B 03
HIRAGANA
How do you read
HIRAGANA?
Index
• Hiragana Websites
•
•
•
•
•
•
Hiragana: How do you read it?
Hiragana Chart: How does it work?
Tip 1: a i u e o
Tip 2: shi, chi, tsu, fu, n
Tip 3: ten ten
Let’s Read Hiragana!
Hiragana Websites
Hiragana Chart & Sounds
Hiragana Robot
Okochama Yochien
Hiragana Song
Genki Nihongo
Genki Kokugo
Hiragana Websites
Hiragana Games
Broken Hiragana
Hiragana Drag-n-Drop
Listen Words
Kana Invaders
H Card Match
H Typing Game
How do you read Hiragana?
So, now you wonder “How can I read the manga, written in
Hiragana?” Easy! Using the Hiragana chart, you’ll be able to
read anything in Hiragana today!
How does Hiragana chart work?
The following is the Hiragana chart. It enables you to read
ANY words in Hiragana, which is the most common
character set of the three.
W
R
Y
M
H
N
T
S
K
わ
ら
や
ま
は
な
た
さ
か
あ a
み
ひ
に
ち
し
き
い I
む
ふ
ぬ
つ
す
く
う
め
へ
ね
て
せ
け
え e
も
ほ
の
と
そ
こ
お o
り
ん
る
ゆ
れ
を
ろ
よ
u
You can find a Hiragana chart in your Textbook, Workbook
and also you can find it on the Internet. Hiragana chart is
your best friend when reading Japanese!
How does Hiragana chart work?
So, let’s get to know your Japanese best friend, Hiragana
chart. It has all the 46 Hiragana characters in it.
W
R
Y
M
H
N
T
S
K
わ
ら
や
ま
は
な
た
さ
か
あ a
み
ひ
に
ち
し
き
い I
む
ふ
ぬ
つ
す
く
う
め
へ
ね
て
せ
け
え e
も
ほ
の
と
そ
こ
お o
り
ん
る
ゆ
れ
を
ろ
よ
u
Hiragana chart also has English characters on the top and
right. All you need to do to read a Hiragana character is to
locate it in the chart, find what English characters are in the
row and column. Combine the one on the top (consonant)
and right (vowel).
How does Hiragana chart work?
Let’s try. You found an interesting
item at a super market and a Hiragana
word is written on it. The word is:
のり
Can you find the these two Hiragana characters in the chart?
W
R
Y
M
H
N
T
S
K
わ
ら
や
ま
は
な
た
さ
か
あ a
み
ひ
に
ち
し
き
い I
む
ふ
ぬ
つ
す
く
う
め
へ
ね
て
せ
け
え e
も
ほ
の
と
そ
こ
お o
り
ん
る
ゆ
れ
を
ろ
よ
The FIRST
Hiragana is
here.
の り
The SECOND
Hiragana is
here.
u
How does Hiragana chart work?
So, the word reads NORI,
which means “dried
seaweed”!
のり
Now, you are ready to read the
Hiragana word out.
Check the English characters on the top and right of those two Hiragana.
W
R
Y
M
H
N
T
S
K
わ
ら
や
ま
は
な
た
さ
か
あ a
み
ひ
に
ち
し
き
い I
む
ふ
ぬ
つ
す
く
う
め
へ
ね
て
せ
け
え e
も
ほ
の
と
そ
こ
お o
り
ん
る
ゆ
れ
を
ろ
よ
u
NORI
The FIRST Hiragana の aligns with N and O. So it reads NO.
The SECOND Hiragana り aligns with R and I. So it reads RI.
Tip 1: a i u e o
Before trying to read some more Hiragana words using
Hiragana chart, let’s grab some “Hiragana reading tips”.
The first tip is on “a i u e o”. These five on the right side of
the chart are called vowels.
a
“a” always reads “a” for “Wasabi”.
i
“i” always reads “i” for “Nintendo”.
u
“u” always reads “i” for “Sushi”.
e
“e” always reads “e” for “Sensei”.
o
“o” always reads “o” for “Toyota”.
Tip 2: shi, chi, tsu, fu, n
The second tip is on some individual Hiragana. The following
five don’t fit to the chart exactly.
し shi
This is under “si” in the chart but it’s actually “shi”.
ち chi
This is under “ti” in the chart but it’s actually “chi”.
つ tsu
This is under “tu” in the chart but it’s actually “tsu”.
ふ fu
This is under “hu” in the chart but it’s actually “fu”.
んn
This is sort of out of the chart. It’s “n” for “futon”.
(Except it’s not a “teeth-lip” sound but “round-lips” sound)
Tip 3: てんてん ten ten
The third tip is “ten ten”. A Hiragana character sometimes
has extra two dots called “ten ten”.
く ku → ぐ gu
て te → で de
This magical “ten ten” helps you to create more sounds. See
how the Hiragana sound changes with “ten ten”.
K+゛=G
e.g. かka + ゛ = がga
S+゛=Z
e.g. さsa + ゛ = ざza
T+゛=D
e.g. たta + ゛ = だda
H+゛=B
e.g. はba + ゛ = ばba
Quizzes
What helps you to read Japanese written in
Hiragana?
Hiragana chart
How do you pronounce the five vowels “a i u e
o” in Japanese?
Wasabi, Nintendo,
Sushi, Sensei, Toyota
You found this Hiragana, ゆ. How do you read
it out using the Hiragana chart?
ゆis aligned Y and U,
so it’s YU.
In the Hiragana chart, which five characters
don’t exactly fit the chart?
しshi, ちchi, つtsu,
ふfu, んn
Sometimes a Hiragana character gets two
dots (ten ten) with it. What happens?
“ten ten” changes the
Hiranaga reading.
e.g. K + ゛ = G
Let’s Read Hiragana!
By using a Hiragana chart, see if you can read (sound out)
the following Hiragana characters.
LEVEL 1
の
NO
そ
SO
く
KU
て
TE
ろ
RO
へ
HE
Let’s Read Hiragana!
LEVEL 2
い
i
み
MI
こ
KO
え
E
う
RO
よ
YO
Let’s Read Hiragana!
LEVEL 3
け
KE
か
KA
に
NI
た
TA
せ
SE
ま
MA
Let’s Read Hiragana!
LEVEL 4
は
HA
わ
WA
ほ
HO
ね
NE
れ
RE
ぬ
NU
Let’s Read Hiragana!
LEVEL 5
あ
A
ち
CHI
し
SHI
ふ
FU
つ
TSU
ん
N
Let’s Read Hiragana!
LEVEL 6
ぐ
GU
び
BI
ず
ZU
ご
GO
で
DE
ぞ
ZO
Let’s Read Hiragana!
Now, read the following WORDS and see if you can get their
MEANINGS.
すし
su
sushi
shi
からて
ka
ra
karate
te
せんせい
se
n
se
i
teacher
Let’s Read Hiragana!
Some more words to find their meanings!
つなみ
tsu
na
tsunami
mi
わさび
wa
sa
wasabi
bi
しいたけ
shi
i
ta
ke
にほんご
ni
ho
n
shitake
mushroom
go
Japanese