Hiragana: A-KO

Question 1

Answer 1

А

• element 2 is откидная линия (не вертикальная!); element 3 she calls “пузик”
• write on exhale

Question 2

Answer 2

И

• there used to be a loop connecting the two elements
• Heisig: like “i” with the dot shifted to the right

Question 3

Answer 3

У

• second element looks like “ухо”
• • there used to be a loop connecting the two elements
• write on exhale

Question 4

Answer 4

Э

• second element goes through the centre of the square, sharp lines, then round shape
• do not extend the last line up

Question 5

Answer 5

О

• vertical line is straight vertical, not convex as in “a”, once you finish drawing it, stop and change direction, so the end is sharp as in “a”
• there is the third element, and again there is a connection with the second component
• normally to make it a longer sound in JP, the last vowel will be written once more, but syllables ending in “o” are an exception; to prolong the syllables ending in “o”, we need to write the vowel “у”, instead of writing “o” twice!

Question 6

Answer 6

КА

• soft, angled lines (not sharp), it’s not Katakana
• max distance between the second and first component, the second component can be with a small hook, position it somewhere in the middle of the square
• this syllable comes from a kanji (below)

Question 7

Answer 7

КИ

• two diagonal lines, the second line is drawn through the centre
• then draw a transversal line through these two diagonals at 90-degree angle, with a little hook
• finally draw the second component “the smile” underneath (draw a dotted line from the second diagonal, this is where the smile must end)
• кинжал with the smile
• an alternative version is to connect the two components
• to make a longer sound “ки-и”, simply add the vowel “и”

Question 8

Answer 8

КУ

• Heisig: cooing a baby
• super simple, mirror image over the centre
• the apex must be on the central horizontal line

Question 9

Answer 9

КЭ

• откидная линия (не вертикальная!) with a little hook
• second component, which looks like a dagger, with the vertical line convexing in the opposite direction to the first component, so together they form a barrel shape (бочонок)

Question 10

Answer 10

КО

• first line is horizontal, with a little hook
• then “the smile” component (quite flat smile, don’t exaggerate), which should start and finish exactly under the first component
• the distance between the two components should be quite large