Now, we will learn Ta, Chi, Tsu, Te, To/た ち つ て と

From the K-column, it works in the same way: T+あ, T+い, T+う, T+え, T+お.

But, did you notice there are two exceptions this time? "T+I", of course, we want to read Ti . But we have to read this letter "CHi", chi in CHili. The other one is "T+U", we must read it TSU in Tsunami.

Let’s get started!

た Ta: Ta in Tatami mat. Do you know "Tatami mats"? We use them in traditional Japanese rooms. Hiragana Ta consists of 2 parts: The left part looks like a small "t" and the right part looks like a small"a", but only the top and the lower part.

ち Chi: Please be careful! This is an exception we already talked about. The pronunciation of this letter is "Chi" in Chili. Did you see the "L" on the picture? The chili faces to the LEFT. Why did I write "L"? Because we have a similar Hiragana letter, さ(Sa). Let’s take a look at SA again. Sa in Samurai faces to the RIGHT. I know many students confuse the two letters. So, ChiLi, L in Left. Chili faces to the Left!

つ Tsu: Tsu in Tsunami. This is also an exception. Don’t read the letter TU. This letter is Tsu in Tsunami. Do you know Tusnami, right? A tsunami is a huge wave. I think Tsu is easy to remember!

て Te: Te in Tennis. Te looks like "T". This is also easy, right?

と To: To in Toy. Don’t say T"OU", と=T+お.

Download my Hiragana worksheet PDF from the L.1 page and practice them!