How to learn hiragana and katakana

What are hiragana and katakana?

Japanese uses three scripts together. Hiragana and katakana are the two kana scripts: each character stands for a sound, like か (ka) or カ (ka). Kanji are characters borrowed from Chinese that carry meaning.

Both kana scripts have the same 46 basic sounds. Hiragana is used for grammar, small words and reading guides above kanji. Katakana is mostly used for words from other languages, like テレビ (terebi, TV), and for names and emphasis. You need both before kanji makes sense, which is why every Japanese course starts here.

Which to learn first

Start with hiragana. It appears in almost every sentence, and once you know it, katakana is mostly a matter of learning new shapes for sounds you already know. Many learners pick up katakana in about half the time.

A simple plan

1. Learn one row at a time. Go in chart order: a, ka, sa, ta, na, ha, ma, ya, ra, wa. A row of five is small enough to remember in one sitting.
2. Write every new kana by hand. Writing uses different memory than recognising, and learning the correct stroke order early makes your handwriting readable and helps you tell similar characters apart.
3. Review before adding more. Start each session by quizzing yesterday's rows, then add one new row.
4. Read real words early. Even with two rows you can read あか (aka, red) and いえ (ie, house). Words stick better than single characters.
5. Keep it daily and short. Fifteen minutes every day beats two hours once a week. At that pace most learners can read all of hiragana in one to two weeks.

Kana that look alike

A few pairs cause most mistakes. Here's how to tell them apart.

シ (shi) and ツ (tsu)

In シ the two short strokes sit on the left and point more sideways, and the long stroke sweeps up from the bottom. In ツ the short strokes stand along the top, and the long stroke sweeps down from the top right.

ソ (so) and ン (n)

Same idea: ソ has a more upright first stroke and a long stroke that falls from the top. ン has a flatter first stroke and a long stroke that rises from the bottom.

ぬ (nu) and め (me)

Almost identical, except ぬ finishes with a small loop and め doesn't.

わ (wa), ね (ne) and れ (re)

All three share the same left stroke. わ ends in a smooth curve, ね ends with a loop, and れ ends with a kick outward.

は (ha) and ほ (ho)

ほ has an extra horizontal line across the top of the right side.

さ (sa) and ち (chi)

They look like mirror images. In さ the curve at the bottom opens to the right; in ち it bulges to the right like a backwards c.

Small marks that change the sound

Dakuten ゛ (two small ticks) makes a sound voiced: か ka becomes が ga. Handakuten ゜ (a small circle) only appears on the h-row: は ha becomes ぱ pa.

Small ゃ ゅ ょ after an i-sound kana blend into one syllable: き + ゃ = きゃ (kya). A small っ doubles the next consonant: きって (kitte, stamp). In katakana, a dash ー makes a vowel long: ケーキ (kēki, cake).

Keep going

Once you can read both scripts, start reading simple words, song lyrics or children's books written in kana. Everything after that, including kanji, builds on this foundation.

Charts for reference: hiragana chart · katakana chart.