How long does it take to learn hiragana?

Most learners read the basic forty-six within one to two weeks at fifteen minutes a day, and write them comfortably within a month. The voiced rows follow the same shapes, so they take an afternoon.

Should I learn hiragana or katakana first?

Hiragana. It is used for grammar and for the most common words, so every sentence needs it; katakana appears mostly in loanwords and names and is learned quickly once the sounds are familiar.

Do I have to write by hand at all?

Writing is the fastest way to remember the shapes and the only way to tell similar characters apart (ぬ and め, わ and ね). You do not need beautiful handwriting – you need the stroke order once.

Hiragana: the chart, stroke by stroke

Forty-six characters, each a whole syllable. Learn to read them in a week, to write them in two.

Hiragana is the first of the two Japanese syllabaries and the one every learner starts with. Each character stands for a syllable – か is ka, not k – so the forty-six basic signs, arranged in rows by consonant and columns by vowel, cover every sound in the language. Two small marks extend them: the dakuten (゛) turns k into g, s into z, t into d and h into b, and the handakuten (゜) turns h into p.

Stroke order is not a formality. Each character is written in a fixed sequence and direction, and the shape only comes out right when the strokes are made in that order – a さ written bottom-up looks wrong to every Japanese reader. Tap any character below to watch it written and to trace it; the tracer accepts a stroke only in the right direction.

Hiragana writes grammatical endings, particles and native words that have no kanji or whose kanji are rarely used. Katakana, the second syllabary, has the same sounds and different shapes and is used for loanwords; the course teaches hiragana first, katakana second, and brings in kanji gradually from A1 with the reading always shown.

The chart

Tap a character to watch it being written and to trace it yourself.

Basic characters

Voiced (dakuten)

Semi-voiced (handakuten)

Learn a row a day: the vowels first, then k, s, t, n, h, m, y, r, w. Ten days for the basic chart.
Say the syllable aloud as you trace it. A character learned as a sound and a movement together stays.
Read real words as soon as you know a few rows: あい, いえ, うみ. Reading beats reviewing the chart.

The lessons that teach it

The A0 level of the course, free: the letters, their sounds and the first words, with the same stroke animations and tracing exercises.

Hiragana: the First Half

Writing and reading the first twenty-five hiragana.

Hiragana: the Second Half

The remaining hiragana, the first words, and what katakana is for.

The whole course: Learn Japanese together

Questions

How long does it take to learn hiragana?: Most learners read the basic forty-six within one to two weeks at fifteen minutes a day, and write them comfortably within a month. The voiced rows follow the same shapes, so they take an afternoon.
Should I learn hiragana or katakana first?: Hiragana. It is used for grammar and for the most common words, so every sentence needs it; katakana appears mostly in loanwords and names and is learned quickly once the sounds are familiar.
Do I have to write by hand at all?: Writing is the fastest way to remember the shapes and the only way to tell similar characters apart (ぬ and め, わ and ね). You do not need beautiful handwriting – you need the stroke order once.