Hiragana Flashcards

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These flashcards are designed to help you learn to read hiragana, the most basic character set of written Japanese. If you are new to Japanese reading, I personally believe that hiragana is the best place to start. A strong foundation in hiragana is essential to a successful future as a reader or Japanese.

To utilize the application below, simply click the arrow pointing to the right to see the next hiragana character in the sequence. To go back a character, press the arrow pointing to the left. By default, the English reading will be displayed two seconds after the hiragana. This is to give you a chance to guess the reading beforehand. The delay is adjustable from 0-10 seconds using the drop-down box. You can also put the flashcards in 'random' mode so that the next character to be displayed is not in any particular order. Random mode functions only when moving forward through the cards.

To get a grasp of the pronunciation of hiragana, it is very important to know the proper reading of the first 5 vowels 'a', 'i', 'u', 'e' and 'o'. The majority of the remaining characters are built upon these five and are formed by preceeding them with a consanant. For example, if the 5 vowels are preceeded by the sound 'k' as in 'kitchen', you end up with 'ka', 'ki', 'ku', 'ke', and 'ko'. This pattern is followed throughout the hiragana and you are sure to recognize it. The five basic vowels have the following sounds:

• 'a' - a as in 'father'
• 'i' - ee as in 'key'
• 'u' - u as in 'truth'
• 'e' - ay as in 'play'
• 'o' - oh as in 'hope'

To fully comprehend the native Japanese pronunciations, I strongly recommend working with a native Japanese speaker.

Currently, only the basic 46 characters are available. I do not include voiced sounds or combinations such as 'kya', 'kyu', 'kyo', etc. I will add these variations in a 2nd set of flashcards in the future. In the mean time, please consult a text book for a comprehensive study of hiragana.

© 2000 Rick Noelle