Starting to learn Japanese? Begin with Hiragana and Katakana, the foundation of the Japanese writing system.
MLC Japanese Language School offers free email lessons to help you master both scripts quickly and effectively.
This page introduces practical study tips, recommended textbooks, and free resources that make your first learning experience easy and enjoyable.

 

1. How about start learning Hiragana and Katakana?

Why Learn Hiragana First?
Learning Hiragana first is recommended because it’s the foundation of Japanese reading and writing. Hiragana allows you to read native Japanese words, understand grammar patterns, and pronounce words accurately. Mastering Hiragana early makes it much easier to use textbooks, access learning resources, and move forward in Japanese study with confidence.

Free E-mail lessons
★Master Hiragana in a 13/25 day course!
★Master Katakana in a 6/11/21 week course!
We are offering free lessons to master Hiragana and Katakana. We will send you links to the learning material via email in 8 lots. Once you have downloaded the learning material, follow the instructions and take the quizzes to master Hiragana and Katakana!
Simply, just choose the course of your preference and enter your email address!
→ https://www.mlcjapanese.co.jp/hiragana_katakana.html

What are Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji?
Hiragana:
A phonetic syllabary. Used for words of Japanese origin.
For example particles, nouns, (part of) verbs, (part of) adjectives, and (part of) adverbs.

Katakana:
(1) for words of foreign origin
(2) for onomatopoeia e.g. ワンワン(wanwan) = bowwow
(3) for the names of some animals and insects
(4) for the emphasis of some words e.g. それはダメです。(Sore wa dame desu.) = That is NO GOOD.

Kanji:
Chinese characters used for the words of both Chinese and Japanese origin.
Most of Kanji have two or more readings.

Master Basic Kanji 120: Free e-mail lesson and Free download
→ https://www.mlcjapanese.co.jp/basic_kanji_120.html

Tips

1) At first, learn Hiragana (Learn Katakana later)

2) Memorize 48 Hiragana characters roughly
* Do not have to be perfect but remember 48 characters over all.
* Do not spend too long to cover 48 characters, but memorize in one or two weeks.

3) Use Hiragana in writing. Keep writing short simple sentences.
* Reading practice is good, but writing is more effective.
* If you can write, you can read.

 

2. Study with some textbook.

We recommend "Japanese For Busy People 1, Kana version" (in Hiragana and Katakana)
or
"Japanese For Busy People 1, Romanized version" (in Roman character)

Recommended books (links to Amazon Japan)
→ https://www.mlcjapanese.co.jp/recommended_books.html

 

Free Japanese Language Study Materials

There are tons of Free Japanese Language Study Materials on our school website.
→ https://www.mlcjapanese.co.jp/

3. If you want, take MLC lessons.

→ Contact Us
We will support your Japanese learning.