Learn these two writing systems first before I teach you ANYTHING else.

Hiragana


Katakana


Pronunciation
They're each in a line with similar sounds to each other.
The a line sounds like the a in ma.
The i line sounds like the i in do re MI.
The u line sounds like the double o in moomoo.
The e line sounds like the ai in raising.
The o line sounds like the o in ho.

Practice them over and over until you can write them without looking back at the chart.

Can you give another example for pronouncing the i line, please?

Wilowah wrote:

Can you give another example for pronouncing the i line, please?

It's like pronouncing the i in Columi (trollface).
Based on the do re mi it is more like 'ee' rather than 'ai'

The "I" is pronounced like a long E vowel sound in English, like in "seaweed" or "peace".

Is "su" pronounced differently than "tsu"?

Robek wrote:

Is "su" pronounced differently than "tsu"?

Yes. For tsu, you add more of a t at the beginning. Take the word to and and an s in between the t and o (same pronunciation of the to just with an s in between)

Yes. The "t" in Tsu is smashed together with the "s". So say the word "carts" or "bats" and listen to how the 'ts' is pronounced. That is how it should be pronounced in "Tsu".

How come the 'n' is in the 'a' line?

n is a special character that doesn't fit into any category so they put it there for cosmetic look of the chart.

Does everyone feel comfortable with these two writing systems yet? I will start the first grammar lesson once you are comfortable to read them without too much difficulty.