Hiragana:Lesson 1

History

Hiragana (hee-rah-gah-nah) is taken from the Kanji characters. First, Japan only used Kanji but eventually started breaking them down into phonetic bits. Thus, Hiragana and Katakana were formed.

Hiragana is nothing to be frustrated over if it is not undestood immediately. It is rather simple and easy to learn. Once you learn how to write it, you can also read it.

Hiragana is very closely distinguished from other Kanji and Katakana characters. See if you can tell the difference below:

B

A

C

The correct answer is B. Don't worry if you are new to this and didn't get it right. The above characters represent the letter A, or the sound "ah." A is Kanji and C is Katakana. Let's practice some more...

Okay, take the Hiragana chart and the Katakana chart and notice the difference. Hiragana is much more curley looking and Katakana is straighter and defined.

See how different they look when compared to each other?!? They are actually both derived from the same source, Kanji. Kanji is derived from Chinese characters.

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