I need some help with actually studying Hiragana and Katakana

I’m not sure exactly what I should try doing. Should I just get notecards or write it all down until I can remember? I’m not sure, I really need some advice because I’m doing erm… less then well in my class.

9 comments
  1. Try the memory hint apps by Japan Foundation. There is one app for hiragana, one for katakana and three for some kanji. It shows hints to help you memorise them, like “hotel” for “ho” because the hiragana can resemble a tall hotel building

  2. My favorite tip that helped me get both hiragana and katakana down in a few days was this.

    Think of a few words you already know, simple ones, nothing fancy, like hello, or cute, anything at all. And write those words in both hiragana and katakana over and over until you can write them down without looking; then go to a new word with some similar and some different letters and write the previous word and the new word until can write both those words down without looking. Keep following and updating the process until you got the majority of letters down.

    Tips:

    If you find you’re missing some letters, find some words you think really standout!

    If you find yourself with too many words, You can break them down into groups of 5 or so until you can write those down without looking then go to another set of 5.

    This is by far the best and quickest process that worked for me. It also helps with learning a few words while you’re at it!

    Good luck

  3. I did the “write the chart down until you can do it from memory”

    just start with first column, look at the answer if you screw up, then start over…

    it’s simple technique

  4. I see this issue a lot. You want to know how to study it or whatever. I did the same thing when I started. The answer is that you just gotta do it. There are youtube videos, websites, etc. Just sit down and do it.

  5. Just put in the reps. Some things I used:

    Realkana.com

    iOS app “Kana – Hiragana and Katakana”

    iOS app “Kana drill”

    Duolingo has a dedicated section just to kana

    Then of course reading the textbooks, vocab words, etc…

    I started by just doing a row a time, then adding a row the next day, etc…. so that after a week or whatever I “knew” them all. Then I’ve just been drilling since then.

    I’ve never actually physically written any and I feel like I learned them just fine. If you need more than just brute forcing it into your brain, maybe this guide will help https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/learn-hiragana/

  6. Memorize, test yourself, memorize, rinse and repeat. Write them down again and again, and perform reading practice. Doesn’t matter if you don’t understand the sentences yet, just try to pronounce the characters as your eyes skim past them faster and faster. And do it again and get better until you git gud and feel the joy throughout all of the journey. Good luck!

  7. Just keep writing down anything you can think of, and check when you can’t remember the character.

  8. Used the drops app. You can only do about 5 minutes a day for free but it’s good. Then do anki flash cards or learnthekana.com . Don’t do too much tho. Only do a 10-20 minutes each day. Space out your sessions.

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