Here, ど (i.e. とwith two dots) and ぞ (i.e. そwith two dots) are unfamiliar.

This is how to draw the character と. It is composed of two strokes.

• The first stroke is down.
• The second stroke is a counterclockwise semicircle.

と is the hiragana equivalent to ト in katakana, so it stands for the to sound.

With two dots, と becomes ど, which reads do.

This is how to draw the character そ. It is composed of one continuous stroke.

• The stroke is across, then downward in a right-to-left diagonal, across again, and finally curving in a counter-clockwise semicircle. This stroke is reminiscent of the Roman Z with a C drawn on the end.

そ is the hiragana equivalent to ソ in katakana, so it stands for so.

With two dots そ becomes ぞ, which reads zo.

ぞ stands for the zo sound.

どうぞ should, therefore, read douzo, but actually it is pronounced doozo, i.e. the u sound is affected by the preceding o sound. In other words, う here functions for elongation. To get  どうぞ on a computer, you need to type douzo, however.

Now, write はい、どうぞ in window below.



Your PC should support Japanese characters.

Here, three characters, も, あ and り are unfamiliar to you.

Practice how to write these three characters, following the video.

This is how to draw the character も. It is composed of three strokes.

• The first stroke is across.
• The second stroke is also across.
• The third stroke is down, then curves across and then up.

も and モ  look similar, and they indeed stand for the same mo sound. Notice that the vertical stroke in も starts from above the upper horizontal bar, while that in モ begins from just below the upper horizontal bar.

Like どうぞ is pronounced doozo, どうも is pronounced doomo, う acting as an elongation effectively.

This is how to draw the character あ. It is composed of three strokes.

• The first stroke is across.
• The second stroke is down.
• The third stroke is a clockwise spiral, more or less.

あ is the hiragana equivalent to ア in katakana, so it is pronounced a.

This is how to draw the character り. It is composed of two strokes.

• The first stroke is down.
• The second stroke arcs over the top then goes down, curving to the left.

り and リ also look similar, and they stand for the same ri sound indeed. They were created from the same kanji. As you may have noticed, compared with katakana which are rather straight and squarish, hiragana look generally curby and roundish. (Katakana is sometimes described as "masculine" while hiragana "feminine".)

Now, you should be able to read ありがとうございます.

Write どうもありがとうございます in window below.



Your PC should support Japanese characters.