Japanese Foundations: Day 1 Masterclass

Build your Japanese foundation with Hiragana mastery, perfect pronunciation, essential greetings, and daily conversation starters.

60-75 Minutes English Support Audio Guides Beginner Friendly

Your 7-Day Japanese Journey Day 1 of 7 - Foundation Building

Getting Started Certificate: 6 days away

Interactive Pronunciation: Click on any Japanese character, word, or the 🔊 button to hear the correct pronunciation!

Hiragana Pronunciation Greetings Introductions Numbers Days Exercises

Your Day 1 Learning Path

Welcome to your first day of Japanese mastery! Today, we'll build the essential foundation that will support all your future Japanese learning. You'll finish today feeling more confident with basic Japanese sounds, writing systems, and conversations.

Hiragana Basics

Learn the first 20 Hiragana characters

Japanese Sounds

Master the 5 vowel system

Essential Greetings

Learn formal & informal greetings

Self-Introduction

Confidently introduce yourself

Maximize Your Learning

Japanese pronunciation is consistent! Once you learn the sounds, you can read any Hiragana. Practice writing the characters while saying them aloud. Don't worry about perfection - focus on recognizing the patterns.

Hiragana - The Japanese Alphabet

Hiragana is one of Japan's three writing systems. It consists of 46 basic characters representing syllables. Let's start with the first row (vowels) and the K-row.

あ

"ah" as in father

い

"ee" as in meet

う

"oo" as in boot

え

"eh" as in red

お

"oh" as in boat

か

ka as in car

き

key

く

koo as in cool

け

keh as in kettle

こ

ko as in coat

さ

sa as in saw

し

shi

she

す

soo as in soup

せ

seh as in set

そ

so as in sew

Hiragana Learning Strategy

Learn in rows! Each row shares the same vowel sound: a (あ), i (い), u (う), e (え), o (お). Practice writing each character 10 times while saying it aloud. Start with the vowels, then K-row, S-row, etc.

Japanese Pronunciation Guide

Japanese pronunciation is simpler than English! Each character represents one consistent sound. The five vowels form the foundation of all Japanese pronunciation.

Sound	Hiragana	Romaji	English Equivalent	Example Word
Vowel "a"	あ 🔊	a	"ah" as in father	ありがとう 🔊 (thank you)
Vowel "i"	い 🔊	i	"ee" as in meet	いち 🔊 (one)
Vowel "u"	う 🔊	u	"oo" as in boot	うみ 🔊 (sea)
Vowel "e"	え 🔊	e	"eh" as in red	えき 🔊 (station)
Vowel "o"	お 🔊	o	"oh" as in boat	おかね 🔊 (money)
Consonant + "a"	か 🔊	ka	"ka" as in car	かさ 🔊 (umbrella)
Special "shi"	し 🔊	shi	"she" as in she	しち 🔊 (seven)

Pronunciation Practice

Listen and repeat these word pairs to train your ear for Japanese sounds:

さかな / さけ (fish / sake)

かさ / かし (umbrella / confectionery)

あき / あか (autumn / red)

Essential Japanese Greetings

Japanese greetings vary by formality and time of day. These are the most essential greetings you'll use daily.

Japanese Greeting	Romaji (Pronunciation)	English Meaning	Context & Usage
こんにちは 🔊	Konnichiwa	Hello / Good afternoon	Daytime greeting (10 AM - 5 PM)
おはようございます 🔊	Ohayou gozaimasu	Good morning (formal)	Morning until 10 AM
おはよう 🔊	Ohayou	Good morning (casual)	With friends/family
こんばんは 🔊	Konbanwa	Good evening	After sunset
さようなら 🔊	Sayounara	Goodbye (formal)	When parting for long time
またね 🔊	Mata ne	See you (casual)	With friends
おやすみなさい 🔊	Oyasumi nasai	Good night	Before sleeping
ありがとうございます 🔊	Arigatou gozaimasu	Thank you (formal)	Standard thank you

Greeting Practice Dialogues

Practice these short conversations to build your greeting confidence:

Morning Greeting:

A: "おはようございます。" 🔊

B: "おはようございます。お元気ですか？" 🔊

A: "はい、元気です。ありがとう。" 🔊

(A: Ohayou gozaimasu. | B: Ohayou gozaimasu. Ogenki desu ka? | A: Hai, genki desu. Arigatou.)

Casual Meeting:

A: "こんにちは。" 🔊

B: "やあ、元気？" 🔊

A: "うん、元気だよ。" 🔊

(A: Konnichiwa. | B: Yaa, genki? | A: Un, genki da yo.)

Self-Introductions (自己紹介)

Learn how to introduce yourself confidently in Japanese. A proper introduction (自己紹介 - jikoshoukai) follows a standard format.

Basic Introduction Structure

Greeting: Start with an appropriate greeting
Your Name: "Watashi wa [name] desu"
Nationality/Origin: "[Country] kara kimashita"
Occupation/Hobby: "[Job] desu" or "[Hobby] ga suki desu"
Closing: "Yoroshiku onegaishimasu"

Introduction Examples

Formal Introduction (Business Setting):

"はじめまして。私はジョン・スミスです。アメリカから来ました。エンジニアです。どうぞよろしくお願いします。" 🔊

(Hajimemashite. Watashi wa Jon Sumisu desu. Amerika kara kimashita. Enjinia desu. Douzo yoroshiku onegaishimasu.)

"Nice to meet you. I am John Smith. I'm from America. I'm an engineer. Pleased to meet you."

Casual Introduction (Language Exchange):

"こんにちは。サラです。イギリス人です。日本語を勉強しています。よろしく！" 🔊

(Konnichiwa. Sara desu. Igirisu jin desu. Nihongo o benkyou shiteimasu. Yoroshiku!)

"Hello. I'm Sarah. I'm British. I'm studying Japanese. Nice to meet you!"

Key Phrases for Introductions:

はじめまして 🔊 - "Nice to meet you" (first meeting)
どうぞよろしくお願いします 🔊 - "Please be kind to me" (formal)
よろしく 🔊 - "Nice to meet you" (casual)
出身 🔊 - "Shusshin" - origin/hometown
趣味 🔊 - "Shumi" - hobby

Numbers 1-10

Japanese numbers are essential for shopping, telling time, giving your age, and more. Let's start with 1-10 and learn the counting system.

Numbers 1-10

いち

ichi

に

さん

san

し / よん

shi / yon

ご

ろく

roku

しち / なな

shichi / nana

はち

hachi

きゅう / く

kyuu / ku

じゅう

juu

Number Pattern Tip

Japanese numbers are logical! 11 is 10+1 (じゅういち - juuichi), 12 is 10+2 (じゅうに - juuni), etc. 20 is 2+10 (にじゅう - nijuu), 21 is 2+10+1 (にじゅういち - nijuuichi). Learn 1-10 and 100 (ひゃく - hyaku) and you can count to 999!

Common Number Uses

わたしはにじゅうごさいです。 🔊 - "I am 25 years old."
さんじゅうえんです。 🔊 - "It's 30 yen."
いま、さんじです。 🔊 - "It's 3 o'clock now."
でんわばんごうはゼロはちゼロのさんにいちのよんごろくです。 🔊 - "Phone number is 080-321-456."

Days of the Week

Japanese days of the week are easy to remember because each day ends with ようび (youbi) and contains an element name.

Days of the Week

日曜日

にちようび

Nichiyoubi Sunday (Sun day)

月曜日

げつようび

Getsuyoubi Monday (Moon day)

火曜日

かようび

Kayoubi Tuesday (Fire day)

水曜日

すいようび

Suiyoubi Wednesday (Water day)

木曜日

もくようび

Mokuyoubi Thursday (Wood day)

金曜日

きんようび

Kinyoubi Friday (Gold day)

土曜日

どようび

Doyoubi Saturday (Earth day)

Talking About Time

Practice these common time expressions:

きょうはげつようびです。 🔊 - "Today is Monday."
あしたはかようびです。 🔊 - "Tomorrow is Tuesday."
きのうはにちようびでした。 🔊 - "Yesterday was Sunday."
かいぎはきんようびです。 🔊 - "The meeting is on Friday."
まいにち 🔊 - "Mainichi" - every day
まいしゅう 🔊 - "Maishuu" - every week

Day 1 Practice Exercises

Apply what you've learned with these practical exercises. Try to complete them without looking back at the lesson material.

Exercise 1: Hiragana & Pronunciation

Write these Hiragana characters from memory: あ, い, う, え, お
Identify the missing Hiragana: あ, い, _, え, お, か, _, く, _, こ
Write the romaji for these Hiragana: さ, し, す, せ, そ
Pronounce these characters aloud: か, き, く, け, こ

Exercise 2: Greetings & Introductions

Write appropriate Japanese greetings for these situations:
- Meeting someone at 9 AM
- Seeing a friend at 7 PM
- Saying goodbye to a colleague
- Thanking someone formally
Write a 4-sentence self-introduction in Japanese including:
- Your name
- Where you're from
- One hobby
- Closing phrase
Translate these English phrases to Japanese:
- "Good morning" (casual)
- "Nice to meet you" (formal)
- "See you later" (casual)

Exercise 3: Numbers & Days

Write these numbers in Japanese (romaji): 3, 7, 10, 25, 99
Answer these questions in Japanese:
- What day is today?
- What day is tomorrow?
- How old are you? (Use Japanese numbers)
List all the days of the week in Japanese order (starting with Sunday)
What element is associated with each day? (Fire, Water, Wood, etc.)

Checking Your Answers

After completing the exercises, review the lesson material to check your answers. Remember: Japanese has multiple correct answers for some questions (like 4 can be し or よん). Focus on understanding the patterns rather than memorization.

おめでとうございます！ (Congratulations!)

You've completed Day 1 of your Japanese journey. You now have a solid foundation in Japanese basics including Hiragana, greetings, and self-introductions.

Tomorrow, we'll build on this foundation with essential everyday conversations, more Hiragana characters, and basic sentence structures.

Continue to Day 2: Everyday Conversations

Want to review? Go back to Hiragana or redo exercises