Learn the Hiragana Y column and digraphs
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| Hi everyone! Welcome to BASIC JAPANESE WRITING. The fastest, easiest and most fun way to master the Japanese alphabet! |
| BASIC JAPANESE WRITING |
| You've learned these 40 hiragana characters from the previous lessons. |
| In this lesson, you'll learn three new characters, AND 33 new syllable sounds. Yes, 33! 11 times 3, 33 new sounds! Gotta learn them all! |
| やゆよ |
| The first hiragana character for this lesson is や. や. |
| や actually looks like a YAK. The two horns are protruding on top. |
| Hiragana や is written in 3 strokes. |
| The first stroke is a long diagonal line going up which ends with a curve. It looks like a small and slim つ. |
| The second stroke is a short slanted stroke at the top center. |
| The third stroke is a tall diagonal line which cuts through the first stroke around 1/3 from the left. |
| Ok, let's see it again. |
| The third hiragana for this lesson is ゆ. ゆ. |
| There's a magical way to remember ゆ. Just think of a UNICORN! |
| ゆ is also a popular hiragana character. But not because of how it's used in a sentence, but because it is used as mark for おんせん or hot spring baths. ゆ actually stands for おゆ meaning "hot water." |
| Hiragana ゆ is written in 2 strokes. |
| The first stroke starts as a vertical line going down. Then it retraces back a bit, then forms a huge curve that almost turns into a circle. |
| The second stroke is a curved vertical stroke that cuts through the curved part of the first stroke. It finishes up with a flick of your pen. |
| Ok, let's see it again. |
| Our final character for this lesson is the hiragana よ. よ. |
| To remember よ, imagine a YOYO dangling from a finger. |
| Hiragana よ is written in 2 strokes. |
| The first stroke is a short horizontal stroke starting from the center, going to the right. |
| The second stroke starts as a vertical line going down, then it makes a loop towards the bottom. |
| Ok, let's see it again. |
| There's another set of syllables in Japanese which is formed by adding the や, ゆ, or よ sound to a consonant + an "i" sound. |
| This time the や, ゆ, and よ characters are written smaller. |
| These are the Japanese digraphs called ようおん. Even though they look longer, they're still said for the same duration as the previous syllables that you've learned. |
| きゃ, きゅ, きょ. ぎゃ, ぎゅ, ぎょ. |
| しゃ, しゅ, しょ. じゃ, じゅ, じょ. |
| ちゃ, ちゅ, ちょ. にゃ, にゅ, にょ. |
| ひゃ, ひゅ, ひょ. びゃ, びゅ, びょ. ぴゃ, ぴゅ, ぴょ. |
| みゃ, みゅ, みょ. りゃ, りゅ, りょ. |
| Technically, you could also make a digraph with ぢ but it is not in use any more. |
| One thing to note is that you need to be careful when writing or pronouncing them. They are written smaller and they are pronounced by gliding to the Y-sound and not pronouncing the "i" sound. Doing it otherwise might get you a completely different word. |
| Here's an example: りゅう means "dragon," but りゆう means "reason." |
| Another one is きょう meaning "today." However, when you pronounce the "i" sound and say きよう, it means "handy" or "skilled." |
| Let's see all the characters again. や, ゆ, よ. |
| And the digraphs: きゃ, きゅ, きょ. ぎゃ, ぎゅ, ぎょ. |
| しゃ, しゅ, しょ. じゃ, じゅ, じょ. |
| ちゃ, ちゅ, ちょ. にゃ, にゅ, にょ. |
| ひゃ, ひゅ, ひょ. びゃ, びゅ, びょ. ぴゃ, ぴゅ, ぴょ. |
| みゃ, みゅ, みょ. りゃ, りゅ, りょ. |
| 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? |
| よ. |
| ほ. |
| ゆ. The magical UNICORN. |
| や. |
| の. |
| あ. Remember the APPLE? |
| し. |
| ゆめ. It means "dream." |
| やま. やま is "mountain." |
| やすい. This means "cheap." |
| りょうり. りょうり means "cooking." Are you good at it? |
| かいしゃ. It means "company," |
| じゅうどう. じゅうどう is a national sport of Japan. |
| しゅくだい. This means "homework." You'd better do it! |
| びょういん. It means "hospital." You don't want to confuse it with びよういん meaning "hairdresser" |
| Great job! Do you like listening to Japanese songs? Try finding the lyrics in Japanese with furigana online and practice your hiragana by reading them and eventually singing them! |
| Ok, let's wrap up this lesson by recapping what you've learned. |
| In this lesson, you learned the hiragana characters や, ゆ, and よ and all the Japanese digraphs. |
| よくできました！ You've now mastered 43 characters and 99 Japanese syllables: Wow! |
| We're going to finish up hiragana in the next lesson with the last 3 characters – わ, を, and ん, so don't miss it! |
| Before you go, practice writing the following words on your own! |
| And to learn MORE Japanese, go to JapanesePod101.com. |
| Are you an anime fan? Japanese anime is so popular that many people try to incorporate it into their language learning routine. So, by popular demand, we've made a list of the best animes to help you learn Japanese! Check out our list of The Top 10 Anime To Help You Learn Japanese now! |
| See you in the next lesson! またね！ |
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