Before formally learning the gojūon (the Japanese syllabary), it’s helpful to understand the modern Japanese writing system. The modern Japanese writing system consists of the following components:
| Component | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Kanji | Chinese characters used to represent words and concepts. |
| Gojūon | Gojūon includes: Hiragana – A phonetic script used for native Japanese words, grammatical elements, and word endings. Katakana– A phonetic script used for foreign words, names, onomatopoeia, and technical terms. Extended Syllabary – An extension of the basic gojūon, including diacritical marks (e.g., dakuten) and combinations of sounds. |
| Romaji | The Latin alphabet used to represent Japanese words. It is mainly used for signs, advertisements, and typing Japanese on computers, and is rarely used in articles. In Japan, you often see Romaji marked below place names, station names, etc., which is very convenient for people who don’t know Japanese. |
Examples:
| Kanji | 私 | 金魚 | 車 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hiragana | わたし | きんぎょ | くるま |
| Katakana | ワタシ | キンギョ | クルマ |
| Romaji | watashi | kingyo | kuruma |
| Meaning | I | goldfish | car |
In order to help you learn step by step, the Gojūon course is divided into three parts:
Hiragana Course, Katakana Course, and Extended Syllabary Course.
After completing these three courses, you will be able to easily read all Hiragana and Katakana.
This course is the Hiragana Course, and it is the first step in learning Japanese.
Let’s get started! （You can click the button below to go directly to the next lesson.）
