A tiny lesson.

おはようございます！

I meant to do this earlier, but I figured that post was long enough.

I was considering something based on a conversation I was having with someone who was curious about Japanese.

I was thinking I could give lessons as I was learning them. Not anything heavy, more like just the hiragana.

Now, I know what you may be thinking. There are so many sites out there that will teach what I know. But, heck, I may do something different or explain something in a different way that might help. Or, maybe this will just help me. Who knows.

First, in this post, just the base sounds. I say base, because every Kana (hiragana and katakana) will end with these sounds. All but one. Yes, there are exceptions to everything. But in this, there is only one exception. Let me go ahead and get this out of the way.

ん = n. Easy enough, right? When you see ん, you make an 'n' sound. There is a trick to this sound however. and if you mess it up, it's fine. I think it only helps to sound more native, but you will never be laughed at if you don't do it. When you make the sound, you say it like the 'n' in sung. As in, you use the base of the tongue. It take practice to get it, but believe me, if a southerner, such as myself, can get it, so can you!

Now, on to the base sounds.

あ = a. Pronounced like "ah" but short.
い = i. Pronounced like 'ee' like the sound in see, but short.
う = u. Pronounced like 'oo', like the sound in pool, but short. (Seeing a pattern here? All sounds are short.)
え = e. Pronounced like the 'eh', in egg, but, of course short.
お = o. Pronounced like 'oh', but... you guessed it, it's a short sound.

There, that wasn't so hard, was it?

And what is better, is that with those few Hiragana, you can already start working on your vocabulary. RIGHT?

Here are a few:

え = Picture. WHAT? THAT? Yep! It can be used for anything drawn or painted. A photograph is different.
いう = To say, to tell, to talk.
あい = Love. Well, there is more to it that than, but we will get into that later. ai means love. Let's just go with that for now.
いえ = House, as in household. Not the actual HOUSE house, but what it contains. Or home.
いい = Good. When you see two of the same base hiragana together, it makes the long sound. いい would be read or said as 'eeee'
いいえ = No.
あう = To meet.
ええ = A less formal yes. Everyone knows Hai.
うえ = Up, Above.
One last one. You can do it!
うん = Ah ha! There is that ん！ This, dear friends, is the even LESS formal yes. Essentially, it means 'yeah.'

There, that wasn't too hard, was it?

10 words from 5 kana. Imagine what can be done after another 5 tomorrow?

Happy learning!