Hiragana や・ら・わ・ん, dakuten, and small ゃゅょ
Finish hiragana: やゆよ, らりるれろ, わをん. Add dakuten for がざだば, and small ゃゅょ so きょう is one beat. Then you can read わたし, ください, and さくら.
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Hiragana は・ま rows — は as a particle, not only a letter
Write はひふへほ and まみむめも. Hear は as ha in はい and as わ when it marks a topic. See ま inside ます. Two cups: one hot, one cold.
Hiragana た・な rows — who, what, and the sound of ん later
Write たちつてと and なにぬねの. Read なに and たな. Preview たべます as a word on a lunch plan, not as a full ます lesson. だ waits for dakuten.
Hiragana か・さ rows — shops, umbrellas, and the first hard consonants
Attach the first consonants to あいうえお. Write かきくけこ and さしすせそ, then own かさ (umbrella) and あさ (morning) as real words, not romaji puzzles.
I am — です and the topic は
Build the first polite sentence: A は B です. Use は as a topic marker, give your name, and survive a guesthouse lobby without anime-speak.
Hiragana あいうえお — five vowels you will meet every day
Learn あ い う え お by sound and hand. Then read あお, いえ, and the あ inside はい — the first row of Japanese, not a children’s toy.
Why romaji will stall you — Japanese starts as sound you can write
Romaji is a bridge, not a house. Learn why hiragana is the floor of listening, menus, and です sentences — and how to spend your first week without living in English letters.
How to start Japanese here — scripts, polite speech, then real rooms
A free Japanese classroom for thirteen languages. Start with sound you can write, then です/ます you can use in Japan, then stations, shops, and hotels. No anime slang as your base voice.