Part 1 – Japanese Characters
Introduction
🎌 Welcome to Japanese!
こんにちは！
Welcome to your very first step in learning Japanese. If you’re feeling excited (or maybe a little nervous), you’re in the right place — this course is designed just for beginners like you!
🧠 What You’ll Learn in This Lesson
In this lesson, you’ll get a simple overview of how the Japanese writing system works, and how sounds (pronunciation) match with characters.
By the end, you’ll understand:
What Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji are
Why Hiragana is important for beginners
What makes Japanese sounds different from English
How beautiful and unique the Japanese language is!
🌸 The Beauty of Japanese
Japanese is not just a language — it’s an art.
Each character is like a small drawing, with graceful strokes and rhythm. Hiragana, in particular, is soft and flowing — some say it looks like dancing brush strokes!
Japanese also reflects the culture’s values:
Simplicity
Respect
Harmony
Even the way people say “hello” or “thank you” shows politeness and care.
🔤 Why Learn the Characters First?
Japanese uses three types of scripts:
Hiragana (used for native words, grammar)
Katakana (used for foreign words and names)
Kanji (used for meaning)
In this course, we’ll start with Hiragana — the foundation.
Learning it will help you read words, form sentences, and build confidence from the start.
✅ Let’s Begin!
Are you ready to explore your first characters?
Let’s start with the five vowels: A・I・U・E・O.
They’re the heart of Japanese pronunciation — and the first step to reading and writing Japanese.