Basics Flashcards
あ
あ is pronounced like “ah!” like when you come to a realization. It also sounds like the a in “car.”
ア
ア is the katakana for あ (a).
ア has a deformed capital letter A in it. You have to turn your head to the side and connect some lines, but it’s there.
い
い is pronounced like the ee in “eel.”
To remember this kana, just think of a couple of eels hanging out. They’re upright because they’re trying to mimic the letter “i” which also stands upright and also happens to be the way you spell out this character in romaji1.
イ
イ is the katakana for い (i).
イ looks like an eagle, standing on the ground, or on a branch, or wherever. You see its legs and its back, curved down like an eagle’s?
う
う is pronounced like the oo in “ooh… ahhh!” when you’re watching fireworks. In other words, it sounds like u in “UNO,” the card game, or the number one in Spanish.
To remember this kana, notice the U shape right in it! It’s sideways but it’s there, telling you what this kana is. Be careful, there’s another similar hiragana, つ, but that one isn’t wearing a hat like U (you) are. Ooh, ahh, what a nifty hat!
ウ
ウ is the katakana for う (u).
This katakana character looks a lot like its hiragana counterpart: う. It should be similar enough to use as a mnemonic to remember what it is.
え
え is pronounced like the e in “egg.”
To remember this kana, think of it like an exotic bird. The feathery thing on its head gives it away that it’s exotic and not normal. It also lays exotic eggs, because it’s an exotic bird, after all.
エ
エ is the katakana for え (e).
Imagine this is a girder an engineer would use to build buildings. This character is in the shape of the end of a girder, and its made up of them too.
Or, you can think of it like an elevator, with its doors closed.
お
お is pronounced like you’re saying “oh.” It also sounds like the o in “origami.”
Can you see the letter o in here, two times? This one looks similar to あ, except for its one key difference: there are two letter “o” symbols visible in there. Make sure you use this to differentiate this kana (お) and that similar kana (あ). This is one area of hiragana where a lot of people trip up, but by using this mnemonic you will be able to figure them out every time.
オ
オ is the katakana for お (o).
This kana looks like an opera singer. His mouth is shaped like an o and he’s singing “Ohhhh!”
か
か is just the K sound plus あ, making a ka sound. It’s pronounced like ka in “karma.”
See how this kana looks like a mosquito? What a convenient coincidence. Mosquitos happen to be called か (ka) in Japanese. You also say “cut it out, darn mosquito!” when they try to suck your blood, so that should be easy to remember.
カ
カ is the katakana for か (ka).
It looks just like its hiragana counterpart: か, though it’s missing that little extra line. Close enough to make it easy to remember, though.
き
き is just the K sound plus い, making a ki sound.
In fact, it sounds just like the word “key” which is the mnemonic we end up using.
To remember this, notice how much it resembles a key.
Note: In some fonts, the bottom part is detached from the main part. For example: き. The pronunciation is still “ki” though!
キ
キ is the katakana for き (ki).
It looks like the hiragana き (the top part at least) and also looks like part of a weird key.
く
く is just the K sound plus う, making a ku sound. It’s pronounced “coo,” like both syllables of the word “cuckoo” (or just the first syllable, depending on your variety of English).
To remember this, think of this kana being the mouth of a coo-coo / cuckoo bird popping out saying “ku ku, ku ku!”
ク
ク is the katakana for く (ku).
This looks like a long cook’s hat.
け
け is just the K sound plus え, making a ke sound. It’s pronounced like ke in “kelp.”
See how this kana resembles some wiggly kelp?
ケ
ケ is the katakana for け (ke).
It looks like the letter K!
こ
こ is just the K sound plus お, making a ko sound. It’s pronounced like co in “cohabitating.” In British English, it is more like co in “coin.”
こ is a couple of co-habitation worms. They’re so happy together, co-habitating the same area! Alternatively, you could imagine a couple of short cords laying on the ground next to each other.
コ
コ is the katakana for こ (ko).
See the two 90 degree corners? The two corners are what help you to remember that this is “ko.”
さ
さ is just the S sound plus あ, making a sa sound. It’s pronounced like sa in “salsa.”
Notice how this kana looks like two hands stirring a bowl of salsa. This salsa is so chunky and thick, you need two hands just to stir it!
Note: Like き, the bottom part of さ is detached from the main part in some fonts. For example: さ.
サ
サ is the katakana for さ (sa).
Look at these two fish that are hanging on a skewer. The small one is a sardine and the bigger one is a salmon. You can tell that by the size difference. You can also remember this is “sa” because fish are called さかな (sakana) in Japanese.
し
し is just the SH sound plus い, making a shi sound. It’s pronounced like shee in “sheep.”
Take note that this is the first “exception” kana where it doesn’t follow the patterns that show up everywhere else. Instead of being “si” it’s “shi” (though you will see it written both ways when dealing with romaji. One more reason why you ought to just learn hiragana already).
This kana looks like a giant shepherd’s crook used to herd sheep. Baaaa… get in that corral, sheep!
シ
シ is the katakana for し (shi).
This kana looks like a smiley face, but something is wrong with it. Both eyes are sideways and stacked on top of each other like some deep sea fish. She has a very weird face.
