Hiragana: Lesson 1 - 'あ' [a]

あ in hiragana (or ア in katakana) (romanized a) is one of the Japanese kana that each represent one mora. あ is based on the sōsho style of kanji 安, and ア is from the radical of kanji 阿. In the modern Japanese system of alphabetical order, it occupies the first position of the alphabet, before い. Additionally, it is the 36th letter in Iroha, after て, before さ. Its hiragana resembles the kana no combined with a cross.

Pronunciation:
'あ' is romanized 'a' and it is pronounced 'ah' as in 'add'.

Words with 'あ'
'あ' at the beginning:

1. ありがとう (arigatou -> Thank you)
2. あたし (atashi -> me)
3. あし (ashi -> feet; leg)
4. あなた (anata -> you; dear)
5. 兄/あに (ani -> elder brother)
6. 姉/あね (ane -> elder sister)
7. 雨/あめ (ame -> rain)

'あ' in the middle:


'あ' at the end:

Strokes order:

The Hiragana あ is made with three strokes:[1]

• At the top, a horizontal stroke from left to right.
• A downward vertical stroke starting above and in the center of the last stroke.
• At the bottom, a loop like the Hiragana の.

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Task: So all who hasn't yet learn the alphabets, we recommend you to write 'あ' and repeat it for at least 50 - 100 times in your textbook (that if you don't have anything to do). That's your homework for today.

Note: This is how I (Kaoko) learnt the characters; by writing it numerous times in the textbook. There's much to it. But we'll save it in the next lessons.

Jaa na!