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Katakana Essentials: Fast-Track Learning with Mnemonics

Last updated: August 22, 2024

Learning katakana, although less common than hiragana, is still essential for mastering Japanese. While katakana is not used as frequently as hiragana, it is still important enough that not being able to read it will significantly impact your understanding. Most quality textbooks and learning materials, including our Migaku Japanese Course, require knowledge of katakana.

If you haven't learned hiragana yet, we suggest you do so with our hiragana guide before moving on.

Just like with hiragana, if you follow our guide, you should be able to easily read katakana in a matter of days.

To achieve this, you should follow these steps:

  1. Each section introduces five new hiragana characters, each with its own mnemonics, which are images that help you remember the character. Read the explanation, listen to the audio of the character being pronounced, and visualize the character with the mnemonic image. Don't worry about memorizing the example words, as they are just provided to give you an idea of some words that a give character can appear in.
  2. After reviewing all five characters in the section, you will be prompted with an exercise. Repeat this exercise until you feel comfortable recalling the pronunciation of each character before moving on.

No writing will be done to practice! In today's day and age, writing is something most of us rarely use, and practicing it, especially in the beginning, can easily multiply the time it takes you to learn to read hiragana.

Our recommendation is that if you want to learn to write Japanese eventually, hold back until you are a bit more advanced in the language.

The second Japanese script we will learn is called 'katakana' カタカナ or in kanji 片仮名(かたかな). If you literally translate the kanji for katakana you get "fragmented kana," which comes from the fact that katakana characters were derived from components or fragments of more complex kanji.

A graphic showing how Japanese katakana originated from parts of man'yōgana characters as a form of shorthand.

Just like hiragana, katakana is made up of 5 singular vowels, 42 consonant-vowel combinations, and one singular consonant (ン; n). There are also 2 obsolete katakana characters, ヰ i and ヱ e.

It is important to know that for every hiragana character, there is an equivalent katakana character with the same pronunciation.

One of the first questions that probably comes to mind is: "If the pronunciation is identical, why even have two sets of characters in the first place?"

Good question, young padawan. As we mentioned before, each has their own use cases.

Katakana is used to write foreign words, such as countries and place names, names of foreign people, and technical and scientific terms. It can also be used to emphasize certain words (similar to italics in European languages) and to write out onomatopoeia. There are a few more uses, but these are the main ones you will encounter.

A

I

U

E

O

アイウエオ

Now that we’ve gone over the basics of katakana, we can introduce you to the first five characters: ア・イ・ウ・エ・オ.

The first character is ア, which is represented as a, and its pronunciation is similar to the a in father.

Once again, we have a stylized version of an A.

アメリカ

America [amerika]

アイロン

iron [airon]

The second character is イ, which is represented as i, and its pronunciation is similar to the ee in meet.

When you are in Japan it's worth trying to eat (i) with chopsticks at least once.

イギリス

England [igirisu]

イラスト

illustration [irasuto]

The third character is ウ, which is represented as u, and its pronunciation is similar to the oo in shoot.

This looks just like a "U".

ウィルス

virus [uirusu]

ウィンカー

blinker [uinkaa]

The fourth character is エ, which is represented as e, and its pronunciation is close to the e in bet.

The elevator (e) doors should open soon.

エアコン

air conditioner [eakon]

エアギター

air guitar [eagitaa]

The fifth character is オ, which is represented as o, and its pronunciation is similar to the o in story.

Here we have a singer with a wide open (o) mouth singing with all his might.

オーストラリア

Australia [oosutoraria]

オイル

oil [oiru]

Now that you’ve carefully read this chapter, it's time to practice. Open the following link, select the first row of hiragana, and press the red study button. Practice until you feel comfortable with the first hiragana row before moving on.

カキクケコ

The next five are カ・キ・ク・ケ・コ.

The first character is カ, which is represented as ka, and the pronunciation is close to a combination of the k in skate and the a in father.

Look! The butcher is cutting (ka) a big piece of meat.

カナダ

Canada [kanada]

カリフォルニア

California [kariforunia]

The second character is キ, which is represented as ki, and the pronunciation is close to a combination of the k in skate and the ee in meet.

This character looks a bit like a key (ki).

キリスト

Christ [kirisuto]

キウイ

kiwi [kiui]

The third character is ク, which is represented as ku, and the pronunciation is close to a combination of the k in skate and the oo in shoot.

It’s a baby in a cradle (ku).

クウェート

Kuwait [kueeto]

クイズ

quiz [kuizu]

The fourth character is ケ, which is represented as ke, and the pronunciation is close to a combination of the k in skate and the e in bet.

If you look closely, this looks like a "K" (ke) that has been tilted.

ケーキ

cake [keeki]

ケース

case [keesu]

The fifth character is コ, which is represented as ko, and the pronunciation is close to a combination of the k in skate and the o in story.

コ has two 90 degree corners (ko).

コーヒー

coffee [koohii]

コーラ

cola [koora]

Now that you’ve carefully read this chapter, it's time to practice. Open the following link, select the first and second row of hiragana, and press the red study button. Practice until you feel comfortable with these two hiragana rows before moving on.

サシスセソ

The next five are サ・シ・ス・セ・ソ.

The first character is サ, which is represented as sa, and the pronunciation is close to a combination of the s in soup and the a in father.

It’s a saddle (sa) on a horse.

サラダ

salad [sarada]

サンドイッチ

sandwich [sandoicchi]

The second character is シ, which is represented as shi, and the pronunciation is close to a combination of the sh in sheep and the ee in meet.

She (shi) is looking upwards. Not sure what she sees there though.

シアトル

Seattle [shiatoru]

シェアハウス

share house [sheahausu]

The third character is , which is represented as su, and the pronunciation is close to a combination of the s in soup and the oo in shoot.

This looks like the perfect suit (su) hanger.

スーパー

supermarket [suupaa]

スープ

soup [suupu]

The fourth character is セ, which is represented as se, and the pronunciation is close to a combination of the s in soup and the e in bet.

Where we have a nice sénior (se) with his hat.

セットアップ

setup [settoappu]

セール

sale [seeru]

The fifth character is , which is represented as so, and the pronunciation is close to a combination of the s in soup and the o in story.

I tried to sew (so) another stitch.

ソマリア

Somalia [somaria]

ソルブ

Sorbs [sorubu]

Now that you’ve carefully read this chapter, it's time to practice. Open the following link, select the first, second and third row of hiragana, and press the red study button. Practice until you feel comfortable with these three hiragana rows before moving on.

タチツテト

The next five are タ・チ・ツ・テ・ト.

The first character is タ, which is represented as ta, and the pronunciation is close to a combination of the t in stop and the a in father.

It’s a tie (ta) flapping in the wind.

タオル

towel [taoru]

タイ

Thai [tai]

The second character is チ, which is represented as chi, and the pronunciation is close to a combination of the tch in itchy and the ee in meet.

What do we have here again? Our jumping cheerleader (chi) spreading her cheer (chi).

チキン

chicken [chikin]

チェス

chess [chesu]

The third character is ツ, which is represented as tsu, and the pronunciation is close to a combination of the ts in cats and the oo in shoot.

Oh no! Be careful, it’s a tsunami (tsu).

ツアー

tour [tsuaa]

ツイート

tweet [tsuiito]

The fourth character is テ, which is represented as te, and the pronunciation is close to a combination of the t in stop and the e in bet.

This just looks like a telephone (te) pole.

テント

tent [tento]

テニス

tennis [tenisu]

The fifth character is ト, which is represented as to, and the pronunciation is close to a combination of the t in stop and the o in story.

This is the small "t" in the word 'toe' (to).

トイレ

toilet [toire]

トンネル

tunnel [toneru]

Now that you’ve carefully read this chapter, it's time to practice. Open the following link, select all hiragana rows, from the first to the fourth, and press the red study button. Practice until you feel comfortable with these four hiragana rows before moving on.

ナニヌネノ

The next five are ナ・ニ・ヌ・ネ・ノ.

The first character is ナ, which is represented as na, and the pronunciation is close to a combination of the n in not and the a in father.

This knife (na) seems pretty sharp. But it is a little bit bent.

ナイジェリア

Nigeria [naijeria]

ナース

nurse [naasu]

The second character is ニ, which is represented as ni, and the pronunciation is close to a combination of the n in not and the ee in meet.

Here are two needles (ni) ready to sew.

ニカラグア

Nicaragua [nikaragua]

ニコチン

nicotine [nikochin]

The third character is ヌ, which is represented as nu, and the pronunciation is close to a combination of the n in not and the oo in shoot.

You are eating a delicious bowl of noodles (nu) with chopsticks.

ヌガー

nougat [nugaa]

ヌクレオシド

nucleoside [nukureoshido]

The fourth character is ネ, which is represented as ne, and the pronunciation is close to a combination of the n in not and the e in bet.

It’s a necktie (ne)!

ネガティブ

negative [negatibu]

ネイティブ

native [neitibu]

The fifth character is ノ, which is represented as no, and the pronunciation is close to a combination of the n in not and the o in story.

It’s Pinocchio with his long nose (no).

ノルマ

quota [noruma]

ノルウェー

Norway [noruuee]

Now that you’ve carefully read this chapter, it's time to practice. Open the following link, select all hiragana rows, from the first to the fifth, and press the red study button. Practice until you feel comfortable with these five hiragana rows before moving on.

ハヒフヘホ

The next five are ハ・ヒ・フ・ヘ・ホ.

The first character is ハ, which is represented as ha, and its pronunciation is close to a combination of the h in hat and the a in father.

That’s a pretty cool hat (ha) you got there.

ハイキング

hiking [haikingu]

ハイウェイ

highway [haiuei]

The second character is ヒ, which is represented as hi, and the pronunciation is close to a combination of the h in hue and the ee in meet.

It’s the heel (hi) of your foot.

ヒロイン

heroine [hiroin]

ヒーロー

hero [hiiroo]

The third character is フ, which is represented as fu, and its pronunciation is close to a combination of the ph in phew and the oo* in shoot.

This is just a flag (fu) in the wind.

ファイル

file [fairu]

フィリピン

Philippines [firipin]

The fourth character is ヘ, which is represented as he, and its pronunciation is close to a combination of the h in hat and the e in bet.

This looks exactly like the hiragana version. Easy!

ヘアクリーム

hair cream [heakuriimu]

ヘアスタイル

hairstyle [heasutairu]

The fifth character is ホ, which is represented as ho, and its pronunciation is close to a combination of the *h in hat and the *o* in story.

It’s the holy (ho) cross with holy (ho) light around it.

ホイール

wheel [hoiiru]

ホラー

horror [horaa]

Now that you’ve carefully read this chapter, it's time to practice. Open the following link, select all hiragana rows, from the first to the sixth, and press the red study button. Practice until you feel comfortable with these six hiragana rows before moving on.

マミムメモ

The next five are マ・ミ・ム・メ・モ.

The first character is マ, which is represented as ma, and the pronunciation is close to a combination of the m in much and the a in father.

All those angles and numbers … I hate math (ma).

マイアミ

Miami [maiami]

マイク

microphone [maiku]

The second character is ミ, which is represented as mi, and the pronunciation is close to a combination of the m in much and the ee in meet.

Oh no! Three missiles (mi) are about to hit.

ミサイル

missile [misairu]

ミクロ

micro [mikuro]