Advocacy / Teaching Strategies

The Hiragana and Katakana mini books allow students to effortlessly learn hiragana script in context through frequent reading.

Click on the images below to start reading the digital books, and then on the book title at the bottom right of the page to proceed to the next book.  Select the purple button to explore teacher’s notes, including printable books and colouring activities.

Associating the shape and sound of each character to a familiar word, image, and/or concept in English is one of effective ways to teach Hiragana and Katakana!  The Japan Foundation developed Hiragana/ Katakana Memory Hint, which is an app to learn Hiragana and Katakana using mnemonic pictures. Based on the illustrations of the app, we created the series of resources including flashcards and worksheets for teachers!

Flashcards:

Worksheets:

Support Resource:

It is the aim of all Japanese teachers to give their students a learning experience which they find enjoyable and satisfying. The learning experience occurs largely in the classroom, so we must look for the most effective ways of building meaningful communication within the classroom, in the hope that learners will extend their skills and understandings beyond the classroom.