Hiragana
The first step is to learn the alphabet in the Japanese language. There are absolutely no "tones" like other Asian language.
The characters listed below are called Hiragana.
It is the main Japanese alphabet.
The Japanese language also consists of Chinese characters (Kanji) and another alphabet, Katakana, which is mainly used for foreign words.
There are 5 vowels in the Japanese language. (a), pronounced "ahh", (i), pronounced like "e" in "eat", (u), pronounced like "oo" in "soon", (e), pronounced like "e" in "elk", and (o), pronounced "ohh".
All Hiragana characters end with one of these vowels, with the exception of (n). The only consonant that does not resemble that of English is the Japanese "r". It is slightly "rolled" as if it were a combination of a "d", "r", and "l".
