Learn the Hiragana S column
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| Hi everyone! Welcome to BASIC JAPANESE WRITING. The fastest, easiest, and most fun way to master the Japanese alphabet! |
| You've learned these 10 Hiragana characters from the previous lessons. |
| In this lesson, you'll learn five new characters and again, 10 NEW sounds. |
| The first Hiragana character for this lesson is さ. さ. |
| This one looks like a SAD, SIGHING face. |
| Did you notice that さ and き looks similar? A good tip to remember the difference is that さ is so extra SAD that it gets one less line. |
| All of the characters in this column can also be altered by a "dakuten." Can you try and guess what the new sound will be? |
| It will be ざ. Do you notice the difference? さ; ざ. さ; ざ. |
| Hiragana さ is written in 3 strokes. |
| It's written the same way as き but without the first stroke. |
| So it starts with this line written at an angle. Then the second stroke cuts through it and ends with a "hane." And finally, draw half a smile. |
| Remember, it looks connected in fonts but the right way to write it is to lift up your pen first before drawing the last stroke. |
| Ok, let's see it again. |
| Ok, next up is the Hiragana character し. し. |
| It looks like a FISHING hook. |
| Let's add a dakuten to し. How do you think it will sound like now? |
| Did you think it was "ZI"? Actually, し with a dakuten is pronounced as じ. し; じ. し; じ. |
| Hiragana し is written in 1 stroke. |
| Start with a vertical line going down then at the bottom make it curve up. Flick your pen at the end of this stroke. |
| Ok, let's see it again. |
| The third one is the Hiragana す. す. |
| す looks like a SUPIRAL SUTRAW in a glass. |
| Let's add a "dakuten" to す as well. What do you think it will sound like? |
| It's pronounced as ず. す; ず. す; ず. |
| Hiragana す is written in 2 strokes. |
| The first stroke is a horizontal line going from left to right. |
| The second stroke starts from the top, goes down, makes a loop around here, continues going down, then finishes by curving to the left. Flick your pen at the end of this stroke. |
| To have a good balance for this character, intersect the first stroke a bit right of the center when drawing the second stroke. This will give space for the loop. |
| Also, try to draw the same line before and after making the loop to make your writing neat. |
| Make sure there is a gap between the first stroke and the loop as well. |
| Ok, let's see it again. |
| This is the Hiragana character せ. せ. |
| Imagine せ as a mouth facing sideways. It's about to SAY something! |
| Let's modify せ with a dakuten. |
| It is now pronounced as ぜ. せ; ぜ. せ; ぜ. |
| Hiragana せ is written in 3 strokes. |
| This first stroke is a long horizontal stroke at the center. |
| The second stroke is a short vertical line that ends with a "hane" going towards the upper left corner. |
| Since the previous stroke ends with a "hane," continue the motion of your pen to this point and start drawing a vertical line that curves to the right at the bottom. Do not Flick your pen. |
| Keep in mind that the third stroke should not be longer than the first stroke. Also, try to keep a balance where the 2nd and 3rd stroke intersect the first stroke. |
| Ok, let's see it again. |
| And our final character for this lesson is the Hiragana そ. そ. |
| To remember そ, just imagine a zigzag SEWING stitch. |
| Now, can you go and say what そ sounds like with a dakuten? |
| It will be ぞ. そ; ぞ. そ; ぞ. |
| Hiragana そ is written in 1 stroke. |
| The first stroke is kind of a zigzag line. First try writing a letter Z on the top half and then continue by writing a letter C on the bottom half without raising your pen. |
| However don't make it curl up like a normal letter C. |
| One thing to keep in mind is that this line in the middle should be longer than this line on top. |
| Ok, let's see it again. |
| Hiragana そ actually has another way of writing, but this time with 2 strokes. This is used less often than the one before. |
| The first stroke is a short slanted line. The second stroke is exactly the same as the more common way of writing it but without this part. |
| Ok, let's see it again. |
| Let's see all the characters again. さ, ざ, し, じ, す, ず, せ, ぜ, そ, ぞ. |
| Quiz time! |
| Now, let's review what you've learned. I'll show you a character or group of characters and give you time to say them. Ready? |
| せ. |
| Which one is the Hiragana さ? [pause 3 sec] It's this one with one less horizontal line. |
| ず. The word ず actually means "diagram." |
| Did you remember this one? It's お. |
| This one is け. |
| すし. It's the famous Japanese dish! |
| じこ. This means "accident". |
| すき. すき means "like"! |
| さく. This means "to bloom." |
| ぞう. ぞう is "elephant." |
| おかし. This means "sweets". |
| おさけ. おさけ means "alcohol." |
| さいご. It means "last." |
| そうぞう. そうぞう means "imagination." |
| Try saying this long one: (pause 3 sec) こうこうせい. A こうこうせい is a high school student. |
| Great job! Do you want to get better at pronunciation? Try listening to Japanese blogs and podcasts. If you don't know where to look, we have a huge library at JapanesePod101.com! Remember, mnemonics help you associate English words with the characters so they do not necessarily teach you the right pronunciation. |
| Ok, let's wrap up this lesson by recapping what you've learned. |
| In this lesson, you learned さ and ざ, し and じ, す and ず, せ and ぜ, and そ and ぞ. |
| よくできました！You've now mastered 15 characters and 25 Japanese syllables: |
| Did you know that Japanese has a word for "the day after tomorrow?" You'll get to know it in the next lesson when we tackle the T column. |
| Before you go, practice writing the following words on your own! |
| [pause] |
| And to learn MORE Japanese, go to JapanesePod101.com. |
| Hey guys, what's your number one reason for learning a language? We asked our other listeners this question and compiled a list from their answers! You might be surprised to hear what a few of them said! Check out the list in the link below – you'll even learn a little Japanese while you're at it! |
| See you in the next lesson! またね！ |
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