Hiragana & Katakana– category –
Master hiragana and katakana, the two phonetic alphabets that unlock all of Japanese. Takes 2-4 weeks. See /japanese-kana-guide/ for a complete learning guide.
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Japanese Double Consonants: The Small っ (Sokuon) Explained
The small っ (and its katakana equivalent ッ) is called the sokuon (促音), meaning "doubled consonant." It creates a brief pause or stop before the next consonant — a feature English speakers often miss at first. 【What Does っ Sound Lik... -
Hiragana Yoon: Combination Sounds きゃ しゃ ちゃ and More
Yoon (拗音) are combination sounds formed by pairing an i-row character with the small versions of や, ゆ, or よ. These create sounds like "kya," "sha," "cha" — essential for reading everyday Japanese. 【How Yoon Works】 Take any charact... -
Hiragana Dakuten: Voiced Sounds が ざ だ ば and Handakuten ぱ
Once you know the basic 46 hiragana characters, you unlock 25 more by adding two small marks: the dakuten (゛) for voiced sounds, and the handakuten (゜) for the P-sounds. 【Dakuten (゛) — The Voiced Mark】 Add dakuten to transform unvoi... -
Hiragana Complete Guide: All 46 Characters with Pronunciation
Hiragana (ひらがな) is the first Japanese alphabet every learner masters. Its 46 base characters cover every sound in Japanese, and once you know them, you can read any Japanese word written phonetically. 【The 5 Vowels — Start Here】 Ev... -
Japanese Kana Guide: How to Learn Hiragana and Katakana
Hiragana and katakana are the two phonetic alphabets of Japanese. Every learner starts here — mastering kana unlocks your ability to read, write, and pronounce Japanese correctly. 【Start Here: Hiragana】 Hiragana (ひらがな) is used for ... -
katai-vs-yawarakai
かたい (katai) and やわらかい (yawarakai) are opposites that describe texture, hardness, and rigidity — but they go far beyond physical materials. In Japanese, these words also describe personality (a stiff, formal person vs. a flexible,...
