📘 Foundation · Absolute Beginner

Learn Katakana with Mnemonics

Katakana is used for foreign words, names, and emphasis. The same sounds as hiragana, but sharper, more angular shapes.

46 The basic 46 25 Dakuten & handakuten 33 Combinations

~5 hrs To Learn

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The basic 46

五十音0/46

The gojuon. These are the shapes you memorise; everything after this is built from them.

	a	i	u	e	o

k
s
t
n
h
m
y
r
w
n

Dakuten & handakuten

濁音・半濁音0/25

No new shapes to learn. Two strokes turn k into g, s into z, t into d, h into b; a small circle turns h into p.

	a	i	u	e	o
g
z
d
b
p

Combinations

拗音0/33

A character from the i-column plus a small ya, yu or yo. Two characters, one syllable.

	ya	yu	yo
ky
gy
sh
j
ch
ny
hy
by
my
py
ry

Marks

促音・長音符0/2

No sound of their own, and you cannot read without them. Each one changes the timing of the character beside it.

Sounds in words

The chart above gives you each character on its own. Once characters sit inside real words, a few of them shift. You don't need these to start reading, but they explain why something you have read can sound different when you hear it.

The small ッ doubles the next consonant

促音

The same pause as hiragana っ, written small in katakana. Common in borrowed words, where it often stands in for a doubled letter in the original spelling.

ベッドbeddobed
ショップshoppushop
リュックryukkubackpack

The ー mark holds the vowel

長音符

A straight line that lengthens the vowel before it, worth a full beat. Almost exclusive to katakana, and one of the clearest signals that a word was borrowed from another language. Getting the length wrong changes the word, so this mark is not decoration.

ケーキkeekicake
チョコレートchokoreetochocolate
コーヒーkoohiicoffee

These notes come from native Japanese teachers who reviewed this page.

Katakana Learning Tips

Learn After Hiragana

Katakana represents the same sounds as hiragana. If you've learned hiragana already, you only need to learn the new shapes, the sounds are identical.

Watch for Confusing Pairs

シ (shi) vs ツ (tsu), ソ (so) vs ン (n), ノ (no) vs メ (me), these look similar but the stroke direction differs. Practice them side by side.

Read Foreign Words

Katakana is mainly used for foreign loanwords. Practice by reading signs, menus, and product labels, コーヒー (coffee), パン (bread), テレビ (television).

Compare with Hiragana

Some pairs look similar across scripts: か↔カ, き↔キ, へ↔ヘ (identical!). Use these similarities as anchors when learning.

Both scripts down?

With hiragana and katakana mastered, you can read most Japanese text. The N5 course takes it from here, in order. Or drill the kana you just learned in the kana quiz, or jump straight to N5 grammar.

Start the N5 Course →