Learn the Japanese Katakana

カタカナ

Learn to read the Japanese Katakana (カタカナ): all 46 letters with names, sounds and audio, plus flashcards, listening, typing and matching practice.

Letter	Name	Latin letters	Sound
ア	a	a	a as in father
イ	i	i	ee as in see, but short
ウ	u	u	oo as in food, lips relaxed (not rounded)
エ	e	e	e as in pet
オ	o	o	o as in more, short and pure
カ	ka	ka	ka as in car, no r
キ	ki	ki	key
ク	ku	ku	coo, lips relaxed
ケ	ke	ke	ke as in kept
コ	ko	ko	co as in cold, short
サ	sa	sa	sa as in salsa
シ	shi	shi	she
ス	su	su	sue, u barely voiced
セ	se	se	se as in set
ソ	so	so	so as in soap, short
タ	ta	ta	ta as in taco
チ	chi	chi	chee as in cheese
ツ	tsu	tsu	ts as in cats, then u
テ	te	te	te as in ten
ト	to	to	to as in tote, short
ナ	na	na	na as in nacho
ニ	ni	ni	knee
ヌ	nu	nu	noo, lips relaxed
ネ	ne	ne	ne as in net
ノ	no	no	no, short and pure
ハ	ha	ha	ha as in hot
ヒ	hi	hi	he, with a little breath
フ	fu	fu	blow softly through the lips: between f and h
ヘ	he	he	he as in hen
ホ	ho	ho	ho as in home, short
マ	ma	ma	ma as in mama
ミ	mi	mi	me
ム	mu	mu	moo, lips relaxed
メ	me	me	me as in met
モ	mo	mo	mo as in mope, short
ヤ	ya	ya	ya as in yacht
ユ	yu	yu	you
ヨ	yo	yo	yo as in yoga
ラ	ra	ra	a light tap between r, l and d, then a
リ	ri	ri	a light tapped r, then ee
ル	ru	ru	a light tapped r, then oo
レ	re	re	a light tapped r, then e
ロ	ro	ro	a light tapped r, then o
ワ	wa	wa	wa as in wander
ヲ	wo	wo	o; used almost only as the object particle
ン	n	n	a nasal n; turns into m before p, b, m

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