Start here: hiragana and katakana
Japanese uses two sound alphabets, called kana, plus kanji. The N5 exam is written in kana with a little kanji and no romaji, so reading kana quickly is the first step. Most people learn hiragana in one to two weeks of short daily practice, then katakana.
How to learn them
- Learn two rows at a time. Tap each character to hear it and say it out loud.
- Quiz yourself in Read mode until those rows are learned, then add the next two.
- Switch to Listen mode once a row feels easy. Hearing a sound and finding the character is what the listening section needs.
- Once most basic hiragana are learned, start Lesson 1 in the study app. Real words are the best practice; keep the quiz for the ones that slip.
Reading rules worth knowing early
Small っ doubles the next sound
- きって kitte stamp
- がっこう gakkou school
It is a short pause before the next consonant, not a "tsu" sound.
Long vowels
- おかあさん okaasan mother
- せんせい sensei teacher
- コーヒー koohii coffee
Hold the vowel for two beats. In hiragana, えい and おう are usually said as long え and お. Katakana uses a dash, ー.
は, へ and を as particles
- わたしは watashi wa I (topic)
- がっこうへ gakkou e to school
- パンを pan o bread (object)
As grammar words, は is said "wa", へ is said "e" and を is said "o".
ん before b, m and p
- しんぶん shinbun newspaper
- さんぽ sanpo a walk
ん takes the shape of the next sound, so it often sounds like "m". It is still one full beat.
Keep an even beat
- にほん ni-ho-n Japan (3 beats)
- きょう kyo-o today (2 beats)
Each kana is one beat, except that a small ゃ ゅ ょ joins the kana before it (きょ is one beat). ん and っ each take a full beat. Keeping the rhythm even is half of sounding natural.