Wired Kana: Lesson 1

Wired Kana is a series of lessons that will cover the basic Japanese alphabets, Hiragana and Katakana. Wired Kana: Lesson 1 starts with the 5 basic Japanese vowels; あ, い, う, え, お. These characters are the foundation for every other character in the series and vital for learning how to pronounce Japanese words.

To begin learning the Japanese characters, start by watching this instructional video.

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Below is an example of each character, audio of its pronunciation, and a helpful way to remember it. Additionally, there's a chart showing each characters stroke order; showing how it looks when written.





How to remember:
The hiragana character あ looks like an apple.
The katakana character ア looks like an ice cream cone.

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How to remember:
The hiragana character い looks like two eels.
The katakana character イ looks like an easel.

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How to remember:
The hiragana character う looks like a sideways 'U'.
The katakana character ウ looks like the wick of a candle.

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How to remember:
The hiragana character え looks like a person exercising.
The katakana character エ looks like an egg stand.

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How to remember:
The hiragana character お looks like a surprised face.
The hiragana character オ looks like an old man with a long beard.

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Listen to all the characters you learned in lesson 1.



Example audio and handwriting provided by Yuka Nishino.

Wired Kana - Blank Japanese Practice Sheets

Download the
Blank Japanese practice sheets (49kb pdf)

A great way to test your ability to recall Hiragana and Katakana from memory, is to try writing the characters without any images for reference. If you're able to completely write the alphabets by hand, you'll be able to read them when you come across Hiragana or Katakana in Japanese writing.

Try using this blank Japanese practice sheet to test your memory. It's best to write out all of characters in order and when you come to a character that you can't remember, skip it and move on to the next one. When you finish the entire alphabet, you can see which characters you systematically forget.

It has been a long time since I've needed to practice Hiragana and Katakana. I've done so many of these sheets that there is no way I'll ever forget these characters. To read about my earlier experiences while learning Hiragana and Katakana, take a look at this old post: Think you know your Kana?



Download the
Blank Japanese practice sheets (49kb pdf)

If your not at this level yet, be sure to use these Hiragana and Katakana practice sheets. Or, if you think Kana are too basic, try Wired Kanji lesson 1.

Wired Kana - Hiragana and Katakana Practice Sheets

Learning Hiragana and Katakana, the Japanese alphabets, really helped me while navigating Japan and now that I'm trying to learn to read Japanese, they're helping me to understand Kanji. The sooner I was able to stop using romaji, and switch to writing Japanese in Hiragana and Katakana, the more Japanese I was able to understand and read.

To practice Hiragana and Katakana, my Japanese tutor, Rio Sensei, suggested I use practice sheets and write the characters over and over again. After all that practice, there's no way I'll ever forget a character.

Download:
Hiragana and Katakana Practice Sheets
(300kb PDF)

Or get them on the Wired in Japan Flickr.

The handwriting was generously drafted by a native hand, good friend and graphic designer, Yuka Nishino.