Learn Japanese, in the right order.
Japanese is written in three scripts at once. Two of them spell sound and are finite: forty-six characters each, learnable in a fortnight. The third runs into the thousands, and every one of its characters is read in the first two. So the path here has two chapters, and the first one is kana.
Kana: the two scripts that spell every sound
Kana is the collective name for the two Japanese syllabic scripts, hiragana and katakana. Together they spell every sound in the language: 46 characters each, plus voiced forms and combinations built from those same shapes.
Why first? Every kanji has a reading, and every reading is written in kana. Kana is the notation the rest of the language is recorded in, so learning it first gives everything you study afterwards somewhere to land. Reading recognition for both scripts usually takes two to four weeks at fifteen focused minutes a day.
Everything in this chapter is free, and all of it is written by the same hand that made the workbook.
- Kana: the full guide, how the three scripts fit together and what to learn first.
- Hiragana chart and guide, all 46 characters, voiced forms, combinations and the look-alike pairs.
- Katakana chart and guide, the second script, the long-vowel bar, and シ vs ツ settled for good.
- Printable worksheets, a tracing sheet you can print right now, with no sign-up.
- Free Kana Starter Pack, fifteen characters, tracing pages, a mini quiz and a tracker. No cost.
Learn Japanese. Follow the story. Become part of it.
A learning experience built around one continuing story, starting at JLPT N5 and N4. At its centre, an original manga written for learners: chapter one is drawn, and we are not showing it yet.
The Kana Workbook stands alone today, and everything Nihongo opens later builds on the same characters and pace. No dates. Just the order. The early list hears first, every time.
Start here
Get the free Kana Starter Pack
Fifteen characters, real tracing pages, a mini reading quiz and a progress tracker. Enough to finish your first row properly and find out whether this way of studying suits you.
Hikari Nihongo: Kana
All 92 characters across both scripts. Every voiced form, every combination, every look-alike pair untangled. Stroke order, tracing pages, handwriting grids, reading drills with no romaji, and a full answer key.