① What is Hiragana?

Hiragana is the foundation of all Japanese. It is a phonetic script — every character is exactly one sound. It is used for native words, grammar endings (〜です, 〜ます), and anything without kanji. If you know hiragana, you can read any Japanese word. Learn it in 5–7 days: one row (a-line) per sitting, writing each character 10×.

② The 46 Basic Characters (五十音)

READ ROWS LEFT→RIGHT, THEN DOWN · hover any character

⚠ は is read wa as a particle; へ is read e as a particle; を is pronounced o.

③ Dakuten ゛ & Handakuten ゜ — Voiced Sounds

Add two small strokes (゛) or a circle (゜) to change the sound:

ぢ = ji, づ = zu (rare; sound-alikes of じ・ず).

④ Yōon — Combination Sounds ゃ ゅ ょ

A small や・ゆ・よ glued to an i-column kana makes one beat: きゃ = kya, not ki-ya.

⑤ Small っ — The Double Consonant

A small っ doubles the consonant that follows it. It is a full beat of silence.

⑥ Your First Words

⑦ Study Tips

• Write strokes in the official order — it makes handwriting beautiful and memorable.
• Study by row: a→ka→sa→ta→na→ha→ma→ya→ra→wa.
• Flashcard both directions: あ→"a" and "a"→あ.
• Don't move to katakana (Ch 2) until you can write all 46 from memory.

① When is Katakana Used?

• Loanwords from English, Portuguese, German… (テレビ, パン, アルバイト)
• Foreign names & places (マリア, アメリカ)
• Emphasis — like italics in English
• Onomatopoeia (ドキドキ, ワクワク) and scientific/animal names

Every hiragana has a katakana twin with the same sound: あ↔ア, い↔イ, う↔ウ…

② The 46 Basic Characters

Dakuten work the same as hiragana: ガ ギ グ ゲ ゴ, ザ ジ ズ ゼ ゾ, ダ ヂ ヅ デ ド, バ行, パ行.

③ Katakana Special Rules

Extra combinations for foreign sounds:

④ Essential Loanwords

Name conversion: John → ジョン · Maria → マリア · Smith → スミス · London → ロンドン. (Japanese has no L, V, or TH — they merge into R, B/V, and S/Z/T/D.)

⑤ Confusing Pairs — Watch the Strokes!

① The Five Vowels — Everything Builds on These

Japanese has only ~110 distinct sound beats (morae). Master these five and 80% of accent problems disappear.

② Full Romaji Chart (Hepburn System)

③ Rhythm: Japanese is Mora-Timed

Every kana = exactly one equal beat, like a metronome. Tō-kyō = TO-O-KYO-O = 4 beats. Long vowels and small っ count as full beats:

Don't stress syllables the way English does. Japanese is flat and even; meaning rides on pitch, not stress.

④ Pitch Accent — The Secret Layer

Each word has a high/low pitch pattern. Classic examples:

You don't need to memorize patterns now — just listen and imitate. Never add English stress (no "to-KYO", say "TO-O-KYO-O" evenly).

⑤ Common Pronunciation Mistakes

• The Japanese R: a soft tap between English R and L. Say "ladder"/"butter" (US) quickly — that flap is close to らりるれろ. Don't growl an R.
• FU not HOO: ふ is made by blowing air between both lips, like fogging a mirror.
• Don't add vowels: です = "des", not "desu-uh". ます = "mas".
• Keep vowels pure: え is never "ay", お is never "ow".
• ん before m/b/p sounds like "m": しんぶん = "shimbun".

⑥ Pronunciation Practice

① Greetings by Time of Day

② Everyday Survival Phrases

③ Daily Ritual Phrases (very Japanese!)

④ Self-Introduction じこしょうかい — Template

Mini dialogue:

💡 -san さん = polite name suffix. Never attach it to yourself (たなかさん = others; たなか = you).

⑤ Saying Goodbye

⑥ Politeness Levels — The Big Picture

① 0–10 and Building Bigger Numbers

Logic is beautifully regular: 11 = じゅういち (ten-one) · 20 = にじゅう (two-ten) · 99 = きゅうじゅうきゅう · 100 = ひゃく · 1,000 = せん · 10,000 = いちまん. Note: Japanese groups big numbers by 10,000 (万), not 1,000: 100,000 = じゅうまん (ten-man).

Sound changes to memorize: 300 さんびゃく · 600 ろっぽゃく · 800 はっぴゃく · 3,000 さんぜん · 8,000 はっせん · 100,000,000 = 一億 (いちおく).

② Time of Day なんじ

Hour = number + 時 (じ). Irregulars: 4時 よじ · 7時 しちじ · 9時 くじ.

③ Days of the Week & Dates

Day = element + 曜日（ようび）: 月火水木金土日 → 月曜日 getsuyōbi (Mon) … 日曜日 nichiyōbi (Sun). Mnemonic: Moon, Fire, Water, Wood, Metal, Earth, Sun — the same planets as Romance languages!

Days of the month are mostly irregular — memorize 1–10:

11th–19th are regular (じゅういちにち…), 14th じゅうよっか, 20th はつか, 24th にじゅうよっか. Date order: year → month → day: 2025年4月3日 = にせんにじゅうごねん・しがつ・みっか. Months are regular: number + 月 (April = しがつ; irregulars: April しがつ, July しちがつ, September くがつ).

④ Counters — One Word, One Shape

Japanese counts number + counter, and the counter depends on what you count:

⑤ Age, Money, Phone Numbers

Phone numbers: read digits individually, 0 = ゼロ/れい/まる, the dash is read の: 090-1234 = ゼロ・きゅうゼロ・の・いちにさんのよん.

① Word Order: SOV — Verb Always Last

English = Subject–Verb–Object. Japanese = Subject–Object–Verb. Everything else is flexible; the verb ends the sentence.

Particles are tiny tags glued after a word that say what role it plays. Golden rule: particles come after the word they mark.

② The です Pattern — Be / Am / Is / Are

③ The Core Particles

④ Putting It Together

Time words (今日, 明日, 毎朝, 今週) usually sit right after the topic. Order of the middle pieces is flexible — the verb must stay last.

⑤ Question Words

⚠ In Japanese, keep the question word in place and just add か: トイレはどこですか？

① The Ko-So-A-Do System

Distance logic: こ = near me · そ = near you · あ = far from us both · ど = question.

⚠ この/その/あの must attach to a noun — you can never say 「このです」.

② Pronouns — Use Sparingly!

💡 Japanese drops pronouns constantly. If context is clear, just skip: 「コーヒー、のみますか？」(no "you" needed).

③ Family Words — Two Sets!

Humble words for your own family, respectful words for other people's:

④ Essential Noun Bank

⑤ の — The Possession & Linking Particle

① Two Types — い and な

い-adjectives end in い (高い, 楽しい). They conjugate by changing that い. な-adjectives behave like nouns (静か, 元気) and use な before a noun: 静かな部屋. Both go directly before nouns:

② い-Adjective Conjugation (高い as model)

⚠ いい is irregular: よくない / よかった / よくなかった. Watch out — never 「いくない」.

③ な-Adjective Conjugation (静か as model)

④ Sentence Patterns

⑤ Handy Adverbs

⑥ Core Adjective Bank

い: 高い expensive · 安い cheap · 大きい big · 小さい small · 新しい new · 古い old · いい good · 悪い bad · 暑い hot(air) · 熱い hot(touch) · 寒い cold(air) · 冷たい cold(touch) · おいしい tasty · 難しい difficult · 易しい easy · 忙しい busy · 楽しい fun · 面白い interesting · 近い near · 遠い far · 広い spacious · 狭い narrow

な: 静か quiet · にぎやか lively · 元気 healthy · 好き liked · 嫌い disliked · 有名 famous · 便利 convenient · 大変 tough · きれい pretty/clean · 暇 free · 大切 important

① The Three Verb Groups

⚠ Trap verbs that look like る-verbs but aren't: 帰る かえる (return home), 走る はしる (run), 入る はいる, 知る しる. する hides inside compound verbs too: 勉強する, 旅行する.

② The ます Form — Polite Present & Past

No person, no plural — one form covers I/you/he/we/they, and present tense doubles as habitual ("I drink / I will drink").

③ First 30 Verbs

④ Frequency Words & Movement Patterns

Placement: frequency words go before the verb (or after the topic): いつも always · よく often · ときどき sometimes · あまり…ない hardly · 全然…ない never.

Movement verbs pair with particles: PLACE へ/に 行く・来る・帰る · TRANSPORT で 行く (バスで) · COMPANION と 行く.

① Why This Chapter Matters

Master these three stems and you unlock ~70% of Japanese grammar: requests, ongoing actions, past tense, permission, reasons, giving/receiving… All built on て / た / ない. Learn the rules once, apply them forever.

② て-Form Rules (from dictionary form)

Classic song for う/つ/る verbs: "う・つ・る → って!"

③ た-Form — Same Rules, た Instead of て

This is the casual past: 食べた = I ate. (Polite past 食べました you already know.)

④ ない-Form — The Negative Stem

⑤ Drill — Conjugate These

① Requests — 〜てください

Casual version = just the て form with rising tone: 「まって！」

② Permission & Prohibition

③ Ongoing Actions — 〜ています

て + います = -ing right now, or a habit/state:

Casual: ています → てる: 食べてる？ "You eating?"

④ Sequencing — Then / After

⑤ Soft Reason / Apology / Thanks

Preview of Ch 15: て＋あげる/もらう/くれる = doing a favor. 手伝ってもらえますか？ "Could I get you to help me?"

① What Kanji Actually Are

Kanji are Chinese-origin meaning characters. About 2,136 Jōyō (regular-use) kanji cover daily Japanese; ~1,000 gets you through most signs. Each kanji has a meaning and two reading types:

Rule of thumb: compound → on, standalone → kun. (Many exceptions; learn words, not isolated readings.)

② Stroke Order & Radicals

Stroke order: top→bottom, left→right, horizontal before vertical, outside before inside, closing stroke last.

Radicals are kanji building blocks — they hint at meaning:

③ Numbers in Kanji

一 is one horizontal stroke, 二 two, 三 three — then it gets creative. 23 = 二十三 (two-ten-three).

④ Your First 22 Kanji

⑤ How to Study Kanji

• Learn kanji inside words, never alone (学生, not just 学+生).
• Notice radicals — they turn random strokes into stories (休 = person亻 leaning on tree木 = rest!).
• Write each 5–10× with correct stroke order, then use SRS flashcards.
• Target: N5 ≈ 100 kanji · N4 ≈ 300 · N3 ≈ 650 · N2 ≈ 1,000 · N1 ≈ 2,000.

① あります vs います

② Location Words

③ The Master Pattern

THING は PLACE の POSITION に あります／います

④ Possession & Events

① Likes & Dislikes

好き / 嫌い are な-adjectives, and the liked thing takes が:

② Wanting — 〜たい & ほしい

⚠ たい/ほしい express your own desire. For others use 〜がっている (Ch 19) or 〜たそうです.

③ Comparisons

④ Same & Different

① The Direction Triangle

Japanese tracks who gives to whom with three verbs — direction matters more than the object:

もらう and くれる describe the same event from different angles. くれる is only used when the receiver is you/your in-group — never くれます for "I gave to him".

② Doing Favors — て form + These Verbs

③ Relative Clauses — Verbs Before Nouns

In Japanese, a whole clause can sit before a noun to describe it, like a giant adjective. Use the short/casual form (Ch 16):

④ Nominalizing with こと & の

Turn any verb into a noun by adding こと or の, so you can like/want/do it:

① Short / Casual Form — The Dictionary Style

Casual speech drops です・ます. It's the base that all advanced grammar builds on:

い-adjectives stay the same (高い / 高くない / 高かった). Questions in casual just rise in tone — drop か, add の？ or just pitch up.

② Sentence-Ending Flavour

③ Conditionals — Four Ways to Say "If"

Quick pick: everyday "if" → たら. Advice/given-the-situation → なら. Facts/habits → と. Hypothetical → ば.

① Potential — Can Do (られる / れる / できる)

Potential verbs take が for the object. できる is the safest universal option.

② Passive — Is Done (受身 られる / れる)

The "doer" takes に. Japanese also uses a personal passive for things that happened to you:

③ Causative — Make/Let Someone Do (させる / せる)

④ Volitional & Must — Let's & Obligation

① The Three Layers of Keigo

Direction rule: honorific = their action, humble = my action toward them.

② Key Verb Swaps

③ Polite Request Ladder

From casual to very formal:

The pattern お/ご…いただく / くださる wraps any noun politely: ご確認ください, ご連絡ください.

④ Business Set Phrases

⑤ The Politeness Boosters お & ご

Prefixes soften/beautify nouns: お for native (やまと) words, ご for Sino-Japanese:

① Change, Effort & Expectation

② Time & Stage

③ Cause, Contrast & Degree

④ Viewpoint & Attitude

⑤ Reporting & Opinion

① Proverbs ことわざ — Wisdom in Four Lines

② Yojijukugo — Four-Character Idioms

③ Onomatopoeia — The Sound-World

Japanese runs on these. They slot in with と/する/している:

④ Formal / Written Style (だ・である調)

Essays and reports swap です for である and lean on these:

⑤ The Road Ahead — From Learner to Reader

• JLPT ladder: N5 (beginner) → N1 (advanced). Aim for N4 after Ch 11, N3 after Ch 17, N2 after Ch 19.
• Immersion: NHK World Easy Japanese → manga (kana + furigana) → news (NHK News Web Easy) → novels.
• Output: shadow podcasts, write a 3-line diary daily in Japanese, use it or lose it.
• Mindset: consistency beats intensity. 毎日少しずつ.