8 Catchy Songs To Learn Hiragana And Katakana
One of the first challenges you must overcome in your quest to master Japanese is learning how to read and pronounce both hiragana and katakana.
There are some good apps that will help you to do so. For example, I previously shared three free apps for mastering the kana. But the resources for overcoming this challenge don’t stop there. On YouTube there are a lot of songs that make this challenge so easy that it may actually feel like a break from studying Japanese (or whatever else you are doing).
Check out the following eight songs. I think you will find them especially helpful.
8. ひらがな できるかな?~あいうえおの歌 (Japanese Alphabet Hiragana Song)
This video focuses on hiragana. As it starts out as possibly the slowest of them all, it is one of the first to try.
7. あいうえおのうた (Myu sings AIUEO)
This is as simple as it gets. It shows an animated girl with her puppy singing the alphabet. She goes through the alphabet two times and the screen shows how each of the kana is written as she sings it.
6. あいうえおのうた (Myu sings AIUEO in Katakana)
This is the same as the above video except, as you guessed, instead of showing how everything the girl sings is written in hiragana, it shows how it is written in katakana.
5. あいうえおのうた(The AIEOU Hiragana Song)
This video has a different beat, which keeps things from getting too monotonous, and it’s enjoyable to listen to, at least as far as such a song can be.
4. あいうえおのうた(The AIEOU Katakana Song)
Again, this is the same as the above video, except that it is shows katakana instead of hiragana. (There are no more repeats in this list, I promise.)
3. ひらがなのうた (The Hiragana Song)
This video focuses on hiragana, and has a more advanced animation sequence at the end to try and make things interesting. It’s hardly as entertaining as something by Studio Ghibli, but it adds variety and is worth adding to the mix for that reason if not any other.
2. あいうえお (The AIUEO Song)
This video gives you a different and perhaps the most enjoyable song to listen to. Like the others, it shows you the kana as it’s being sung, and as a special bonus adds some extra sounds where you can start practicing the small tsu sound (which turns out to be a big deal).
1. ひらがな だくおん はんだくおん
This video stands out because it focuses on daku-on and handaku-on. These are the different ways that the kana sounds when quotation marks or a circle is written above them.
More Kana Love?
Heard of any other hiragana or katakana songs? Have you already started singing to the ones in this post? You can be honest.
I love reading books in Japanese and plan to start translating them into English in 2015.
I used こどもちゃれんじ’s hiragana song myself to teach the girl I nanny hiragana. It brought her to the point of being able to use a hiragana chart without romaji because she knew the order hiragana went in. I love the song and it’s become like the English ABC song to me! In fact, I didn’t have the order of the hiragana memorized until this song!
Glad to hear you had success with teaching (and learning the order of) hiragana from songs too. I hope to do a follow-up to this post sharing some other songs that are great for anyone learning Japanese, but the girl you nanny in particular may enjoy them (as they’re all geared for kids).
Awesome!
Oh… I don’t nanny anymore <(^_^). I should've said "nannied". I just got a new job, so not used to it! But I still see her once in a while.
Looking forward to your next post! I love seeing stuff I can use with kids too. I don't work in childcare anymore, but I did recently become an aunt! And my brother's all for me teaching her Japanese too.
you should add the てsong next time! It helped me out a lot back in the day.
The “愛餓を” hiragana song from the 70s by “Happy End”, published in the album “風街ろまん” is worth mentioning. My girlfriend learnt hiragana order by listening to it!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUsVd5DNEzA
the link was broken – here is a new one ;)
愛餓’s あいうえお (hiragana) song from the 70s –>
https://youtu.be/klPtGQXT-wQ
Thanks for the additional songs! That last one especially is a great addition for anyone tired of the kid tunes.
I think this really helps to pronounce the らりるれろ sounds. Different people say them differently (according to my ears), but it’s good to get variety so you know what’s expected I think.
There are more songs that you add to the list too. These tunes are pretty catchy and the hiragana are easy to be read.
https://youtu.be/GC_7z6a9MpI
https://youtu.be/zO_DwMzb8zc
https://youtu.be/n0rft7Yf9ts