Let's Learn Hiragana: First Book of Japanese Writing

For anyone learning Japanese you most certainly need the foundation script which is Hiragana. What I like about this book is actually it's size. At around A4 size the characters are ideally sized on the page for anyone who has a visual impairment.

An ideal starter for those who wish to begin learning the script this book eases you into learning without stress. I also like the tables showing all the characters in the hiragana syllabary. A great brain exerciser is the hidden words table at the end ofthe book. this alone will give you some fun and also teach you where you need to brush up with character recognition.

Main gripe for me is there are some characters that are now slightly outdated in their formation. Other than that it is a nice light introduction to the Japanese Alphabet and how to begin writing it.

I am currently using this book as a tool to practice my hiragana. After a week of practicing with this book, I can read most of the hiragana and write. I would recommend this book to start off when learning how to read and write hiragana.

yes this book teaches you hiragana... but it is not worth the money, there are several "hiragana games" on the internet that can teach you to read and write hiragana. it goes alot faster and its more fun! so... i cant recommend this book unless you dont know how to use a computer (but then you wouldnt be reading this now would you?)

A clearly explained and well presented guide to learning hiragana script, presented in logical steps that build awareness and confidence. No problems here.

Broken up into bitesize chunks, you learn ten hiragana symbols at a time and can take it at your own pace, with plenty of space to write out the symbols again and again, and also lots of practices and tests. I'm working through the book very slowly but I'm confident if you put a few hours in a day you can be confident with the whole alphabet in a very short time indeed!

Hiragana isn't a complicated alphabet to learn compared to Kana and Kanji, but nonetheless it is a completely alien alphabet if you are not japanese! And I will definitely be using this series to learn Katakana

Like anything though, it is never a good idea to rely completely on this book. I am using this with some hiragana phone applications and the Japanese From Zero book series. This doesn't undermine the effectiveness of this book, but rather strengthens it.