ト to

In handwriting ト, start the long vertical bar from the top and go straight down. Then write the short bar in the middle downwards to right.

ノート      nooto        notebook

トースト   toosuto     toast

Here the final [t] sounds, which lack a following vowel, are expressed as to instead of tsu, probably because to is slightly closer to the original English sound. 

Now, write the two words above, on your PC.



Your PC should support Japanese characters.

イ　i

When handwriting イ, start out at the top right to make the slanted bar downward toward middle left. Follow this with the short vertical bar from the midpoint of the slanted bar straight down to the bottom.

イースト iisuto       yeast; east

イオン  ion    ion

Now, write the two words above, on your PC.



Your PC should support Japanese characters.

ク　ku

When handwriting ク, start out by making the shorter slanted bar at top left; it goes from the top downward to the middle left. Then, draw the short horizontal bar to the right and turn downwards slanted towards bottom left, parallel to the first stroke.

Be careful not to confuse ク with ケ, which has a longer horizontal bar. Proper stroke order will eliminate confusion between these two characters. 

クラス    kurasu       class

Notice that a consonant [k] sound without a following vowel is always expressed as ku, as shown in the above examples. When spoken, however, the ku sound tends to be pronounced k without  u.

タ　ta

タ is formed by placing an additional short stroke inside of ク. Following our stroke order rules, this short stroke goes from upper left to bottom right.

タクシー    takushii     taxi

ランタン    rantan       lantern

Now, write the two words above, on your PC.



Your PC should support Japanese characters.

When handwriting ア, start with the upper horizontal bar from left to right; at the right end, turn downwards slightly to left. Don't make this little ending stroke too long. Then, make the final stroke starting from top just under the middle of the first horizontal bar heading downwards first and then slightly to left at the end.

ノア        Noa          Noah

Now, write the two words above, on your PC.



Your PC should support Japanese characters.

マ  ma

Notice that ア and マ look quite similar. The last stroke in ア must be longer and taper off gradually down to the left; the last stroke in マ is shorter, goes down to the right and stops firmly.

ママ     mama      mum, mom

マーク  maaku; Maaku     mark, Mark

Your PC should support Japanese characters.

リ　ri

Following our stroke order rules, the leftmost vertical bar comes first, followed by the one on the right. Finish the rightmost stroke with a bit of leftward movement.

リマ    Rima           Lima [capital of Peru]

In one stroke, go from top to bottom, then head 45 degrees up to the right lifting the pen from the paper as you go.

リレー riree      relay

レター retaa    letter

レ represents both [r] and [l] sounds in English. 

Practice the two words above on your PC.



Your PC should support Japanese characters.

ル　ru

As you might have noticed, ル is ノ and レ together. To form one character, however, both have to be placed closely together and be of similar size.

レール      reeru        rail

Notice that ル covers both [r] and [l] sounds in English

サ　sa

Before writing the verticals draw the horizontal line. Of course, the verticals follow the order introduced by リ

サーカス  saakasu        circus

サマンサ  Samansa       Samantha

Notice that サ represents the [tha] sound as well as the [sa] sound in English.

Practice the above two words on your PC.



Your PC should support Japanese characters.