Sound 1 of 107
Human recording
あa
あ sounds like the “a” in father. Let the sound open gently.
Ready to listen.
Now say it aloud once.
Pronunciation recorded by a real person
Learn hiragana pronunciation with human audio.
Meet each sound with Mofuna, listen to Sana's recording, say it aloud, then try a short recall check. Begin with the 46 basic hiragana and explore voiced or combined sounds when you are ready.
Begin with あ
46 basic hiragana
25 voiced sounds
36 combinations
Basic hiragana
Listen, say it, then move on.
Current row
あ · お
Hear the five sounds, then try a quick check.
Quick recall
Which hiragana did you hear?
Listen, then choose one answer.
Browse all 107 sounds
What you are learning
Start with the sounds Japanese uses every day.
Hiragana is one of the writing systems used for Japanese. This lesson focuses on pronunciation: look at a character, hear Sana's recording, and repeat it before moving forward.
Basic hiragana
The foundational 46 characters begin with the five vowels あ・い・う・え・お. Learn these first.
Practise the basic 46Voiced sounds
Marks called dakuten and handakuten change sounds: か becomes が, and は can become ば or ぱ.
Explore voiced soundsCombined sounds
Small ゃ・ゅ・ょ join other kana to make sounds such as きゃ kya and しゅ shu.
Explore combinationsA human voice matters
Pronunciation by Sana 沙奈.
Every selectable sound uses a human recording. The recordings are presented one at a time so learners can listen closely and repeat at their own pace.
Hiragana pronunciation questions
How many hiragana should a beginner learn?
Begin with the 46 basic hiragana. Voiced and combined sounds reuse shapes and patterns from that foundation.
Is hiragana the Japanese alphabet?
People often search for “the Japanese alphabet,” but hiragana is a syllabary: most characters represent a complete sound such as ka, shi, or mo.
Why use human pronunciation recordings?
A real voice gives the learner a concrete sound to imitate. Listen more than once, then say the sound aloud before moving on.
What are dakuon and yōon?
Dakuon are voiced sounds such as ga and za. Yōon are combined sounds made with small ya, yu, or yo, such as kya and sho.