Kana Trainer

The 5 vowels — every kana ends in one

a = “ah” (father)

i = “ee” (see)

u = “oo” (boot)

e = “eh” (bed)

o = “oh” (go)

Read straight: か = k + ah = “kah”. So かきくけこ = ka ki ku ke ko.

A few that surprise people

し = “shee”, ち = “chee”, つ = “tsoo”, ふ = a soft “foo”, the ら-row r is a light tap (between l & r), を = “o”, ん = “n”.

Dakuten ゛ & handakuten ゜ — just voicing

゛(two dashes) turn on your voice — same kana, new sound:

か→が k→gさ→ざ s→zた→だ t→dは→ば h→b

゜(circle) makes a p-sound: は→ぱ (h→p). So you never learn new shapes — recognize the base kana, then voice it.