Understanding Hiragana
Note that there are some additional variations, such as ka changing to ga. These can be seen in the two boxes on the chart below. The basic code is:
For ''
K -----> G
S -----> Z
T -----> D
H -----> B
For 。
H -----> P
One way to remember this code is:
King George Saw Zoos That Did Have Big Happy Pigs.
For ''
K -----> G
S -----> Z
T -----> D
H -----> B
For 。
H -----> P
One way to remember this code is:
King George Saw Zoos That Did Have Big Happy Pigs.
There are three scripts in Japanese of which Hiragana is the most common (Katakana and Kanji are the other two). Like the English alphabet, words can be written in Japanese once this chart is understood. Unlike the English alphabet, it is much easier because in most cases one Japanese character equals two English letters. Count the syllables. So for example 'SASHIMI' is made up of three characters in Japanese: SA, SHI, and MI. KIMONO is also made up of three characters: KI, MO and NO. SUSHI has two (SU & SHI). Vowels have their own character as does N.
How to read the chart:
1. Read the chart from right to left and from top to bottom. Students are introduced to vowels a, i, u, e, o first in that order. Ka, ki, ku, ke, ko are next.
2. Pronunciation is very reliable in Japanese and once learnt rarely changes (unlike in English. Think of the many pronunciations for 'ough', such as in the words tough, though, thorough, ought, through! Difficult!) To help listen to the Hiragana song again.
1. Read the chart from right to left and from top to bottom. Students are introduced to vowels a, i, u, e, o first in that order. Ka, ki, ku, ke, ko are next.
2. Pronunciation is very reliable in Japanese and once learnt rarely changes (unlike in English. Think of the many pronunciations for 'ough', such as in the words tough, though, thorough, ought, through! Difficult!) To help listen to the Hiragana song again.
3. The small green circles with numbers show the stroke order. Number 1 is the first line, number 2 the second and so on. We have this in English too, such as how to write the letter 'A'. The circles also show you where to start the line. Stroke order is advanced work and we generally don't stress on this in the lower years so not too much attention needs to be focussed here.
4. When there is a blank space in the chart it means that there is no sound in Japanese, such as in the 'Y' and 'W' columns. Note that Japanese therefore does not have some of the sounds that we have in English. A well known example is the letter 'L'.
4. When there is a blank space in the chart it means that there is no sound in Japanese, such as in the 'Y' and 'W' columns. Note that Japanese therefore does not have some of the sounds that we have in English. A well known example is the letter 'L'.
Hiragana workbook
We will be using this kind of book in class with Years 4 and 5 from this term onwards. Thanks to ongsensei@wps for sharing.
hiragana_writing_practice_booklet.pdf | |
File Size: | 322 kb |
File Type: |
How to write Hiragana correctly
Watch this powerpoint to see the correct stroke order for each hiragana character. Just like with the English alphabet, writing the characters correctly is important, so why not learn it from the start. Thanks to M. Wongpoon for sharing.
hiragana_animations_ppt.ppt | |
File Size: | 3715 kb |
File Type: | ppt |
A helpful video... |
...and a catchy tune. |
Hiragana practice using Quizlet
Again a big thanks to ongsensei for sharing.
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