Hiragana chart
Hiragana is the first alphabet to learn. Every Japanese word can be written in it, and it carries all the grammar: the endings, the particles, the small connecting words.
Practice this These are quick quizzes, and the cards you miss come back until you get them right.
The basic 46
With dakuten and handakuten
Two small marks change the sound: ゛ turns k into g, s into z, t into d, h into b; ゜ turns h into p.
Combinations
A small ゃ ゅ ょ after an i-row kana glues onto it and makes one beat, not two.
What trips people up
は as a particle is read WA
Inside a word は is ha (はな, hana, flower). When it marks the topic of a sentence it is read wa.
へ as a particle is read E
Inside a word へ is he (へや, heya, room). When it marks direction it is read e.
を is only a particle
Read o. It appears almost nowhere except marking the object of a verb.
っ is a small tsu, and it is silence
It doubles the next consonant: きって (kitte, stamp) has a beat of held silence where っ is.
ー lengthens a vowel, in katakana
ラーメン is raamen, not ramen. In hiragana a long vowel is written with a vowel: おかあさん.
ん is a full beat
にほん has three beats: ni-ho-n. Rushing ん is one of the most audible beginner accents.