Japanese Readers › Starting out › Hiragana

Hiragana

Clay & Yumi Boutwell · Makoto Press

Starting out JLPT before N5 Read it in the app

Master the first step in learning Japanese.

Clay and Yumi's hiragana workbook: all 46 basic hiragana, the sound marks, small ゃゅょ, long vowels, small っ and the particles, with real words to read in every lesson. In the Makoto+ Japanese Explorer app: 13 word-practice sets, one per lesson. The app also has a full hiragana and katakana course.

Digital edition at The Japan Shop

Is this the right level for you?

Starting out · JLPT before N5. The kana, and first sentences. Not stories yet — this is the rung before reading.

See where this sits on the Reading Ladder ›

What is in the book

Furigana over every kanji, so nothing stops you mid-sentence.
Native audio at two speeds — slow to follow along, natural to test yourself.
Line-by-line vocabulary with the readings and the grammar notes in place.
A full English version, close enough to the Japanese to decode it with.
Readable in the Makoto+ Japanese Explorer, tap any sentence for a breakdown.

Others at this level

Japanese Sentences: Beginning Phrases

Japanese Grammar 100 in Plain English

Katakana

Where to buy

Digital edition at The Japan Shop

Clay & Yumi Boutwell are participants in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases, which means we may receive a commission when you buy a book through a link on this page. It costs you nothing extra, and it does not affect which books we recommend or where we place them on the levels.