Learn Japanese The Easy Way

に {Alphabet}

こんにちわ、せいと！
Konnichiwa, seito!
Good afternoon, students!

Today's lesson is learning romaji and hiragana calligraphy, or the English to Japanese alphabet.

As I'm sure you know, Japan's reading style goes from top right to bottom left, like so:

ら や ま な ぱ ば は だ た ざ さ が か あり      み に ぴ び ひ ぢ ち じ し ぎ き い
る ゆ む ぬ ぷ ぶ ふ づ つ ず す ぐ く う
れ      め ね ぺ べ へ で て ぜ せ げ け え
ろ よ も の ぽ ぼ ほ ど と ぞ そ ご こ お                                                      

                                                            わ
を
ん

Starting at A (あ) , going down to O (お) , then going back up to Ka (か) , and down to Ko, (こ).

You probably have no clue what I just wrote, so here's a guide:

A  あ
I い
U う
E え
O お

Ka か
Ki き
Ku く
Ke け
Ko こ

Ga が
Gi ぎ
Gu ぐ
Ge げ
Go ご

Sa さ
Shi し
Su す
Se せ
So そ

Za ざ
Ji じ
Zuず
Ze ぜ
Zo ぞ

Ta た
Chi ち
Tsu つ
Te て
To と

Da だ
Ji ぢ
Zu づ
De で
Do ど

Ha は
Hi ひ
Fu ふ
He へ
Ho ほ

Ba ば
Bi び
Bu ぶ
Be  べ
Bo ぼ

Pa ぱ
Pi ぴ
Pu ぷ
Pe ぺ
Po ぽ

Na な
Ni に
Nu ぬ
Ne ね
No の

Ma ま
Mi み
Mu む
Me め
Mo も

Ya や
Yu ゆ
Yo  よ

Ra ら
Ri り
Ru る
Re れ
Ro ろ

Wa わ
Wo (o) を
N ん

If you don't already know the pronunciations, here's how to say them:
Ah
EE
OO
Eh
Oh
(Consonant) (Vowel)
So, you would say Ta- tah, or Mi- mee,
So on and so forth.

An important thing to know is: Japanese does not have L. Instead, they flip their R to substitute for the L sound.
- Funny story, my Sensei once asked my class if we like "lice"... Turns out, he wanted to know if we like "rice".

I suggest you look up the alphabet on YouTube, just to be positive you have them correct. Or, you can watch the video in this chapter.

If you are still confused about any of the alphabet, leave your question in the comments and I'll do my best to answer it.

HOMEWORK: Leave your first name in the comments, and I'll show you how to write it in Japanese. My name is Natalie, so I would say Natarii. In hiragana, it would be  なたりー.

I hope you are enjoying your lessons, even though I'm a sucky teacher.

さよおなら！
Sayoonara!
Goodbye!