with the everyday apply of selecting the corresponding romaji studying for every kana, the choices embrace Hear & Select, the place you hear a sound and select a corresponding kana out of three selections, 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, reminiscent of あ, め, and ぬ.

One other good factor in regards to the quiz characteristic is that you could slim down the characters you wish to apply by choosing a gaggle(s) of kana. Every group accommodates 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 apply the kana you simply grew to become conversant in, earlier than transferring ahead to review extra.

Nonetheless, it is price 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 data, or training your recall. However if you happen to favor easing into kana with a extra relaxed method, this might be possibility. No matter your reply being appropriate or not, you will 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 while you attempt to get by way of the session as shortly as potential or while you’re already assured and need not see them. Quiz periods are timed to encourage folks to undergo shortly, 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 professional choice to be taught kana with the assistance of mnemonics. And it is free!

As a aspect notice… 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 test the pronunciation of every character would not work, and the Hear & 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 research the characters of overseas languages, together with Japanese — hiragana, katakana, and even fundamental kanji.
Of their hiragana and katakana programs, you will be offered with mnemonic illustrations and a brief phrase or two that can assist 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 exhibiting 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, reminiscent of Mr. T or Ed Sheeran, which will 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 — 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 will be prompted with quizzes to assessment what you have simply realized. It gives numerous codecs of quizzes, reminiscent of typing in romaji, and choosing a personality akin to the sound you hear. It quizzes you with not solely single characters but in addition typically phrases which might be made out of a number of characters.

The app total has an excellent design and high quality illustrations and animations, however you must pay for what you get — it isn’t free to be taught all of the kana. You should utilize it at no cost to review eleven hiragana and eight katakana, however after that, you will need to make a one-time in-app buy to improve to the complete kana protection. Every kana package deal prices $5.99, however there is a Japanese Bundle package deal 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 apply instrument the place you are able to do additional quizzes, however this apply characteristic will not actually be helpful till you are already conversant in the entire set of 46 fundamental kana plus variation characters. You possibly can select what number of questions you wish to undergo in a session, but it surely would not take into account what kana you have already realized on the app, nor does it let you choose kana you are already conversant in and wish to quiz.

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

Study ALL Hiragana/Katakana in 1 Hour is a sequence of two video classes obtainable at no 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 way of every character that can assist you keep in mind 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. In addition they present an illustration mnemonic for every character to make it simple to recollect. You may additionally hear a quick clarification of the place you may see the character in Japanese grammar. Once they introduce a brand new kana that has an identical 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 assessment, exhibiting you the characters you have simply realized whereas providing 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, consider there’s typically a spot between the precise Japanese sound and the English key phrases they use of their mnemonics. For instance, they encourage you to consider 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 may increasingly journey you up, so attempt specializing in how the host reads the character, reasonably than the mnemonic key phrases for correct pronunciation.

They do cowl all of the kana in an easy-to-understand manner utilizing illustrations and animations. Nonetheless, an hour lengthy video lesson is so much to pack in. In the event you’re enthusiastic about utilizing this video lesson sequence for studying kana, do not pressure your self to undergo it multi functional sitting.

The sequence is created by JapanesePod101.com, who’re recognized for providing an enormous quantity of Japanese studying content material. Nonetheless, on the identical time, their content material group tends to be troublesome to navigate. For instance, these YouTube movies haven’t got timestamps, so it’s possible you’ll discover it laborious to maintain coming again to the place you left off.

In the event you favor a set of bite-size classes, you possibly can take a look at 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 sequence are divided into ten elements with movies simply a number of minutes lengthy. The draw back of this 10-Day Problem sequence although is that it consists of extra ads for JapanesePod101.com merchandise.

For Additional Quiz Apply and Opinions

The sources that I’ve talked about to date are all one-stop options that aid you keep in mind kana with mnemonics and assessment and apply by way of quizzes. As I’ve talked about, kana is all over the place. When you begin finding out different elements of the Japanese language, you will see them consistently. So in a manner, you will be naturally reinforcing your kana data transferring ahead. That mentioned, you will wish to first apply so much and ensure you solidify your kana data.

You may get some apply in with the sources above, however I additionally needed to introduce you to some different instruments particularly designed to quiz your kana data for additional apply. One standout characteristic is that they allow you to really sort 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 data, and can assist you establish 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 internet app initially designed to be a quiz instrument that can assist you solidify the kana data from our kana merchandise, such because the workbooks and net pages I launched earlier. Nonetheless, it could be an excellent companion for actually any sort of kana-learning useful resource as what it does is will let you apply no matter kana you need, as many occasions as you need. It additionally lets you establish the characters you continue to have a tough time with.

The best way it really works is easy. On the primary web page, you get to decide on the kana you wish to apply by column (a set of three to 5 characters). You possibly can test all hiragana or all katakana with a single button too, if you happen to’re already conversant in all of the kana listed.

In the course of the quiz, you will be prompted with a set of the chosen hiragana characters and requested to sort within the readings for each. You possibly can select to skip objects so it can save you those you will have a tough time recalling and circle again on these later. We consider the act of recalling is necessary, so not like some other quiz instruments, we really will not let you know the proper reply even while you get issues incorrect. (We deliberately make it laborious to cheat, and it is all for you!) Nonetheless, you possibly can attempt answering the identical merchandise till you sort in the appropriate reply so you possibly can check your recall time and again.

Then, while 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 aid you establish 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 keep in mind them!

Actual Kana

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