Hey guys. So this is my second lesson and we are going to do the next three lines of the hiragana (ひらがな) chart. I will list the chart again, in hiragana (ひらがな) and romaji (ローマ字). The bolded ones are the ones we have already covered:

あ　い　う　え　お
か　き　く　け　こ
さ　し　す　せ　そ
た　ち　つ　て　と
な　に　ぬ　ね　の
は　ひ　ふ　へ　ほ
ま　め　む　め　も
や　　　ゆ　　　　よ
ら　り　る　れ　ろ
わ　　　　　　　　を
ん

a i u e o
ka ki ku ke ko
sa shi su se so
ta chi tsu te to
na ni nu ne no
ha hi fu he ho
ma mi mu me mo
ya yu yo
ra ri ru re ro
wa (w)o
n

The next three lines are the k, s, and t line. I will lay them out and explain how they are pronounced and list examples again. So I will start with the K line. It consists of: か (ka), き (ki), く (ku), け (ke) andこ (ko).

• か is pronounced as the CA in car and calculator
• き is pronounced as the whole word key
• く is pronounced as the CO in coop and the KU in kudos
• け is pronounced as the KE in ken and Kendal
• こ is pronounced as the CO in corporation and co-op

That stroke order for each one is as follows: か (3 stokes), き (4 strokes), く (1 stroke), け (3 strokes), こ (2 strokes). I want to emphasize the fact that you should practice writing. Yes it’s easier to see and type on a computer, but if you want to get better at it and for memorization, write about ten or more times. Now let’s do some examples for the K row.

• か examples: じかん (Jikan) – Time ; かんこく(Kankoku) - South Korea
• き examples: きっぷ (Kippu) – Ticket; きにょうび (Kinyoubi) - Friday
• く examples: くるま (Kuruma) – Car ; さくぶん (Sakubun) - Composition
• け examples: けんどう (Kendou) – Kendo ; さけ (Sake) - Sake/Alcohol
• こ examples: こわい (Kowai) – Scary ; ぎんこう (Ginkou) – Bank

When you are reading the hiragana (ひらがな), read them out loud and do it over and over. It’s the same with writing, the more you do it, the easier it is to remember. It will embed in your head soon enough. Now, we shall do the next row, the S row. It consists of: さ (sa), し (shi), す (Su), せ (se) and そ (so).

• さ is pronounced as the SO in soccer and SA in Salou
• し is pronounced as the whole word she
• す is pronounced as the SU in sue and super
• せ is pronounced as the SE in settle and sell
• そ is pronounced as the whole word so

The stroke order for the hiragana (ひらがな) is: さ (3 strokes), し (1 stroke), す (2 stokes), せ (3 strokes) and そ (1 stroke). We’ll jump into the examples.

• さ examples: さくら (Sakura) – Sakura/Cherry Blossoms ; かさ (Kasa) – Umbrella
• し examples: あたらしい (Atarashii) – New ; すし (Sushi) – Sushi
• す examples: はなす (Hanasu) – To talk ; むすめ (Musume) – Daughter
• せ examples: せん (Sen) – A thousand ; せかい (Sekai) – World
• そ examples: こうそ (Kouso) – Enzyme ; そら (Sora) – Sky

The next row is the T row. There is one irregular hiragana (ひらがな) that starts with a C. It is simple to understand after you practice it. So let’s get into it. The T row is: た (ta), ち (chi), つ (tsu), て (te) and と (to).

• た is pronounced as the TA in taco and the TO in topping
• ち is pronounced as the whole word chi (This is the irregular)
• つ is pronounced as the word “sue” but you want to put a “t” in front of it (This is a pretty tough one. When you do it, put your tongue behind and between your teeth)
• て is pronounced as the TE in tech and in temporary
• と is pronounced as the whole word toe, but you want to cut it off at the end.

The strokes order for the hiragana (ひらがな) is: た (4 strokes), ち(2 strokes), つ (1 stroke), て (1 stroke) and と (2 strokes).

• た examples: たぶん (Tabun) – Maybe ; たこ (Tako) – Octopus
• ち examples: ちず (Chizu) – Map ; ちんぷんかんぷん (Chinpunkanpun) – Gibberish
• つ examples: つち (Tsuchi) – Earth/Soil ; つき (Tsuki) – Moon
• て examples: てん (Ten) – Heaven ; てつ (Tetsu) – Iron
• とexamples: ともだち (Tomodachi) – Friend ; とり (Tori) – Bird

So there you are. Those are the K, S and T rows. Now, I want you guys to keep reading and practicing. It’ll help you memorize it. And once you have this memorized, you will never forget it. Again, I realize that a lot of the examples use some hiragana (ひらがな) you have not learned yet, but they are for you to reference and some easy vocabulary you can pick up on. For the next one, I will do the next three rows in the same format and following that, the rest of the chart.

So keep practicing guys. Do not get down on yourself. If you get stuck, it is alright because you will pick it up. If you have a desire and want to learn this language, it will come. So everyone please do your best (皆さん、がんばってください)!

Hey guys, it's been a couple days since I've updated. Sorry about that. The second lesson is much longer and I have other things going on too, so I am balancing it all. I will surely have the second lesson up before the end of the week. Thanks guys.

This is the introduction. This is where I am suppose to tell you my name and state interesting facts about myself. If you want to address me in any way, you can call me sensei (teacher) or just by my username. However, I am willing to bet that most people could care less and want to learn Japanese more than anything. That's why they are here. I mean no disrespect, but I really want to help people learn this language because I realize how tough it can be. So we'll get straight to that.

Japanese is a language that many people want to learn. The reasons expand from just wanting to satisfy a craving for knowledge to having to work in Japan. No matter the reason, it is a fantastic and rich language. However, it is also a difficult one. If you have the drive and the determination, it can make a world of difference when studying Japanese. So know that this language will be hard, but you can do it. Anyone can, if you really have the desire. Of course, there will be bumps in the road because you can never come by anything easily. So don't get down on yourself if you don't understand something or don't get it the first time because you eventually will.

So to begin, you always have to start with the alphabet. Most people tend to start with easy introductions, but we will not go that route. I want you to have the ability to pronounce any simplified Japanese you see. There are three different written forms in Japanese. We will start with the simplest and most common of them all: hiragana (ひらがな). The layout is like this:

あ　い　う　え　お
か　き　く　け　こ
さ　し　す　せ　そ
た　ち　つ　て　と
な　に　ぬ　ね　の
は　ひ　ふ　へ　ほ
ま　め　む　め　も
や　　　ゆ　　　　よ
ら　り　る　れ　ろ
わ　　　　　　　　を
ん

a i u e o
ka ki ku ke ko
sa shi su se so
ta chi tsu te to
na ni nu ne no
ha hi fu he ho
ma mi mu me mo
ya yu yo
ra ri ru re ro
wa (w)o
n

Now that is hiragana (ひらがな). This is what all Japanese writing is based off of. The chart bellow the characters, is the romaji(ローマ字) (which the romanized form of Japanese with use of Latin based languages to write Japanese). Basically, it's how to spell out the sounds. Any sound you hear, comes from this alphabet. Now, I will make this a small lesson. We will go over the first line:
あ　い　う　え　お which, in romaji, is a i u e o.

• あ is pronounced as the A in alarm and car
• い is pronounced as the I in chi and the E in he
• う is pronounced as the U in you and the E in new
• え is pronounced as the E in fret and threat
• お is pronounced as the O in low and toe

So you should practice getting those down first. After you practice saying it over and over, it gets easier and easier. That's what it sounds like when you hear them and that's how you read them. To write, you should just write them over and over until you get them engraved in your head. Now there is a stroke order for each character: A(3 strokes), I(2 strokes), U(2 strokes), E(2 strokes) and O(3 strokes).

That's it for the first lesson. The second lesson I'm going to go over the next three lines in the alphabet and I will have a quiz up to test you on this first and short lesson.

Edit: Sorry guys, but I realized I should have given you some examples in ways they are used. I will give you some words in Japanese in which the first 5 hiragana (ひらがな) are used.

• あ Examples: あい(Ai) - Love ; あめ (Ame) - Rain
  
• い Examples: いぬ (Inu) - Dog ; かわいい (Kawaii) - Cute
• う Examples: うた (Uta) - Song ; うるさい (Urusai) - Noisy/Annoying
• え Examples: えいご (Eigo) - English ; けいたいでんわ (Keitaidenwa) - Cellphone
• お Examples: おきる (Okiru) - To wake/get up ; おかあさん (Okaasan) - Mother

I understand that some of this hiragana （ひらがな) you guys can't understand or pronounce, but I just wanted to give you guys some examples to use for the first five. Sorry about that. Go study!

To learn a language, you must must diligent and persistent in your study. Now, Japanese, is a difficult language and can take years to master. However, with the right mindset and determination, you can learn this language. Not only that, but learn tricks to help you pick up more knowledge about the language. So study as much as possible and never give up. Whenever you find yourself down just think, we all have to start somewhere. Fluent Japaneses speakers, outside of Japan, were once in your same position. So if they can do it, so can you.