a.wavPronunciation: A is pronounced like the "a" in car but shorter.
Welcome to another exicitng section of JAL. These lessons on writing Hiragana
are going to seem like a crash course compared to the Katakana ones. That's
actually the point. These lessons were made with the idea that you've gone
through both the Katakana and JAL lessons. So, you know how to draw a dakuten
and I won't repeat those steps. There will not be any examples in these
lessons but afterwards, there will be "homework." Your homework
will consist of applying the knowledge that you've learned in both the
Katakana and Hiragana sections to the JAL lessons. That's right, I've gone
back through the entire set and written out what the characters are saying.
Your homework (should you choose to accept it) is to go back and do that
yourself. My solutions are there for comparison and the lessons are always there
for review, just in case you forget. I suggest doing it the following way. Click
on over to the JAL Table of Contents and go through
the lessons and see how Reiko writes it out in romanji (English letters used
to write Japanese words). Then, write out what that would be using Hiragana
and Katakana. REMEBER THE RULES ABOUT WHEN TO USE WHICH SYLLABARY! The only
rule you need to remember is that foreign words are written with Katakana.
Then have a look at my solutions. There is a link to my solutions for each
week on the JAL Table of Contents page. See if you missed any and if you have
questions, contact me. Well,
enough of that. Enjoy the lessons.
The Hiragana syllabary is used for Japanese words only. I can't recall any foreign words being spelled with it. Also, the characters will have a more flowing form compared to the blocky katakana.
Enough talk. Let's get to this. Grab those crayons and pencils.
How to write A
a.wav
Pronunciation: A
is pronounced like the "a"
in car but shorter.
Strokes: If I think there might be a confusing stroke, I'll put this section in. As you can see the final stroke is a clockwise spiral. The starting point is the arrow with a circle on one end. Start there and continue on. The circle convention will be used whenever there are multiple arrows in some confusing arrangement.
How to write I
i.wav
Pronunciation: This I
is said like "ee"
as in meet but
not lengthened like that.
How to write U
u.wav
Pronunciation: The U
is said like "u"
as in hula.
How to write E
e.wav
Pronunciation: The E
is said like the a
in ace or "e"
in get.
Strokes: Something I should point out. The arrows may not be joined together but one frame is still one stroke. Don't lift your pen from the paper until it's completed. 2nd stroke, start at the top, make the slanted line next from top to bottom. Finally, finish up with the wavy line at the bottom.
How to write O
o.wav
Pronunciation: The O
is like the o
in or but
shorter.
Strokes: 2nd stroke. Make the long, vertical line first. Then from the bottom of the long line, make a circle going clockwise.
How to write KA
ka.wav
Pronunciation: KA
is pronounced like "ca"
in car but shorter.
How to write KI
ki.wav
Pronunciation: KI
is said like the "kee"
in keep but shorter.
NOTE: The 3rd and 4th strokes can be combined together into one stroke. See how the 3rd stroke ends in that tail pointing to the left. If you keep on with the stroke past the left tip and make a half-circle, just connect that half-circle with the 4th stroke. KI should then have a captain's hook at the end of it.
How to write KU
ku.wav
Pronunciation: KU
is spoken like the "ku"
in Kuwait but
shorter.
How to write KE
ke.wav
Pronunciation: KE
is pronounced like the "ke"
in keg.
How to write KO
ko.wav
Pronunciation: KO
is orated like the "co"
in core but shorter.