For Absolute Beginners | Japanese Reading

Before we get you started learning to read, we have a couple of articles that may assist you in your studies! Maybe you think you can make it in Japanese with just romanised words, or words without Japanese or simplified Chinese characters. Romanisation has a time and place, though, so it’s something to learn along the way, just not something to completely depend on. But, we’re here for people of all levels and needs. It’s okay if you just want to dabble in Japanese language, but we’re also here to assist you if you’re serious about becoming fluent~!

First Step Lessons:

50音順 |平仮名  ||  Gojuuon-Jun | Hiragana

What’s this?

Learn how to read the first 48 hiragana with us, Kiki+Koko, and our robot computer friend, QUIZBO™, (The ™ is silent) However, he is a portable version, QUIZBO™ Mini, who lives here on the site. He’ll be there 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!

Quizzes:

50音順 |平仮名  ||  Gojuuon-Jun | Hiragana

After completing the lessons and reviewing / revising, you can take a moment to test your knowledge. Do you know each hiragana character? Prove your skills! Or, use this as an opportunity to test yourself which is a great way to study. And, if you don’t get them all correct the first tries, no worries, we’re anywhere you want us to be, 25 hours a day, 8 days a week. We’re so serious about helping you learn Japanese language and culture that we even break the laws of space and time.

Lessons:

濁点+半濁点 |平仮名  || Dakuten + Handakuten | Hiragana

It’s important that you feel confident with the first set of characters, because we’re about to shake things up. In this set of lessons, we teach you the modified versions of some of those first平仮名五十音, hiragana gojuuon, called: 濁点, dakuten. Not sure what any of this means? Well, no worries! That’s why we’re here! We explain in the first lesson entitled 「🔊 Let’s Read!! w/ QUIZBO™ 【がぎぐげご】| 濁点とは？| What is Dakuten?」where we start you off with the knowledge you need to understand what’s next on your journey.

After successfully reaching Lesson 14, you’ll want to become well acquainted with differentiating the 濁点, dakuten, from the set of 半濁点、handakuten. But, don’t get ahead of yourself, as we’ll tell you more about the second character-modification in due time. And, by ‘due time’, we mean in Lesson１５, otherwise known as:「Let’s Read!! w/ QUIZBO™ 【ぱぴぷぺぽ】| 半濁点とは？| What is Handakuten?」Be sure to see what works for you when studying these, as this can be an important crux in sussing out how to differentiate future more complex characters.

Quizzes:

濁点+半濁点 |平仮名  || Dakuten + Handakuten | Hiragana

You’ve read the lessons, you’ve practised the characters, but how can you be sure you’ve mastered them? Well, just take a bit of time with our handy-dandy quizzes! But, don’t feel badly if you don’t do well on your first go of it, though. You can use these quizzes as useful studying tools to either assist you in revising or to see the characters with which you struggle most, so you won’t waste your time focusing on what you already know, and no character will be left to the wayside.

つづく・・・ || To Be Continued…