Hiragana

Mem3e Japanese Lesson 1

Learning Japanese the bare bone basics!
Japanese is written in 3 alphabets; Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji.
Kanji is read through 2 ways:
Kun’Yomi – The native Japanese way
On’Yomi – The Chinese Derivative way

Japanese for us is going to be read in Romaji, the Romanization of the

Japanese characters, For example:
Thank you – Arigato Goziamasu – ありがとうございます
English - Romaji - Hiragana
Vowels: A I U E O : あいうえお

あ - A, as in “car”
い - I, as in “eel”
う - U, as in “You”
え - E, as in “Egg”
お - O, as in “oh”
KA, KI, KU, KE, KO : かきくけこ

か - Ka, as in “Can”
き - Ki, as in “Key”
く - Ku, as in “Cuckoo”
け - Ke, as in “Keg”
こ - Ko, as in “Contribution”
SA, SHI, SU, SE, SO, : さしすせそ

さ - Sa, as in “Sand”
し - Shi, as in “Shimmer”
す - Su, as in “Sue someone”
せ - Se, as in “Sexy”
そ - So, as in “Song”
TA, CHI, TSU, TE, TO : たちつてと

た - Ta, as in “Tap”
ち - Chi, as in “Chin”
つ - Tsu, as in “tSU”
て - Te, as in “Ten”
と - To, as in “Toe”
Na, Ni, Nu, Ne, No : なにぬねの

な - Na, as in “Nah”
に - Ni, as in “Needle”
ぬ - Nu, as in “Noodle”
ね - Ne, as in “Never”
の - No, as in “No”
Ha, Hi, Hu, He, Ho : はひふへほ

は - Ha, as in “Hang”
ひ - Hi, as in “His”
ふ - Hu, as in “Who”
へ - He, as in “Heh”
ほ - Ho, as in “Home”
Ma, Mi, Mu, Me, Mo : まみむめも

ま - Ma, as in “Magic”
み - Mi, as in “Me”
む - Mu, as in “Moo”
め - Me, as in “Meh”
も - Mo, as in “More”
Ra, Ri, Ru, Re, Ro : らりるれり

ら - Ra, as in “Rapper”
り - Ri, as in “Reeds”
る - Ru, as in “Route”
れ - Re, as in “Retching”
ろ - Ro, as in “Road”
Ya, Yu, Yo : やゆよ

や - Ya, as in “Yak”
ゆ - Yu, as in “You”
よ - Yo, as in “Yoh”
Wa, Wo, N : わをん

わ - Wa, as in “Water”
を - Wo, as in “oah” W silent
ん - N, as in “nnn”

Self-Introduction – Jiko Shōkai
Konnichiwa – Hello!
Hajimemashite – Nice to meet you!
Konbanwa – Good Evening!
Ohayou “gozaimasu” – Good Morning!
Hisashiburi desu – Long Time no see 3week
Watashi wa ____ desu – I am
Can be used for Name, Age, Job,
Country.
Or for Country you can use:
Kara kimashita - I came from
1-1 Down the list with our Guest ☺
Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu!
- Please be nice to me!
Use this at the end of your Jikoshōkai
Example:
Hajimemashite watashi wa Joshua
desu, igirisu kara kimashita,
Yoroshiku onegaishimasu.
はじめまして,わたしはJoshuaです。
イギリスからきなした。
よろしくおねがいします。
 Ka – If at the end of any
sentence it’s a question.

Starting Conversation Early Sukoshi – A little

Nihongo – Japanese(Language) Wakarimasu – I understand

Wakarimasen – I don’t understand
Eigo – English(Language)
Hanasemasu – I speak
Sumimasen – Excuse me Hanasemasen – I don’t Speak

Do you speak English? Eigo ga hanasemasu ka I understand a little Japanese -

Do you speak Japanese? Nihongo ga hanasemasu ka Nihongo ga sukoshi wakarimasu

Do you understand English? Eigo ga wakarimasu ka I speak a little Japanese –

Do you understand Japanese? Nihongo ga wakarimasu Nihongo ga sukoshi Hanasemasu
ka
Numbers
1 – ichi 100 – Hyaku
2 – ni 1,000 – Sen
3 – san 10,000 – Man
4 – shi or yon
5 – go
Common, Yen ¥
6 – roku
Yen – en - 円 – In reference to price
7 – shichi
100 円 – hyaku en
8 – hachi
9 – kyuu 1,000 円 – Sen’ en
10- jyuu 10,000 円 – ichi Man en
Days of the week:
月
曜日
January – ichigatsu
Monday – Getsuyobi
February – nigatsu
Tuesday – Kayobi March – sangatsu
Wednesday – Suiyobi April – shigatsu
Thursday – Mokuyobi May – gogatsu
June – rokugatsu
Friday – Kinyobi
July – shichigatsu
Saturday – Doyobi August – hachigatsu
Sunday – Nichiyobi September – kugatsu
October – juugatsu
November – juuichigatsu
December – juunigatsu
 Resources for your Hiragana
• https://kana-quiz.tofugu.com Get 100% 46/46 on this
Dakuten and Combination
w will be in future lessons