こんにちにゃあ！Welcome to Kiki+Koko: Let’s NihonGO!! Online, the Blog, in living colour! We’re your hosts, Kiki and Koko! Today, we’re going to learn how to write our favourite characters, 【あいうえお】！Well, actually our favourite hiragana are ゑ and ゐ, but that won’t be for a few more lessons. If this is your first delve into learning Japanese language and writing, then we’re very honoured that you’ve chosen us to be your guides. We’ll do our best to guide you on whatever path you choose!

If this is your very first time with Japanese language, and maybe all you know is that you want to learn Japanese, then maybe you’re asking yourself, what’s a hiragana or what are these squiggles I’m looking at?. If so, we recommend you take a quick read of How Do You Write in Japanese? | Japanese Writing System Demystified (Let’s NihonGO!!) and just come back to this later when you have a good grasp on how this whole thing called Japanese writing works. If you’re not sure what stroke order is or why it’s important, you can take a look at our article:🤔Do I REALLY need to learn Stroke Order? | 6 Reasons Why {or Why not?} | What is Stroke Order? (Let’s NihonGO!!)

頑張りましょう！Let’s do our best!

Now that you’ve become acquainted with the basics, we can introduce you to our helpful computer friend, QUIZBO™, here to show you how each hiragana character is written using the latest and most advanced technology we have available to us: arrows.

But, honestly, it gives you a chance to go at your own pace with these! Don’t worry, we’ll give you tips on some of these if there’s anything else you need to know.

How to use stroke order

Before we properly begin, we figured it would be best to give you a quick overview on how to read these diagrams. For each character, there’s mostly 3-4 strokes that are written in a specific order. Each number signifies which stroke should come first. Start where the circled number begins and write the stroke in the direction in which the arrow is pointing. If you want to see what each step looks like and what yours should look like at that stage, then take a look at the squares on the right. They squares are ordered up to down and right to left in Japanese order. And, that’s the whole of it!

Take out your pencils and paper, your tablets and styli, Let’s write hiragana! 

Let’s NihonGO!!

ProTip: This doesn’t always have a trail-end to it in handwriting, but the reason why it’s there is because of the quick motion from the first line to the second line.

Protip: Sometimes, you’ll see う with a trailing edge or an extra serif on the first stroke from the fast motion from the first to second stroke. 

Protip: Just like う, sometimes, you’ll see  with a trailing edge or an extra serif on the first stroke from the fast motion from the first to second stroke. 

And there we are! That’s how you write: あいうえお! Obviously, you’re most likely not going to have these memorised in one sitting, but if you come back every day and practise these, you’ll have them memorised in no time! It’s all about repetition. You’d be surprised how writing something can help you memorise character readings as well. And, you should be proud! You’re already writing in Japanese. Well done, you!

Maybe you’re not sure if learning just these five characters is meaningful– But, you’d be wrong, friend! When you can sound out these five hiragana, you’ll be able to say/read about 45 words! Of course, there’s kanji, but you’ll be able to expand your vocabulary, and it’ll make things so much easier to learn how to pronounce things in Japanese. Feel free to take a look at these– watch the video on how to write あいうえお and you can use these words to practise writing! Combining reading, writing, and learning vocabulary can not only be helpful, but very motivating.

Helpful Kiki+Koko: Let’s NihonGO!! References:
              

We hope this was/will be helpful for you on your Japanese learning journey!
Until next time, thank you for visiting! And have a lovely day!