Hiragana and katakana: a first-week practice plan

Learn hiragana and katakana by connecting each symbol to its sound, then reading short words in a mixed order. A first week can give you a useful start. Comfortable recall may take longer, and knowing kana alone does not mean you can understand ordinary Japanese text: vocabulary, grammar and kanji still matter.

This plan gives you a sequence, small reading checks and a way to decide what to review. You can stretch any day into several sessions. For the bigger picture, use our Japanese beginner roadmap.

What hiragana and katakana do

Hiragana is used in grammatical endings, particles and many words. Katakana is common in borrowed words and names, as well as other uses such as emphasis. Both appear alongside kanji in normal Japanese writing.

Each script has 46 basic symbols in the standard beginner chart. Marks and combinations extend the sounds you can write. Learn the basic chart as a foundation, then make time for those additions.

The Japan Foundation's hiragana and katakana chart is available with and without romanization. Use the version with support to check a reading, then cover the answer or use the version without it for recall.

Keep the basic chart within reach

The table below pairs the basic symbols. Use audio from your course to learn their pronunciation; the Roman letters are a reference rather than an exact guide to Japanese sound.

Group	Hiragana	Katakana	Reference reading
Vowels	あ い う え お	ア イ ウ エ オ	a, i, u, e, o
K	か き く け こ	カ キ ク ケ コ	ka, ki, ku, ke, ko
S	さ し す せ そ	サ シ ス セ ソ	sa, shi, su, se, so
T	た ち つ て と	タ チ ツ テ ト	ta, chi, tsu, te, to
N	な に ぬ ね の	ナ ニ ヌ ネ ノ	na, ni, nu, ne, no
H	は ひ ふ へ ほ	ハ ヒ フ ヘ ホ	ha, hi, fu, he, ho
M	ま み む め も	マ ミ ム メ モ	ma, mi, mu, me, mo
Y	や ゆ よ	ヤ ユ ヨ	ya, yu, yo
R	ら り る れ ろ	ラ リ ル レ ロ	ra, ri, ru, re, ro
W	わ を	ワ ヲ	wa, o
Final nasal	ん	ン	n

The readings above describe the chart. In grammar, some kana have special particle readings: は is read wa and へ is read e when used as particles. Learn those uses in sentences when your course introduces them.

Your first-week practice plan

Use one or two rows at a time if the full day's group is too much. The purpose is to establish a process you can repeat, not to finish 92 symbols by a deadline.

Day	Focus	Practice	Check
1	Hiragana vowels and K row	Listen, trace and recall a small group	Can you identify the symbols when shuffled?
2	Add the next hiragana rows	Review yesterday's group before adding more	Can you recall old and new symbols together?
3	Continue hiragana and read words	Read short combinations from the groups you know	Are you sounding out the symbols rather than guessing a memorised word?
4	Start katakana	Pair a small katakana group with its sounds	Can you distinguish the new shapes?
5	Continue katakana	Read familiar loanwords after learning their symbols	Can you read without an English word giving away the answer?
6	Marks, small kana and vowel length	Work through examples with audio	Can you notice the difference between a full-size and small symbol?
7	Mixed review	Use the self-check below and revisit weak groups	Which symbols or sound patterns need another week?

Begin each session with recall before looking at the chart. Then learn a small amount of new material and end with a short word. If the review is already difficult, use the session for consolidation instead of adding another row.

Notice the marks that change a reading

Two small marks, called dakuten, change certain kana: for example, か becomes が, read ga. The small circle, handakuten, changes the H row to P sounds, such as は becoming ぱ, read pa. Katakana uses corresponding forms, such as カ, ガ and パ.

Small ゃ, ゅ and ょ combine with suitable kana. For example, きゃ is read kya, while きや has a full-size や and is read ki-ya. The distinction is visible, so check the size before trying to read faster.

Small っ or ッ marks an extra consonant timing unit in words such as きって, kitte, meaning stamp. It is not read as a separate full tsu there. Long vowels also need attention: the ー in コーヒー, kōhī, lengthens the preceding vowel.

The Japan Foundation's Irodori kana resources include practice material for hiragana and katakana. Use a lesson's audio to check timing instead of treating these written rules as a substitute for listening.

Write enough to notice the shape

Use a model with stroke order and compare your attempt with it. A few careful attempts followed by recall are more informative than filling a page while looking continuously at the answer.

Try this sequence: look, trace or copy, cover, write from memory, then check. Say the sound as you work. If a mnemonic helps you recall a symbol, use it; if it makes the task more complicated, choose a simpler association or rely on repeated reading.

Some printed and handwritten forms look different. Follow a beginner handwriting model rather than trying to reproduce every detail of a screen font.

Pay particular attention to similar-looking katakana such as シ and ツ, or ソ and ン. Compare their strokes in a reliable chart, then practise identifying them in a mixed group. Do not rely only on the order in which they appeared in your lesson.

Read a few useful words

Try the kana first. Cover the reading column, say the word, then check it with your course or dictionary audio.

Kana	Reference reading	Meaning
いぬ	inu	Dog
ねこ	neko	Cat
みず	mizu	Water
ともだち	tomodachi	Friend
がっこう	gakkō	School
テレビ	terebi	Television
バス	basu	Bus
ホテル	hoteru	Hotel
コーヒー	kōhī	Coffee
ノート	nōto	Notebook

The hiragana spellings here are for reading practice; you will encounter kanji for several of these words in ordinary text. Reading the kana aloud is one task, and understanding the word in a sentence is another.

A short reading check with answers

Without looking at the tables, try these tasks:

1. Match あ to its katakana partner: ア, カ or タ.
2. Read ねこ and identify its meaning from the word table.
3. Does きゃ contain a small ゃ or a full-size や?
4. Find the small consonant-timing marker in がっこう.
5. Read ホテル before checking its meaning.
6. What do the two ー marks tell you to notice in コーヒー?

Answers: 1. ア. 2. Neko, cat. 3. Small ゃ; the combination is kya. 4. っ. 5. Hoteru, hotel. 6. Vowel length after コ and ヒ.

If you can answer only because you remember the order, shuffle the tasks or ask someone to point to different symbols. If you can decode a word but pronunciation feels uncertain, return to the audio. Repeat the check in a later session; this is a practice tool, not a level test.

Move into vocabulary and conversation

Keep reviewing kana while starting simple sentences, listening and speaking. You do not need instant recognition of every symbol before asking a basic question. Use the Japanese beginner roadmap to connect the skills, and add kanji through useful words as your course introduces them.

If you want to continue in Japan, explore the Core Japanese Course at GenkiJACS. Ask about beginner start dates and the reading skills expected before arrival at your selected campus. Contact Asia Pathway with your dates, level and preferred destination to compare an appropriate course.