Hiragana ひらがな

So now we'll get to learn the first Kana, which is Hiragana.

This is a chart that you have to memorise, but I'll try to explain about it as much as possible.

We can divide Hiragana into four sections:

1. Gojuon 
2. Dokuon 
3. Handokuon 
4. Yoon 

Take your time with the Gojuon because it's the basic one and after you've memorised it, everything else will be quite easy to learn.

On the left-hand side of the table you'll find a column with English letters and that's basically the sound of each row it proceeds. So for the first row the sounds go (Ka, Ki, Ku, Ke, Ko) and so on.

In order to learn the syllabries, you should understand how to write them, so just grab and print Hiragana worksheets from Japanese-Lesson to make your life much easier. You should also visit Teach Yourself Japanese and listen to the way they're pronounced. You can also find an easy viual of the way to write them. On the bottom right-hand side you'll find some character under Sokuon which we will touch upon on another lesson, so just ignore it for now.

My Advice:

If you have a Daiso in your country try to buy some Hiragana cards. They would be very useful to memorise, plus you'll be learning some vocabulary to go with it. If you don't have a Japanese shop around you, then maybe ask your Japanese Embassy to tell you where you can get books (etc) in Japanese. They will surely help you. BUT, in the case that there aren't any, you can always print some online.