A in hiragana: あ
The syllable ‘a’ in hiragana is written あ.
あ ‘a’ hiragana stroke order
あ has three strokes:
- A horizontal left to right stroke.
- A vertical stroke that cuts through the first one.
- A looping stroke that starts cutting to the left through stroke #2, back up through it to the right, and then loops back around to the left again.
あ ‘a’ hiragana mnemonic
See also: Making mnemonics
This image should help you to remember how to write ‘a’ in hiragana by associating the letter a with the shape of あ. Remember that the English words used here are not a pronunciation guide. They help you to remember how to write あ, not how to say it.
To learn pronunciation you need to get a lot of listening and speaking practice done. Online services like [JapanesePod 101](/recommended/japanesepod-101/” rel="nofollow “Learn Japanese [affiliate link]") can help with that.
あ is an arch.
あ ‘a’ hiragana origins
あ is derived from the kanji 安 (an) . This is pronounced ān in Mandarin Chinese (hanzi) and an in Korean (hanja).
Useful links
- [Kana Pict-o-Graphix: Mnemonics for Japanese Hiragana and Katakana](http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1880656183/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=1880656183&linkCode=as2&tag=easasistu-21" rel="external nofollow)
- [Let’s Learn Hiragana: First Book of Japanese Writing](http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0870117092/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=0870117092&linkCode=as2&tag=easasistu-21" rel="external nofollow)
- Hiragana mnemonics on asahi-net.or.jp
- Hiragana mnemonics on japanese.gatech.edu
- Japanese Hiragana - Omniglot
