Do you know what a beginner should focus on in order to pick up Japanese quickly?
Today, I’ll teach you how to start studying Japanese as a beginner.
When we study Japanese, speaking, listening, reading and writing are important.
To climb the first rungs of the ladder, a beginner has to first learn “Hiragana.”
Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji
There are three kinds of Japanese writing systems. These are hiragana, katakana and kanji.
ひらがな：hiragana
カタカナ：katakana
漢字（かんじ）：kanji
音楽, 金属, 弦, 力, 龍, 鋼鉄, 楽器, 真空管, 北欧, 神, 王者 and so on.
Beginners should learn hiragana quickly, because not having knowledge of hiragana will make it difficult to pronounce and read most Japanese words.
These details are written in “Ichiyo’s Kanji Textbook Part 1 (PDF).”
Japanese Sentence Structure
私はロサンゼルスでタコスを食べました。
Watashi wa Rosanzerusu de takosu o tabemashita.
I ate tacos in los Angeles.
The above sentence is composed of hiragana, katakana and kanji.
Hiragana:「は」、「で」、「を」、「べました」
Katakana:「ロサンゼルス」、「タコス」
Kanji:「私」、「食」
「私」is「わたし」and「食」is「た」in hiragana. When we learn kanji, knowledge of hiragana is needed. Hiragana allows the learner to read the sometimes multiple readings of each kanji.
Hiragana
We can’t correctly pronounce Japanese without appropriate knowledge of Hiragana.
Vocabulary Composed of Hiragana
しかし= but、それ= that、そして= and、する= do
The above vocabulary are examples composed entirely of hiragana. When we memorize Japanese vocabulary, sometimes only hiragana is used (depending on the word of course).
Kanji + Hiragana (Okurigana)
寝る= sleep、起きる= wake up、生きる= live、小さい= small
The above vocabulary are examples composed of kanji and hiragana. The hiragana part is called “Okurigana.”
送り仮名（おくりがな）= Okurigana
When we learn kanji, memorizing the hiragana part is important.
「生きる」means “live” and it’s read as “ikiru.” The kanji part is「生」and the hiragana part is「きる」. It’s easy to get these two confused.
If you want to take an okurigana test, please check out my kanji YouTube videos.
Furigana Helps with Reading Kanji
「生きる」is read as “ikiru” and means “live.”
「一石二鳥」is read as “issekinichō” and means “kill two birds with one stone.”
「誕生日」is read as “tanjōbi” and means “birthday.”
The hiragana above the kanji helps with reading the kanji. Such hiragana is called “Furigana.”
振り仮名（ふりがな）= Furigana
Therefore, hiragana knowledge is necessary for learning kanji.
Learning More Japanese Basics
If you want to start learning Japanese, please start with learning the entire set of hiragana characters.
If you want to learn the basics of hiragana, please check out “Ichiyo’s Kanji Textbook Part 1 (PDF).”
In addition, you can learn the entire set of katakana characters and kanji fundamentals in this textbook.
If that wasn’t enough content for you, we are holding private online lessons. You can learn Japanese anytime and we will check your Japanese daily.
Our students can use these services:
① Private Conversation Lesson ② Daily Japanese Support Service
③ Student Tailored Explanatory Sheet Service (sent as a PDF)
If you are interested in any of the above services, please check out “Ichiyo’s Japanese Online Lesson.”