Welcome to Gaia! ::

If you want to hear the sounds, this site doesn't seem too bad...
http://www.tokyowithkids.com/fyi/hiragana_chart.html

And if you can't SEE the characters, you may have to install a japanese language pack onto your computer.
(most of this is written in "SHIFT-JIS" - a type of japanese computer code)
Here's the program I used to type it ^.^
http://www.physics.ucla.edu/~grosenth/jwpce.html

ＡＤＤＩＮＧ　ＣＯＮＳＯＮＡＮＴ　ＳＯＵＮＤＳ
(most consonants don't get their own letter -
- they're just added to a vowel to make a new single letter) [the only exception is "N" ]

ＲＯーＭＡＪＩ　ｖｓ　ＨＩＲＡＧＡＮＡ　ｖｓ　ＫＡＴＡＫＡＮＡ
ＫＡ　＝　か　＝　カ
ＫＩ　＝　き　＝　キ
ＫＵ　＝　く　＝　ク
ＫＥ　＝　け　＝　ケ
ＫＯ　＝　こ　＝　コ

ＳＡ　　＝　さ　＝　サ
ＳＨＩ　＝　し　＝　シ
ＳＵ　　＝　す　＝　ス
ＳＥ　　＝　せ　＝　セ
ＳＯ　　＝　そ　＝　ソ

ＴＡ　　＝　た　＝　タ
ＣＨＩ　＝　ち　＝　チ
ＴＳＵ　＝　つ　＝　ツ
ＴＥ　　＝　て　＝　テ
ＴＯ　　＝　と　＝　ト

ＮＡ　＝　な　＝　ナ
ＮＩ　＝　に　＝　ニ
ＮＵ　＝　ぬ　＝　ヌ
ＮＥ　＝　ね　＝　ネ
ＮＯ　＝　の　＝　ノ

ＨＡ　＝　は　＝　ハ
ＨＩ　＝　ひ　＝　ヒ
ＦＵ　＝　ふ　＝　フ
ＨＥ　＝　へ　＝　ヘ
ＨＯ　＝　ほ　＝　ホ

ＭＡ　＝　ま　＝　マ
ＭＩ　＝　み　＝　ミ
ＭＵ　＝　む　＝　ム
ＭＥ　＝　め　＝　メ
ＭＯ　＝　も　＝　モ

ＹＡ　＝　や　＝　ヤ
ＹＵ　＝　ゆ　＝　ユ
ＹＯ　＝　よ　＝　ヨ

ＲＡ　＝　ら　＝　ラ
ＲＩ　＝　り　＝　リ
ＲＵ　＝　る　＝　ル
ＲＥ　＝　れ　＝　レ
ＲＯ　＝　ろ　＝　ロ

ＷＡ　＝　わ　＝　ワ
Ｏ　　＝　を　＝　ヲ

Ｎ　＝　ん　＝　ン

Some differences in these japanese characters are...
"shi" - "chi" - "tsu" - "fu" (because "si" - "ti" - "tu" - "hu" don't exist)
ALSO... "yi" - "ye" don't exist at all.
AND... "wo" is pronounced "o" (long-O sound) because it's only used as an "object marker" now.
FINALLY... "N" is the only consonant that can stand on it's own.

EXPLANATION THAT I WAS GIVEN FROM SOMEONE ELSE!!!
That is because for one, the "wo" sound was never much used in Japanese, mostly as the object marker "ke-ki o tabetai" = "I want to eat cake"
With time, the "w" sound was dropped and the object marker became simply "o"
You'll only ever use を as object marker, that is the sole factor that distinguishes it from the "conventional" お
But it has some use while looking at a text in Japanese
It gives a good idea of the sentence structure since you automagically know there's an object marker

ＲＯーＭＡＪＩ　ｖｓ　ＨＩＲＡＧＡＮＡ　ｖｓ　ＫＡＴＡＫＡＮＡ
(the final set of hiragana and katakana characters are created by shrinking "ya" - "yu" - "yo" and adding it to another character)
(and yes, all these sets of 2 characters are considdered "JUST ONE CHARACTER" - called a "glide" )

ＫＹＡ　＝　きゃ　＝　キャ
ＫＹＵ　＝　きゅ　＝　キュ
ＫＹＯ　＝　きょ　＝　キョ

ＳＨＡ　＝　しゃ　＝　シャ
ＳＨＵ　＝　しゅ　＝　シュ
ＳＨＯ　＝　しょ　＝　ショ

ＣＨＡ　＝　ちゃ　＝　チャ
ＣＨＵ　＝　ちゅ　＝　チュ
ＣＨＯ　＝　ちょ　＝　チョ

ＮＹＡ　＝　にゃ　＝　ニャ
ＮＹＵ　＝　にゅ　＝　ニュ
ＮＹＯ　＝　にょ　＝　ニョ

ＨＹＡ　＝　ひゃ　＝　ヒャ
ＨＹＵ　＝　ひゅ　＝　ヒュ
ＨＹＯ　＝　ひょ　＝　ヒョ

ＭＹＡ　＝　みゃ　＝　ミャ
ＭＹＵ　＝　みゅ　＝　ミュ
ＭＹＯ　＝　みょ　＝　ミョ

ＲＹＡ　＝　りゃ　＝　リャ
ＲＹＵ　＝　りゅ　＝　リュ
ＲＹＯ　＝　りょ　＝　リョ

ＧＹＡ　＝　ぎゃ　＝　ギャ
ＧＹＵ　＝　ぎゅ　＝　ギュ
ＧＹＯ　＝　ぎょ　＝　ギョ

ＪＡ　＝　じゃ　＝　ジャ
ＪＵ　＝　じゅ　＝　ジュ
ＪＯ　＝　じょ　＝　ジョ

ＢＹＡ　＝　びゃ　＝　ビャ
ＢＹＵ　＝　びゅ　＝　ビュ
ＢＹＯ　＝　びょ　＝　ビョ

ＰＹＡ　＝　ぴゃ　＝　ピャ
ＰＹＵ　＝　ぴゅ　＝　ピュ
ＰＹＯ　＝　ぴょ　＝　ピョ

EXPLANATION THAT I WAS GIVEN FROM SOMEONE ELSE!!!
small... ya, yu and yo... are used for the standard "glides"
However, "glides" are to be treated as stand-alone sounds, not as two separate sounds
やゃ　ゆゅ　よょ

Small o, e, i, u and a are non-standard
They're only used in informal writing to denote trailing vowels and the end of words or onomatopeia
おぉ　えぇ　いぃ　うぅ　あぁ

Small wa is only used in the rare kwa or gwa
わゎ

The small tsu doubles the following consonant and is completely different
ぢゅ is a single vowel/chroneme, but in "matte kudasai" (please wait),
which would be "まって ください", the small tsu represent a chroneme alone
In other words, you pronounce it "ma-t[more or less a pause before the rest of the word]-te kudasai"
"ma-t-te ku-da-sa-i"
つっ

ＮＯＴＥ　ー　ＴＨＥＲＥ　ＡＲＥ　ＭＯＳＴ　ＬＩＫＥＬＹ
ＥＶＥＮ　ＭＯＲＥ　ＲＡＲＥ　ＣＨＡＲＡＣＴＥＲＳ
ＴＨＡＴ　Ｉ　ＤＯＮ’Ｔ　ＫＮＯＷ　ＡＢＯＵＴ　V.V

Q&A:
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あなた　の　なまえ　わ　なん　です　か？
Ａｎａｔａ　ｎｏ　ｎａｍａｅ　ｗａ　ｎａｎ　ｄｅｓｕ　ｋａ？
What's your name?

わたし　の　なまえ　わ。。。 "Insert name here"
Ｗａｔａｓｈｉ　ｎｏ　ｎａｍａｅ　ｗａ。。。 "Insert name here"

やまぐち　みき　ー　Ｙａｍａｇｕｃｈｉ　Ｍｉｋｉ
My name is Miki Yamaguchi.
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あなた　わ　なん　です　か？
Ａｎａｔａ　ｎａｎ　ｄｅｓｕ　ｋａ？
What are you?

わたし　わ　おとこ　の　ひと　です。
Ｗａｔａｓｈｉ　ｗａ　ｏｔｏｋｏ　ｎｏ　ｈｉｔｏ　ｄｅｓｕ。
わたし　わ　おんな　の　ひと　です。
Ｗａｔａｓｈｉ　ｗａ　ｏｎｎａ　ｎｏ　ｈｉｔｏ　ｄｅｓｕ。
わたし　わ　おとこ　の　こ　です。
Ｗａｔａｓｈｉ　ｗａ　ｏｔｏｋｏ　ｎｏ　ｋｏ　ｄｅｓｕ。
わたし　わ　おんな　の　こ　です。
Ｗａｔａｓｈｉ　ｗａ　ｏｎｎａ　ｎｏ　ｋｏ　ｄｅｓｕ。

I'm a... "man, woman, boy, girl"
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どこ　から　きました　か？
Ｄｏｋｏ　ｋａｒａ　ｋｉｍａｓｈｉｔａ　ｋａ？
Where are you from?

わたし　わ。。。 (Insert country here)
Ｗａｔａｓｈｉ　ｗａ。。。 (Insert country here)

あめりかじん　です　ー　ａｍｅｒｉｋａｊｉｎ　ｄｅｓｕ
I'm an american.



ＯＲ。。。
かなだじん　です　ー　ｋａｎａｄａｊｉｎ　ｄｅｓｕ　(Canada)
ふらんすじん　です　ー　ｆｕｒａｎｓｕｊｉｎ　ｄｅｓｕ　(France)
いぎりすじん　です　ー　Ｉｇｉｒｉｓｕｊｉｎ　ｄｅｓｕ　(Britain)
おおすとらりあじん　です　ー　Ｏｏｓｕｔｏｒａｒｉａｊｉｎ　ｄｅｓｕ　(Australia)
かんこくじん　です　ー　ｋａｎｋｏｋｕｊｉｎ　ｄｅｓｕ　(Korea)
すええでんじん　です　ー　Ｓｕｅｅｄｅｎｊｉｎ　ｄｅｓｕ　(Sweden)
ちゅうごくじん　です　ー　Ｃｈｕｕｇｏｋｕｊｉｎ　ｄｅｓｕ　(China)

I do not know any others at the moment.
But finding one shouldn't be too hard, if anyone is curious...

Ｔｉｍｅ　ｔｏ　ｓｔｕｄｙ　すうじ！　（ｓｕｕｊｉ）＝(numbers)

いち　＝　ｉｃｈｉ　＝　one
に　＝　ｎｉ　＝　two
さん　＝　ｓａｎ　＝　three
よん　＝　ｙｏｎ　＝　four
ご　＝　ｇｏ　＝　five

ろく　＝　ｒｏｋｕ　＝　six
しち　＝　ｓｈｉｃｈｉ　＝　seven
はち　＝　ｈａｃｈｉ　＝　eight
きゅう　＝　ｋｙｕｕ　＝　nine
じゅう　＝　ｊｕｕ　＝　ten

When refering to YEN (en) - You might see... "go en", "juu en" - (that's five yen and ten yen)
That would be　ごえん　or　ゴエン　and　じゅうえん　or　ジュウエン
In kanji, it's　五円　and　十円　which is what you're most likely to see.

However with years (nen) it's telling the number of the year, not how many years there are.
So "san nen" and "shichi nen" (that's year three and year seven)
That would be　さんねん　or　サンネン　and　しちねん　or　シチネン
In kanji, it's　三年　and　七年　which is what you're most likely to see.
(note that "shichi nen" is pronounced "shchi nen" with the first "i" sound dropped)
(japanese has a tendency of dropping some of the sounds when spoken as a sentence)

じゅういち　＝　ｊｕｕｉｃｈｉ　＝　eleven
じゅうに　＝　ｊｕｕｎｉ　＝　twelve
じゅうさん　＝　ｊｕｕｓａｎ　＝　thirteen
じゅうよん　＝　ｊｕｕｙｏｎ　＝　fourteen
じゅうご　＝　ｊｕｕｇｏ　＝　fifteen

Notice that we're just adding "ten" to the start to add it together, this works only up to "nineteen"
For example...

じゅうろく　＝　ｊｕｕｒｏｋｕ　＝　sixteen
じゅうしち　＝　ｊｕｕｓｈｉｃｈｉ　＝　seventeen
じゅうはち　＝　ｊｕｕｈａｃｈｉ　＝　eighteen
じゅうきゅう　＝　ｊｕｕｋｙｕｕ　＝　nineteen

Once after nineteen, you must count the number of tens before adding the final numbers.
For example...

にじゅう　＝　ｎｉｊｕｕ　＝　twenty
さんじゅう　＝　ｓａｎｊｕｕ　＝　thirty
よんじゅう　＝　ｙｏｎｊｕｕ　＝　fourty
ごじゅう　＝　ｇｏｊｕｕ　＝　fifty
ろくじゅう　＝　ｒｏｋｕｊｕｕ　＝　sixty
ななじゅう　＝　ｎａｎａｊｕｕ　＝　seventy
はちじゅう　＝　ｈａｃｈｉｊｕｕ　＝　eighty
きゅうじゅう　＝　ｋｙｕｕｊｕｕ　＝　ninety

Note that seventy is NOT "shichijuu" - that's because some of the numbers have different ways of saying them.
And some even use both ways depending on the dialect. For example...
four = "yon", "shi", or "yo"
seven = "shichi", or "nana"
nine = "kyuu", or "ku"

That means that you can use either...
juuyon -or- juushi
juushichi -or- juunana
juukyuu -or- juuku

Doing it like this means that you are using "counters" - "ten" is a counter that has to be counted before the rest can be added.
For example, if you wanted to say "fifty-five" - it would sound like this...　ごじゅうご　(gojuugo)
A hundred and a thousand are other counters...

ひゃく　＝　ｈｙａｋｕ　＝　hundred
せん　＝　ｓｅｎ　＝　thousand

Though some counters are changed slightly as you count, for example...

さんびゃく　＝　ｓａｎｂｙａｋｕ　＝　three hundred
ろっぴゃく　＝　ｒｏｐｐｙａｋｕ　＝　six hundred
はっぴゃく　＝　ｈａｐｐｙａｋｕ　＝　eight hundred
さんぜん　＝　ｓａｎｚｅｎ　＝　three thousand
はっせん　＝　ｈａｓｓｅｎ　＝　eight thousand

The higher up counters are...

いちまん　＝　ｉｃｈｉｍａｎ　＝　ten thousand
じゅうまん　＝　ｊｕｕｍａｎ　＝　hundred thousand
ひゃくまん　＝　ｈｙａｋｕｍａｎ　＝　million
せんまん　＝　ｓｅｎｍａｎ　＝　ten million
いちおく　＝　ｉｃｈｉｏｋｕ　＝　hundred million

Never assume what a number will be, by simply grouping all the digits between the apostrophes.
For example...

285,719　＝　ｎｉｊｕｕｈａｃｈｉｍａｎ　ｇｏｓｅｎ　ｎａｎａｈｙａｋｕ　ｊｕｕ　ｋｙｕ
＝　にじゅうはちまん　ごせん　ななひゃく　じゅう　きゅ

Days of the week !!!

きょう　は　なんようび　です　か？
Ｋｙｏｕ　ｗａ　ｎａｎ’ｙｏｕｂｉ　ｄｅｓｕ　ｋａ？
What day is it?

にちようび　です。
Ｎｉｃｈｉｙｏｕｂｉ　ｄｅｓｕ。
It is Sunday.

げつようび　＝　ｇｅｔｓｕｙｏｕｂｉ　＝　monday
かようび　＝　ｋａｙｏｕｂｉ　＝　tuesday
すいようび　＝　ｓｕｉｙｏｕｂｉ　＝　wednesday
もくようび　＝　ｍｏｋｕｙｏｕｂｉ　＝　thursday
きんようび　＝　ｋｉｎ’ｙｏｕｂｉ　＝　friday

どようび　＝　ｄｏｙｏｕｂｉ　＝　saturday
にちようび　＝　ｎｉｃｈｉｙｏｕｂｉ　＝　sunday
ひ　＝　ｈｉ　＝　day
きょう　＝　ｋｙｏｕ　＝　today
あした　＝　ａｓｈｉｔａ　＝　tomorrow

(note that once again the "i" is dropped when saying "ashita" so it sounds like "ashta" )

きょう　は　きにょうび　です。
Ｋｙｏｕ　ｗａ　ｋｉｎ’ｙｏｕｂｉ　ｄｅｓｕ。
Today is Friday.

あした　は　どようび　です。
Ａｓｈｉｔａ　ｗａ　ｄｏｙｏｕｂｉ　ｄｅｓｕ。
Tomorrow is saturday.

(note that also AGAIN "ha" is used for "wa" when written in japanese characters)

Pronouns !!!
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それら　＝　ｓｏｒｅｒａ　＝　those
ぼく　＝　ｂｏｋｕ　＝　me (male informal)
あたし　＝　ａｔａｓｈｉ　＝　me (female informal)
あなた　＝　ａｎａｔａ　＝　you
わたしたち　＝　ｗａｔａｓｈｉｔａｃｈｉ　＝　we

note that watashitachi is pronounced "watash tachi" (the "i" is silent)
And anyone remember that "sore" is "that" ?

かれ　＝　ｋａｒｅ　＝　he
かのじょ　＝　ｋａｎｏｊｏ　＝　she
かれら　＝　ｋａｒｅｒａ　＝　they (masculine)
かのじょたち　＝　ｋａｎｏｊｏｔａｃｈｉ　＝　they (feminine)
あなたたち　＝　ａｎａｔａｔａｃｈｉ　＝　you (plural)

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~Reserved~