Level 2: Hiragana Part 1 · あ to な

か・さ・た・な with drawn mnemonics, and the odd ones し, ち and つ.

Video: Learn Hiragana with Mnemonics, Part 1 (あ to な) | Japanese N5 Speedrun #2 · 15 min. Coming soon on YouTube.

What you’ll learn

25 new kana

あ a
い i
う u
え e
お o
か ka
き ki
く ku
け ke
こ ko
さ sa
し shi
す su
せ se
そ so
た ta
ち chi
つ tsu
て te
と to
な na
に ni
ぬ nu
ね ne
の no

15 words

Kana	Kanji	Rōmaji	Meaning
ねこ	猫	neko	cat
いぬ	犬	inu	dog
あさ	朝	asa	morning
なつ	夏	natsu	summer
かお	顔	kao	face
くち	口	kuchi	mouth
あし	足	ashi	foot; leg
いす	椅子	isu	chair
にく	肉	niku	meat
いえ	家	ie	house; home
いけ	池	ike	pond
あき	秋	aki	autumn, fall
つくえ	机	tsukue	desk
て	手	te	hand
かさ	傘	kasa	umbrella

How it works

The odd ones out: し, ち, つ

Most kana are just consonant + vowel (ka, ki, ku…). Three in this level break the pattern: し is shi, ち is chi, つ is tsu. Never “si”, “ti” or “tu”. つ is one beat: the ts at the end of “cats”, then a short u.

さ・し・す・せ・そ · sa · SHI · su · se · so
た・ち・つ・て・と · ta · CHI · TSU · te · to

The trap

Mirror twins: さ and ち

Same top, mirrored bottom. さ (sa) bulges out to the left and opens right, like a C: the falling sakura petal. ち (chi) bulges out to the right, like a 5: Mikan’s stuffed cheek. Check which way the curve bulges before you read it.

さ · sa: bulges left, like a C
ち · chi: bulges right, like a 5

Mini test

5 questions. Get 4 right and the level’s mini test box ticks itself.

Homework for the comments

In the comments: write 3 words from this level in hiragana, from memory. No copying!

Example: ねこ、いぬ、たこ