READING, WRITING, AND MEMORIZING HIRAGANA

I have a memory like an elephant. In fact, elephants often consult me - Noel Coward

The brain is a funny thing. This is the first chapter that really takes advantage of your head organ. It’s time to start memorizing, starting with Hiragana.

Now that we understand how the pronunciation of hiragana works (and the 90% of the pronunciation of the Japanese language, too!), let’s take a look at actually reading and writing the stuff. Fortunately I’ll provide plenty of resources for you to learn to read and write really well. I’m still a bit concerned about your pronunciation, though, so as you’re going through be sure you’re extra careful about doing things correctly.

As mentioned earlier, hiragana (for the most part) consists of a consonant plus a vowel. Think about the Japanese words you already know, and take a look at your hiragana chart.

Sushi: The word “sushi” consists of two kana: SU + SHI. Take a look at your hiragana chart and find the kana for “su” and “shi.” What are they? Write them down. You should end up with すし. This is how you would phonetically write the word “sushi.” Of course, this word also has a kanji associated with it (we’ll learn more about kanji in the coming chapters), which is written as 寿司, but even if you write it only in hiragana, it is still understandable.

Sake: The word “sake” also consists of two kana: SA + KE. Take a look at your hiragana chart, and find these two kana, then write them down. How have you pronounced “sake” up until now? Most English speakers say “saki” – but now you know, and knowing is half the battle.

Starting to get a sense about how hiragana works? It’s actually really really simple - much easier than trying to put together words in English. Take a look at the “Hiragana Reading and Writing Practice” worksheet down below to practice this more.

LEARNING TO WRITE

Now that you understand how hiragana “technically” works, let’s start writing hiragana, since that really is the best way to learn how to read it. We’re going to use a smart.fm flashcard list to learn hiragana, but instead of only using Smart.fm we’ll be adding a bit extra so that it includes the “writing” part. Smart.fm is a great application for flashcard learning, and will actually keep track of what you know and don’t know (and help you learn the things you still don’t know). It’s a lot fancier than using pencil and paper, and has a lot of good brain-science backing it up. We’ll be using Smart.fm a lot in TextFugu, because there’s nothing out there that really comes close.

There is a hiragana list on Smart.fm that we’ll be using for this chapter. As you go through the list (you’ll understand more once you start), I want you to do these things:

  • As you go through the list, every time you get something right (or wrong), I want you to write the kana down. As soon as this happens, look away from the computer and try to write the kana (without looking!). If you really can’t get it, you can take a peek at your hiragana chart. The most important thing is that you push yourself to write the letter (kana) without looking at anything, otherwise the neurons won’t grow new connectors and you won’t progress as quickly.
  • One of the cool things about smart.fm is that it will tell you when you’ve learned something (whew). If you practice writing the kana every time you get a chance, you should be able to write all of them by the time you know how to read all of them too. They go hand in hand.
  • When you’re feeling burnt out on the flashcards, go through one of the worksheets or other websites (below). No point continuing the same thing over and over if your mind is shot. Switch to something else and then come back to Smart.fm when you can.
  • Each flash card has audio associated with it. Play this audio every chance you get and repeat after it (out loud!). Do this three times per card before moving on. Say it loudly, say it softly. By changing the volume at which you say something you are going to create a more solid memory of the individual kana. Weird, I know, but it works! Yell it if you have to. あああああああああ！
  • Make sure you get an account over at smart.fm – we’ll be using their flashcard system a lot, so it’s best if you get an account now.


Other Hiragana Resources

Besides Smart.fm, there are other resources for learning hiragana out there that will help you on your way. Use them when you’re feeling burnt out on Smart.fm to create some variety.

As you are going through the various hiragana learning systems, make sure that as you’re writing, you’re using the correct stroke order (see your hiragana chart, or individual Smart.fm slides for this information), and writing neatly. People are sometimes judged on their handwriting in Japan, and when you learn how to write in the correct stroke order, you’re setting yourself up with good habits for when you learn kanji later on. Very important, otherwise kanji will give you a lot of trouble down the road.

Hiragana Writing Tips

  • Try to write the hiragana big while you’re practicing (approximately one inch by one inch). If you can learn to write in large letters nicely, your kana will look even better small. A lot of people try to get out of writing neatly by only writing tiny to try and hide their mistakes. Take the high road, friend.
  • Write with proper stroke order to get yourself ready for kanji, where stroke order gets even more important.
  • Practice makes perfect! Take hiragana and convert it to romaji, then convert it back to hiragana again without looking at the original. Using flashcards or repeatedly writing the same hiragana over and over is good and all, but writing out sentences (even if you don’t know what it means) is even better. Try not to look!


How Long Will This Take?

“Don’t count every hour in the day, make every hour in the day count”

To study hiragana and feel comfortable, I estimate it will take you about one week to complete if you work hard and study every day. When you’re feeling tired, of hiragana, and want to take a look at something else, feel free to skip ahead to “How TextFugu Does Kanji” and “Japanese Grammar with Yoda,” but make sure you feel comfortable with hiragana before you move past that point. My recommendation is to practice hiragana in no more than thirty minute increments to keep from burning out. Use a stop watch to time yourself and stop when the timer goes off to create a sense of urgency. Make sure you are strict with yourself, otherwise the timer will have no meaning.

So, get to work! Only a couple more lessons will be written in both romaji and hiragana from here on out, so it’ll make things difficult if you don’t learn hiragana right out of the gate! Good luck, this is probably the hardest lesson you’ll go through. Wasn’t so bad, right?

The Importance of Scheduling

“How does a project get to be a year behind schedule? One day at a time.” - Fred Brooks

calendar

Especially when it comes to something that takes so much consistency of practice as in Japanese, creating a schedule for yourself can be very important. I recommend Google calendar, but any number of other calendaring systems will work just as well. With self-study, it’s very important to be strict with yourself. This is partly why I had you create your own “Japanese Studying Happy Place” in an earlier chapter. Think about it this way – if you decide to practice a sport, let’s say baseball, you have to go to a physical location and follow a specific schedule. When someone says “hey, do you want to hang out at 5pm today?” you might respond with “Sorry, I have baseball practice.” It’s important to do the same thing with your Japanese studies. Although it’s okay to study outside of your specified study time, if (and you should) you do create study periods for Japanese practice, it’s very important you don’t let other things bump them. When it comes to almost anything else, you wouldn’t just skip it, right? Take it seriously, create a schedule, and stick with it. I’d recommend trying to set up two 30-45 minute sessions every day. Once it’s in your calendar, you’re not allowed to change it unless there’s some kind of emergency or very good reason to do it! If this seems like a lot of time, don’t worry – future lessons will be covering (quite amazing) time saving tips to give you all the time in the world.

Extra Content:

Before You Continue:

  • Create a smart.fm account
  • Start learning hiragana. I’d recommend learning to read / write hiragana before moving on, though there are still a couple of chapters left before it’s completely necessary. Your call.
  • Create a “Japanese studying Schedule” and make it strict. Tell others around you that you’ll be on this schedule and shouldn’t be interrupted.

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