Learn the Hiragana N 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 20 Hiragana characters in the previous lessons. |
| なにぬねの |
| In this lesson, you'll learn five new Hiragana characters. |
| The first Hiragana character for this lesson is な. な. |
| Think of な as a complicated *KNO*T! |
| Are you confused between た and な? Just remember that な looks more complicated so it gets mixed up in a *KNO*T. Also, remember that the left side of た is *TA*LLER. |
| Do you remember that Hiragana い is used as a suffix for MOST adjectives? These are called い-adjectives. The other kinds of adjectives are the な-adjectives. These use the Hiragana な as the particle to connect to nouns. |
| Hiragana な is written in 4 strokes. |
| The first stroke is a short horizontal stroke. |
| Next is a diagonal stroke that cuts through the first stroke. It only goes until the middle. |
| The third stroke is a short curved stroke to the right and under of the first stroke. It ends with a "hane" and continues on to the next stroke. |
| The final stroke goes downwards then makes a loop. Unlike the loop in す, this one doesn't need to follow the same line as when it started the loop. |
| Ok, let's see it again. |
| Ok, next up is the Hiragana character に. に. |
| に looks like a *KNEE*. Easy to remember, right? |
| Hiragana に is written in 3 strokes. |
| The first stroke is like that of the Hiragana け. It is a vertical stroke with a slight outward curve and then it ends with a "hane." |
| The second and third stroke is like the Hiragana こ but smaller. Start with the curved line on top that ends with a "hane." Then follow it with the bottom line curved in the opposite way. |
| Ok, let's see it again. |
| The third one is the Hiragana ぬ. ぬ. |
| To remember this character, think of a pair of chopsticks holding a bunch of *NOO*dles! |
| Hiragana ぬ is written in 2 strokes. |
| First draw a curved, slanted line. |
| The second stroke starts at the same height as the first stroke, but curves opposite it, makes a big curve, then finishes with a loop. |
| Take a look at the proportions of the spaces. These two are small ones, this one is a bit larger, and this one has the biggest space. |
| Ok, let's see it again. |
| Think of ね as a S*NAI*L hiding behind a *NAI*L |
| ね looks similar to ぬ doesn't it? Well, just remember that you need a pair of chopsticks to be able to hold your *NOO*dles so ぬ has two lines sticking out on top of the curve and ね just has ONE. |
| Hiragana ね is written in 2 strokes. |
| The first stroke is a vertical line which goes from top to bottom. |
| The second stroke starts with a short horizontal line that passes the first stroke. It then goes diagonally to the left passing the first stroke again, then it retraces back, makes a big curve, and ends with a loop. |
| Ok, let's see it again. |
| And our final character for this lesson is the Hiragana の. の. |
| It's easy to remember this one. It's like a "NO" sign. |
| の is also a widely used Hiragana. It is the particle used to denote possession. |
| Hiragana の is written in 1 stroke. |
| It starts from this point, goes down then bends to the left and continues on to make a big curve that passes through the starting point. |
| Make sure that the curve meets the starting point but try your best not to go too low and make the vertical line protrude. |
| Ok, let's see it again. |
| Let's see all the characters again. な, に, ぬ, ね, の. |
| 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? |
| に. Just like a *KNEE* remember? |
| の. |
| Which one is the Hiragana た? [pause for 3 sec] It's this one! It does look like a "ta", doesn't it? |
| じ. This also means "letter." |
| Remember this one? [pause for 3 sec] It's せ. |
| "Cuckkoo!" It's a く. |
| ぬ. |
| なに. This means what? What! なに means "what". |
| いぬ. This means "dog." |
| "Meow!" ねこ is "cat." |
| にじ. にじ means "rainbow." |
| おかね means "money." |
| せなか. It refers to your upper back. |
| なっとう. なっとう is fermented soybeans. It's known to be very smelly, but it's very good for you! |
| おねがい. Means "Please!" As a noun, it also means "a request." |
| Great job! Are you wondering why there's no dakuten version of なにぬねの? This is because the "N" sound is already voiced. Try to feel your throat. "Nnnnn." There's a vibration, right? |
| Ok, let's wrap up this lesson by recapping what you've learned. |
| In this lesson, you learned the Hiragana characters な, に, ぬ , ね, and の. |
| よくできました！You've now mastered 25 characters and 40 Japanese syllables: |
| Did you miss the dakuten in this lesson? Next time, I'm going to introduce 5 more characters and ANOTHER modifying mark, so don't miss it! |
| Before you go, practice writing the following words on your own! |
| [pause] |
| And to learn MORE Japanese, go to JapanesePod101.com. |
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| See you in the next lesson! またね！ |
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