ULTIMATE JAPANESE ALPHABET GUIDE | Learn Hiragana
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.พ. 2025
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Thank you so much for watching! I've been wanting to make this video for a while and hope it's useful to you when learning hiragana. This video is a little on the academically hefty side so be sure to take your time and be patient with yourself!
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#reinascully #japan #learnjapanese
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I have a cousin she's gonna teach me Japanese And exchange are we teaching her Spanish She teach me proper Japanese now teacher proper Spanish
I came here after getting Rosetta stone thinking learning the alphabet would help..
I'm literally overwhelmed with excitement you just made the shit so easy for me LIKE I ACTUALLY FUCKING GET IT NOW
Good morning is a state is the USA 😭😭😭🤣
I'm a brand new subscriber watching from London UK.
I can't believe in one video you literally just covered my entire Japanese I course in high school
Pft hahahhaha
We only have Spanish and Asl at my school YOURE lucky
asl is cool
We only have spanish french and german 😢
We have Spanish French and Latin at my school. I wish I could take Japanese. That’s cool that u have it.
To anyone who feels overwhelmed looking at hiragana, I had them memorized in 8 hours. I could comfortably read any kana in 2 weeks. You just have to stick to it.
This^
You'll get used to it faster than you think
i dont understand when someone says hiragana is too hard. When i say its easy i dont mean i looked over them once and memorized them instantly but just Spaced repetition over a day then you can practice reading from there. Same with Katakana.
If you watch the Harigana alphabet in a children's nursery rhyms its catching and I listened to it for like an hour while searching up words and now I memorized the whole entire thing ;-;
Thank you. I’ve only memorized the first 5. A I E U O. But that’s kinda my fault cause I stopped when I got passed those so now I have to circle back. This gave me some confidence in myself. Hopefully I will stick to it.
if you're learning kana, stick with me when I say : use mnemonics to memorize them. japanesepod101 youtube channel has a full, detailed guide on learning kana that uses mnemonics. it speeds up the process and makes it stick.
There's a game I have called "Learn Japanese To Survive! Hiragana Battle". It's an full-blown RPG that also teaches you hiragana.
Okay I searched it up and I’m going to buy it now. THANK YOU
I have the full series lol I need to play it more
On what?
@@Krosis-dn3gs I have it on Steam.
Oh sweet is it free?
Why’s she so pretty, like wtf.🧍♀️
I KNOW RIGHT?!?
learning Japanese really opened up a whole different side of TH-cam, I love it
Sooo..........whens the full course coming out Reina, I'd sign up in seconds
bump
It's like learning how to read again.. but at age 23..
Hey, Im much older than you, but learning it starting this week. We can do this! Plus, as people age, we gotta learn to use our brain to keep it working, you know what I mean? Learning is never limited by the age, "we learn till we die".. there is a really saying like this.
@@lovecook6382 hey im 15 and just now starting this. Hows your progress going?
@@mrshrky6443 how bout u?
@@estheraleman6043 Well I'm 16 now, and can read like full hiragana and katana paragraphs and a few kanji (about 50 or so), but I have hit a road bump because the tutor I was using the help learn kanji got a bit expensive so I have to wait to get a job to pay him and continue my lessons. Its been fun though and I really cant wait to continue.
@@mrshrky6443 How’d you learn hiragana and katakana? With a tutor?
This is sooo similar to arabic letters
I was so surprised when you sarted saying them
I thought I was the only one who saw that! Like the Dakuten are similar to fatah, dummah, and kusrah. and the tsu is kinda like shadah. 😁
One of the biggest helps for me when learning hiragana was practicing writing them as I learned them. Internalizing the stroke order as a part of learning new symbols helps a lot with remembering them, because there's a physical association that you don't get just looking at them on flash cards - and it also prepares you for that same kind of memorization practice with kanji.
in one year im gonna be in highschool and have to learn spanish cause my family speaks spanish but i really want to learn Japanese but cant so this is really helpful for me
Do they offer japanese at the highschool that you will go?.. probably not. So you can learn it online. It's extremely important for your own identity to learn spanish. It's you, it's in your blood. Own it. Be proud of where your parents come from! It's your lineage. without that we become people without identity. So then the USA politians can take advantage, like it's happening now- ....and you can belive me when i type this, 'When you become an adult, You will be very happy that you learned spanish' ... VIVA LA RAZA//////
My Japanese journey is in the eternal stage of learning hiragana.
I feel this on a spiritual level
Kanji is currently kicking my ass
no because i felt that
Not to overwhelmed you even more but, kanji is like the final boss or so for Japanese
Underrated comment for sure...
I took a "Learn Japanese" class in high school and it was so fun, my Sensei was just the sweetest woman ever
Brings back memories when I was first learning English when I was little, It's like I'm back at that time again but learning something new. I'm so excited to watch your videos and learn how to speak Japanese.
As someone that only knows English this video in just one view broke down so many things in an easy way to understand. i'll be watching this multiple times and checking out more videos from you as I begin to study! Thank you for such an amazing breakdown!
Wahhh! She's very good at teaching, she explains very good. She's very beautiful too HAHAHAHA
you have such a gift for explaining things, this made more sense to me than most other videos I've ever watched! (obvs not dissing the other vids) thanks Reina
Funnily enough katakana looks more like print script while hiragana flows more like cursive or italics, but I love the description
Just because you're a native speaker, it doesn't mean you're a good teacher. That being said, Reina, awesome lecture!!! All of my Japanese is self taught through online learning and I'm glad to hear that I'm learning correctly. Thank you for clearing up some confusion with the sutegana! Anyone else who feels confused, just push through it! It'll click eventually and you'll be amazed!
Do you teach Japanese? You have a natural gift to teach a language. I appreciate it.
this video is literally so amazing. so condense and precise and exactly the no bs video I needed.
Well, I started learning Japanese by learning ひらがな in a very detailed way, like I've learned each consonant (K,S,T,N,H,M,Y,R, W and ん) I also learned words that we write with Hiragana like あお; こえ; あか; いのちち; ゆうれい ; ざっし; やま ゆめ よいかい うえ おく おさけ ねこ なつ まほう みみ ろうそく がんばろう やたし and many others😅
And I completely love your videos there's everything on it. 🥺❤️ ありがとうございます
When I first started learning Japanese by myself, I was 10 years old, and it was 1998. The only resources I had were a Japanese dictionary and a thin book showing the stroke order of each kana character. For what I would estimate now to be about 3 or 4 months or so, I carried that second book and a few sheets of loose leaf paper around with me everywhere, and whenever I had some spare time, I would just copy one character over and over and over like a kindergartner. I think that's what gave me such a strong understanding of kana.
@MG - 04GJ 875648 Queen Street PS No, not at all fluent XD
I guess you weren't immersed in japanese. Because that was time I learnt English and started learning French.
But, I failed since I didn't have French around me.
I’m procrastinating my Korean work by starting to learn Japanese basics and you posted at the exact right time 😅
Haha same! I figured it'd be good to learn both so when I have burn out from one I just move to the other lolol
bro same lmao
same here actually ,,, i got to the whole "learn how to form sentences" thing and was like "huh. japanese lookin kinda fun right now"
ik that 69 isn’t funny anymore but i thought i’d just add that in the 69th like. (laughs in wanting to annoy people who dislike that meme.)
My gosh, you are the best instructor ever. I mean for me. I'm autistic with A.D.D. which means it is so hard for me to focus, but with you I seem to focus much better. Thank you!
this is very good teaching, like it should be in school good.
This means a lot! Thank you so much!!!
Agreed. There should be no 日本語 student that goes without seeing this video!
@@dealerofdeth im learning japanese and I am a school student so fate is on your side
One thing I thought was very interesting when I learned japanese is that the teacher explained why the は is pronounced wa is that when は is used as a particle, it is pronounced that way. For example, こんにちは is simply a shortened part of a longer sentence(don't have it memorized), and thus the は is a particle in a sentence. It offers a better understanding than 'it just is'.
Thank you for the most clear & concise explanation of hiragana I’ve found!
As soon as I took up Japanese classes this video came out how lucky !!
I started learning japanese like a week ago, busuu does an amazing job at teaching hiragana so far
I started years ago and still have my note somewhere. This was a nice refresher to confirm I still know what's up.
I've been learning Japanese for a few months. This is great timing 😀
That's awesome to hear!!! I hope this helps!!!
@@reinascully I hope so too :)
Extremely helpful. Thanks Reina!
I'm coming back to this video when I fully learn Japanese I'm also Dyslexic so it will take me long
This was extremely helpful! I saved it under favorites, cuz I plan on re-watching the heck out of it.
It's a lot of information, but you did the best job I've seen thus far in explaining things. Thanks Reina!
This might be one of the best videos I have ever seen on TH-cam. I have been off and on working to learn Japanese and has started to learn hiragana but wanted the backstory of the grid and why I saw some patterns and then those patterns would break. Thank you so much!
This was super helpful, thank you!! I’ve been studying Japanese since the pandemic began and started with some writing workbooks to become familiar with hiragana and katakana and then have combined those with the Duolingo and Mirai Japanese apps. Some of your explanations have answered a few of my questions! Thank you again!
Don't usually like TH-cam videos but I've noticed gaps in my hiragana knowledge and I think this will really help me
Thank you for this video! I did Japanese evening classes last year here in London but your explanation is so much clearer and makes more sense than my teacher's ☺️.
Really nice video. I learnt hiragana with flashcards, my course required me to know hiragana and katakana before I started so I’d just memorise a few each day and I constantly practiced with the flashcards.
I've been learning hiragana for a little while now, and I know all of the characters but none of these dakuten etc were explained fully, so this was extremely helpful to wrap my head around it
You singing the kana was so soothing. I wish I had this vid when I was first learning Japanese
I managed to teach myself most of the hirigana a year ago using apps, but stopped when I had the opportunity to take chinese lessons and decided learning both at once would be too confusing. But I don't want to forget the hirigana that I already learned since I do hope to pick japanese back up again in the future. This was a great refresher, and also explained the system in a way that was really concise and easy to understand for beginners, yet in depth at the same time. I really wish I had this video a year ago 😅.
ive been trying to learn Japanese sense the beginning of quarantine and this video really cleared things up. There were some videos i watched from other TH-camrs but they didn't specify things like you did. Thank you sooo much!
I have downloaded so many books and apps and honestly you explained more to me in this video, than it did. This was honestly mind blowing. I had so many questions on hiragana works and this answered all of them. Honestly this was the MOST useful thing I've watched...I NEED MORE
😭💛 this means so much to me- thank you for the wonderful comment and I’m so glad I could help!!!!!
Thank you very much Reina sensei ! I will definitely be studying up on this 😊❤️🇯🇵🇯🇵
Woahhhh that was a lot of information. I'm trying to wrap my head around this. Thank you!
I absolutely love this. it is so straight forward and comprehensive and a lot of the examples you used are the same as the ones I found in "first steps to mastering Japanese" which I found for free on the Kobo store. I also learned Hiragana approximately 4 times during my schooling life because I lived in an Australian town with a Japanese sister city program, so for a while, I even had a pen pal in Japan which I don't think I appreciated enough at such a young age.
Thank you! It makes me happy to know that I'm understood. Japanese isn't my first language, but I do my best.
I kept getting confused about the dakuten and handakuten, and this video really helped! I've been wanting to learn japanese for a while
This is almost exactly how the Ethiopian alphabet sounds when it’s spoken out loud! Incredible!
I’m 73 years old and just started learning hiragana using flash cards I made. It works pretty well for me. It also helps to write hiragana.
That's a really good example of compression without confusion.
You explain this so elegantly, Reina! I was expecting to only learn enough Romanji to get by for my holiday but you make this seem really accessible I'm going to give it a go, thank you 😊
I've since learned all the hirigana, dakuten and handakuten 🤓🎉 thanks, Reina x
This helped me a lot cause, i was in a Japanese course that didn't teach the extra hiragana i didn't even know there was more until i saw japanese subtitles and got suspicious. This cleared up everything now though and i can write my family's names in hiragana now.
I have been studying Japanese for 6 months, I can understand most of the words now and conversations :)
Please help me figure out how to put the letters together becuase it seems complecated😅
Dang. Wow! That’s really cool!
@@fly-high3063 did u ever figure it out
@@Travelogueduster I used the apps Bunpo and Kana to learn all of the hiragana in 5 days
Do you mind helping me out with something very simple?
Not related to the letters but I also want to recommend learning the days of the week through a song of sorts: Getsu-Ka-Sui-Moku-Kin-Do-Nichi
After learning that all you need to do is add youbi at the end of each and you'll have the names of each day of the week starting from Monday to Sunday.
I've been learning hiragana using mnemonics from tofugu and it's pretty effective and quick. This video is great to brush up what I've already learnt. Thanks a lot!
Always good to have a refresher after a few years of not studying.
I could be listening to you teaching for hours... wow... I am totally smitten... and yes thank you for the explanations. It makes sense and it seems fairly easy.
I learned hiragana by constantly writing it out but also speaking it at the same time. I’m a hands on learner so repetitive writing helped me big time. I’m into learning katakana now 😬😬
Thanks for explaining sutegana, I was starting to think I was going insane with those tiny letters 😂
Fun fact: there are regions of Japan where を is actually pronounced wo rather than o. In Northern Japan, if I remember correctly.
shush
This is a super helpful and good video! Also love learning on Rosetta Stone. Thanks!
This video stands on its own. This is exceptional work. I decided to start learning Japanese an hour ago to make videos in it, and now I feel like the process is going to be a joy. Thank you for doing such a brilliant job with this video. You're amazing! Changed my life right here :)
I studied Japanese on duolingo and at a student taught class at uni a while ago and this a rly good refresher and great intro! Good job Reina!
If you aren't a voice actress, you should consider it. You have great vocal range and presence. That and your English is impeccable. I'm sure there are folks out there who would love to be able to cast the same VA for both Japanese and English. I know that's kind of a weird compliment, but that's all I kept thinking when you were switching between English an Japanese.
On a side note. Thanks for this video. I really just came here to learn the difference between hiragana and katakana. I learned way more than I intended to and I thank you.
I love you so much, for basically pronouncing the Japanese alphabet.
Super interesting & helpful - thank you for making it both!
I'm currently taking Japanese courses and
I find it easier to learn to memorize the japanese alphabet system first the easier ones hiragana and katakana. I dont know why it makes it easier for me
I guess everyone is different
I live in Los Angeles I speak Spanish and English
Good video
your voice is so lovely i could listen it whole night ❤️
Great introduction video, reminds me of the first 2 weeks of JAP 1, which is a very good thing.
actually just started learning Japanese 3 days ago and im starting to understand it...this just made it easier. Arigato gozaimasu
Thank you! This video really helped me understand the basics of Japanese!
I learned hirigana through tofugu.com . Like you they stressed the use of a chart and allowed me to take tests for what section I had learned. You did a wonderful job relating this to Japanese vocabulary, which I feel I am lacking in.
Firstly I would like to say that I very much enjoyed your reference to the small tsu as that which creates a staccato sound. That was fuggingreat! As to how I started learning Hiragana I got a book by Gene Nishi called Japanese Step by step. I borrowed the book from a guy that was learning through it and also had Rosetta stone. The book was so good I had to buy a copy for myself. Really good book that teaches everything from basic sentence structure and phrases to numbers and vocabulary words. Katakana and some kanji are covered as well. The book was made to get foreigners to be able to get to work in Japan without ruining business relationships. It has and will serve me well. I get what I know about dialectics from anime and occasional youtube vids on the language.
omg YES i have Japanese as an elective for both 11th grade and i’m studying it in advance! i do use Rosetta Stone but this video makes my life easier
I found a dictionary like 10 years ago (I'm 25 now) on the public library and basically... just learned them by writing them down over and over, the fact that spanish (my mother tongue) and japanese are phonetically very similar helped me a lot though. I still struggle with katakana (and kanji) but I'm getting to it haha.
I've become familiar with Hiragana via the Duolingo app, so I was already familiar with this...but your organizing the sounds into that grid is *super*-helpful in reinforcing them. Being a bear of very little brain, I need all the help I can get. Arigato gozaimasu! 🙂
I know that was a lot of info, but for a beginner myself that was the most easy way it has been explained to me!
I used a book by a guy called Heisig. His book isn't focused on learning the sounds, but on learning the actual characters shapes so you can recognize them. His book uses little mnemonic words that start with same sound, and stories that describe the shape ... often in a really silly way because a silly story is way more memorable. For example "ke" is taught by being "Cape and Dagger" and the story is something like "you know the phrase cloak and dagger, but you think a cape is way cooler" and the page shows the left stoke as being the "cape" and the right strokes being a curved "dagger".
The idea really works because you'll be thinking "crap, what the heck does 'me' look like again?" ... and then you think "aha! maypole" and you remember he taught the two strokes as someone swirling around a maypole (look at "me" you'll probably see it). Even now I still remember about 10% of the more memorable mnemonics, but you'll eventually forget them and just remember the symbol, and that's the whole idea.
Bonus: He's got a Katakana one too. Even to this day I still love blowing my Japanese tutors minds on iTalki by telling them about the one for Katakana "Ne" ネ. The menonic word is "Naval" and the stroke order is a little captain... standing on his ship... crashing into an iceberg. Gets em to laugh every time.
I learned so much in this video. Thank you so much!💞💞💞
This was fantastic to it watch and really helped make me understand some of the things I have been learning already.
You explaining it is making me understand it more, thank you.
Love it thanks for the help Reina!
Wow this video is right on time! I swear my phone is listening to me 👀
I'm currently learning Japanese. Thanks for this guide
Mind blown with the grid! Just started yesterday, but I think that tip is really going to help! About to change up my notes lol
I'm not studying Japanese but it's interesting to know some basics about how the language is formed. Thank you - very interesting.
She's such a natural at teaching 😍
Thanks for this it was really helpful! Feel like I've got the memorisation down of stroke order and what they are but having a better understanding of them and when they are used helps me so much more in my learning :)
love this video. even though ive been studying for a year now, its nice to hear someones take on explaining ひらがな
面白いと思いますよ～ ありがとうねー！
Very well explained 👏👏
these videos are excellent to learn along with my rosetta stone lessons, tysm!
Thank you for this Reina :) ❤
Runa? lol
This was very helpful and learned a lot of it 👍🏻
Oh my gosh… I had been looking everywhere in my text books today about many of the things you covered in the video. I was getting so frustrated. I kept seeing what I thought was Hiragana but with different dashes and small circle’s but kept thinking they were Kanji’s. I couldn’t find them in my Hiragana/Katakana table or my Kanji book and was so lost. I looked through my 2 books and sure enough neither have 半濁点, 濁点, or 捨て仮名. Looks like I’m gonna have to track down another book. I’m sure if I was actually being taught Japanese in a school instead of on my own, my book would have had them. Maybe I’ll just forget the book and watch your videos instead. Thank you so much for the help!
I've been studying with flash cards. Still struggling with some but getting there
In Australia, Japanese tends to be one of the common secondary languages taught in Primary and High School so that's where I learnt it. I actually took Japanese (which is a combined language and culture/history class) up to the end of high school which would have put me and N5/N4 for the JLPT certification. Kind of sad I didn't keep it up, but this video has inspired me to look into it again.
That’s so cool to hear that Japanese is that popular in Australia!!! And N5/N4 is very impressive!!!
@@reinascully Aww thanks! Japan is actually our second largest trading partner. There are also a lot of exchange programs between our two countries. Miura in Kanagawa prefecture is the sister city of my home town. It's still on my bucket list to have a nice long holiday in Japan, and go on a bit of a martial arts and temple pilgrimage.
If you're having trouble with this, try writing the grid vertically. It might help your brain realize the a, ka, sa, ta are all the same sounds. (I learned on a vertical chart back in the '80's.)