Practise a few kana at a time in real words, then come back to them on later days.

The idea

Look at a small group of characters, listen to words, say them and write them from memory; check the shape afterward. Mix old and new cards and read short sentences. Contrast きて with きって: small っ marks a consonant pause. Compare おばさん with おばあさん and notice long vowels, including the long mark ー in katakana.

Patterns to compare
JapaneseMeaning
きて／きってきて and きって: contrast the small っ
おばさん／おばあさんaunt and grandmother: contrast vowel length
コーヒーcoffee: katakana long-vowel marks

Examples

  • 手紙てがみにきってを貼はります。I put a stamp on a letter.
  • おばさんはここに住すんでいます。My aunt lives here.
  • おばあさんが公園こうえんを歩あるいています。An older woman is walking in the park.
  • きょうは雨あめが降ふります。It will rain today.
  • カメラをかばんに入いれます。I put a camera in my bag.
  • 朝あさ、コーヒーを飲のみます。I drink coffee in the morning.

Read-aloud uses a synthetic Japanese voice available on your device. Voice quality and availability vary; it does not assess your pronunciation.

Watch out

A small っ is not a full-sized つ, and a long vowel can change a word’s meaning. Do not treat hiragana and katakana as interchangeable spellings of every word.

Try it yourself

  1. Choose the word for a stamp. 手紙てがみに＿を貼はります。（きって／きて）

    Show answer or example answer

    きって

    きって means a stamp; small っ is part of its spelling.

  2. Choose the word for your mother’s older sister. 母ははの姉あねは＿です。（おばさん／おばあさん）

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    おばさん

    A mother’s older sister is an aunt: おばさん. おばあさん means grandmother or an older woman.

  3. Write “coffee” in katakana, including its long vowels. 飲のみ物ものをカタカナで書かきます。＿。（コーヒー／コヒ）

    Show answer or example answer

    コーヒー

    コーヒー is written in katakana with two long-vowel marks.

Use it today

Choose five kana, read two words with each, cover the chart and write them from memory. Check again tomorrow.