こんにちにゃあ～！Welcome to Kiki+Koko: Let’s NihonGO!! Online, bringing you Japanese lessons at the tap of a screen, click of a mouse, or the riding of your bicycle to your local library’s computer lab! Thank you for learning with us!

If you’ve been learning with us あ through そ, then you know how to read (and probably write) 15 hiragana! We think that congratulations are in order—as after this, you’ll be nearly halfway through hiragana! Think of that.. a huge milestone in Japanese language learning, and you’re nearly halfway through 五十音順, gojuuon jun! —If you’re new here or you’ve forgotten gojuuon’s meaning, feel free to click the link and we’ll tell you about it!— Learning to read these will assist you immensely in your Japanese pronunciation. You’ll be able to read words like:

たつ
ちたつ
つち
てつ
とち

And, if you remember the previous hiragana, you’ll be able to read words like:

あつい
いち
ちかい
ちたい
ついたち

☆Click here for the romanised answer key (and kanji)

And, if you don’t recognise them, even by the end, no worries! You can go over them as many times as you like for as long as you like! We’re just here to give you the tools you need to succeed☆彡

Now, today, we’re going to equip you with the knowledge of how to read the next five hiragana in the gojuuon order. If you’re not sure what hiragana is, then be sure to take a look at this article to see how the Japanese writing system works. 

どうも！QUIZBO™でございます！日本語を学びましょう！ Let’s NihonGO!!

But, without further ado, we’ll need to enlist the help of our computer friend, QUIZBO™くん！(The ™ is silent) This is a portable version, QUIZBO™ Mini, who lives here on the site. He’ll be here to help sound out these hiragana for you. You can click the sound ‘bytes’ as many times as you’d like, QUIZBO™ won’t mind. ( Get it, bytes? … Computer?  …We’ll stick to teaching Japanese. ) Afterwards, you’ll be able to take a quiz with QUIZBO™ to help you review them or test your knowledge! Are you ready!?

Let’s NihonGO!! たちつてと!!

We’re going to show you the character, then you you can click the play button to hear QUIZBO™ sound it out for you. But, as a better visualisation of each sound, we also have the romanised pronunciation of each character so you have something in English to which you can compare it.

In romaji, 「た」 is transliterated as「ta」which sounds like 「tahh」like saying「tar」in Received Pronunciation English without the schwa.

In romaji, 「ち」 is transliterated as 「chi」which sounds like the 「chee」in cheese or simply, the 「chi」in tai chi.

In romaji, 「つ」 is transliterated as 「tsu」or 「tu」but we’ll stick to「tsu」 which can sometimes be difficult for people on the first try. Some people understand it best as the 「ts」in cats with an う.

Here’s another trick to learning how to say 「tsu」: Say ‘Eight Suits’ three times.
Eight Suits, Eight Suits, Eight Suits.

Notice where eight meets suits. 「EighT SUits」That TSU is close to the sound you’re after.
BUT, that’s why some romanise 「つ」as 「tu」as depending on where in Japan you’re from, it can sound a lot like the English word 「too」and if you use this pronunciation in words, it just seems to flow better for a lot of those learning Japanese.

We hope this explanation helps!! Feel free to leave a comment to ask if you’re still not quite sure.

In romaji, 「て」 is transliterated as 「te」which sounds like 「tay」or the first part of the English word take.

In romaji, 「と」 is transliterated as 「to」which sounds like 「toh」or the English word「tow」

Ta-daa! And that’s how you read: たちつてと! If you study these, and repeat them aloud, and revise, we’re sure you’ll be able to read and recognise たちつてと in no time! Or, take all the time you need, the journey is yours for the travelling. If you need to go back and re-revise the previous ones, then go ahead! There’s no rush and no limit to how many times you can look through these. However many it takes for you to remember and however you’d like to continue your journey!

Read, Write, and Revise with Kiki+Koko: Let’s NihonGO!!:
                 

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

♡Kiki+Koko