1. Reading and writing in Japanese
すごい!

2. The Japanese Writing System is divided into three types,
Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji.
Hiragana is used for native Japanese words.
Katakana is used for words borrowed from other languages.

3. Hiragana is used for native Japanese words.
ふとん
Hiragana is used for native Japanese words.

4. Katakana is used for words borrowed from other languages e.g.:
スコットランド
Katakana is used for words borrowed from other languages e.g.:
スコットランド
Sukottorando
Click on the picture to learn the meaning and practice the pronunciation!

5. 暑
Kanji are characters used to simplify a word so you don’t have to spell it all out. They are the same as Chinese characters. The characters mean the same thing but have different words.

6. Hiragana is the system students generally learn first.
ふとん
Hiragana is the system students generally learn first.

7. ふとん
Hiragana
スコットランド
Katakana 暑
Kanji

8. This is a hiragana chart which shows the 48 basic Hiragana characters or kana.

9. The Kana are organised in vertical groups – right to left.

10. The first group on the right hand side are the vowels. A I U E O

11. The next group are the K kana KA KI KU KE KO

12. This pattern continues through the groups with the S, T, N, H and M kana. The Y, R and W kana have fewer.

13. You can download and print off hiragana charts for free online
You can download and print off hiragana charts for free online. Click on the image below to go to a site with lots of examples!

14. You can track your learning using a hiragana chart and colouring in the kana as you learn them!

15. Search for Hiragana in the App store and you will find hundreds of free apps for practising recognising and writing the kana.

16. Designed to help you learn the kana.
There are lots of apps
Designed to help you learn the kana.
Many of them use mnemonics to help you remember the kana.
This means that learning to read in Japanese can be highly visual!

18. Let’s practise brain training to see if we can start reading in Japanese straight away!
こんにちは！ 
Hiragana kana camp!

19. KA

20. け KE

21. RA

22. MU

23. MU

24. SA

25. SHI

26. SU

27. TE

55. さもちい

56. すごい!

57. Now try the Hiragana learning packs to start learning more!
Wow! You can do it!
Now try the Hiragana learning packs to start learning more!