Learn how to read and write hiragana characters, な, に, ぬ, ね, の
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| みなさんこんにちは。(Mina-san konnichiwa.) |
| Hi everyone and welcome back to JapanesePod101.com’s Kantan kana. In the last lesson, we learned the Hiragana characters た(ta), ち(chi), つ(tsu), て(te) and と(to). Be sure to review the last lesson if you are not feeling confident. After this lesson, you will have learned over half of the Hiragana characters. Keep going but don’t forget to review the ones that you’ve already learned. |
| We will start with な(na). な(na) is one of just three Hiragana characters that have four strokes 1, 2, 3, 4. |
| なつ(natsu) “Summer” |
| あなた(anata) “You”. |
| Next up is に. 1, there is a はね(hane), right here, 2, 3. The character kind of looks like a knee. These two strokes are the kneecap. Do you see it? |
| にく(niku), “Meat” |
| かに(kani) , “Crab”. |
| Here is ぬ(nu). The first stroke goes at an angle. The second stroke crosses over twice and ends in a loop. |
| いぬ(inu) “Dog” |
| きぬ(kinu), “Silk”. |
| Let’s learn ね(ne). The first stroke is straight up and down. Then we cross it once, twice, three times and finish in a loop. Think of this loop as a fish swimming in a net. |
| ねこ(neko) “Cat” |
| おかね(o-kane) “Money”. |
| Finally here is の(no). Just think of this as a sign with the slash through it like a no smoking sign. いのしし(inoshishi), “Wild boar” |
| おの(ono), “axe”. |
| Now let’s have a short quiz. I will show you the Hiragana and you read it. Bonus points if you remember what it means. |
| あなた(anata) “You” |
| いぬ(inu) “Dog”, |
| おかね(o-kane), “Money. |
| Now it’s time for Chihiro’s tip. Hiragana has evolved for more complex Chinese characters called 漢字(kanji). Some 漢字(kanji) had easily recognizable sounds, so they were used phonetically. Then those were simplified over time and are used in the Hiragana today. That’s why you can find some kanji that look like Hiragana and sounds similar too. |
| Have you ever given はな(hana) to your はは(haha). In the next lesson, you will learn how to write flower and mother in Hiragana. See you next time. |
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