The basics of Japanese writing Reading & Writing "あ" column

1. Japanese Lesson for Beginners
Session 3
27.Oct.2014
Kana Shimohigoshi
kshimo@essex.ac.uk

2. Review
- The sound of Japanese language
a syllable = a consonant + a vowel
- Romanization
1. aki (autumn) 3. igirisu (UK)
2.tokei (watch/clock) 4. daigaku (university)

3. Introduction
- Writing Hiragana Basics
- Proper stroke order
- 3 types of stroke
- Japanese “あ” column
- Tracing practice
- Vocabulary Drill

4. Writing Hiragana Basics
- The general rule is left to right and top to
bottom
- Traditionally, Japanese is written in columns
going from top to bottom, with columns
ordered from right to left
- Proper stroke order is important
- Various styles

5. Various Styles

6. 3 types of stroke
3 different ways to end a stroke:
tome (stop), hane (jump)
and harai (sweeping)

7. 3 types of stroke: Tome
1. Tome (means “stop”)
Completely stop at the end of a stroke

8. 3 types of stroke: Hane
2. Hane (means “jump”)
End the stroke with a slight flick

9. 3 types of stroke: Harai
3. Harai (means “sweeping”)
The broad sweep at the end of a stroke

10. Let’s write あいうえお
with the correct stroke order

11. ①
②
③
あ“a”

12. い“i”
①
②

13. う“u”
①
②

14. え“e”
①
②

15. お“o”
①
②
③

16. Activity; Tracing practice あcolumn

17. Activity; Words You Can Write
• write the following words using the hiragana that
you just learned
1. え(a painting)
2. いい(good)
3. あい(love)
4. あう(to meet)
5. うえ(up)
6. いう(to say)
7. いえ(house)
8. あお(blue)
9. おう(to chase)
10.おい(nephew)
11.えい(a ray fish)
12.いいえ(no)
13.おおい(many)

18. Activity; あいうえおpuzzle

19. Hiragana Table

20. Hiragana Table

21. Voiced Consonants and ‘P’
GA
GU
GE
DA ZA
PA BA
PI
BI
PU
PE
PO
BU
BE
BO
JI
JI
GI
DZI
ZU
ZU
DZU
DE
ZE
DO ZO
GO

22. Next week
- Learn how to read and write “か” column
- Conversation practice
「わたしは… です」“I am…”