Learning Japanese starts with one essential foundation: Hiragana and Katakana (the two Japanese syllabaries). These 92 characters are used in every Japanese sentence – Hiragana for native words and grammar, and Katakana for loanwords and names – so mastering them first gives you a strong base for everything that follows. In fact, experts note that with the right strategy you can “confidently learn all 92 characters in just 7 days.” Tomodai is a free Japanese learning tool built to make exactly that possible for absolute beginners. Its guided, AI-powered curriculum uses clear, bite-sized lessons, smart quizzes, and fun practice to help you learn Hiragana fast and master Katakana in a week.
By following a focused 7-day plan on Tomodai, you’ll tackle a few characters at a time (starting with the five vowels), review with spaced-repetition drills, and even practice speaking with an AI tutor. This rapid-but-supported approach means you can build confidence quickly and skip the Romaji. Best of all, Tomodai’s core beginner path is completely free – the site explicitly offers a “Free Forever” plan for starters – so you can get going with no cost or commitment.
Why Mastering Kana First Matters
Before jumping into that 7-day plan, let’s recall why Hiragana and Katakana deserve your full attention at the outset. Learning Kana first gives you:
A true foundation for reading: Every Japanese sentence uses Hiragana, and Katakana shows up in foreign words, names, and everyday labels. Mastering these scripts “unlocks the ability to read and pronounce almost anything in Nihongo”, whereas relying on Romaji will only slow you down.
Correct pronunciation habits: Each Kana character corresponds to a single sound. By learning the syllabaries first, you internalize Japanese pronunciation naturally (for example, distinguishing “ka” vs “ga” clearly). This pays dividends once you start learning vocabulary.
Faster progress in grammar and vocab: When you can read Hiragana and Katakana, words “make sense” on sight instead of feeling like random shapes. You stop memorizing blindly and start recognizing patterns in words and grammar. Learning Kana early means you can dive into real Japanese material (children’s books, JLPT textbooks, menus, etc.) much sooner.
Confidence boost: Even seeing signs or simple menus becomes possible within days, giving you motivation. Tomodai’s curriculum reflects this: it starts with Kana and guides you step-by-step until you read and write them comfortably.
In short, mastering Kana first sets you up for success. Tomodai’s N5 (Beginner) course, for example, explicitly includes “Mastery of Hiragana and Katakana” as its first milestone. That’s why our 7-day plan focuses only on Kana – so you can get this key hurdle out of the way quickly and confidently.
How Tomodai Helps You Learn Kana Faster
Tomodai is built for learners who need a structured, motivating, and intelligent way to study Japanese. Here are the features that make mastering Hiragana and Katakana much easier than going it alone:
Structured Lessons: Tomodai’s bite-sized lessons break the syllabaries into small groups (like vowels first, then rows of consonants). You always know exactly what to study next, following the same clear path that Japanese experts recommend. This prevents overwhelm – for example, on Day 1 you only learn the five vowels (あ・い・う・え・お) with audio and stroke animations.
Interactive Practice (AI Talk): Right after learning new characters, you can speak simple words or sentences into Tomodai’s AI tutor. The AI responds like a native speaker, so you immediately practice pronunciation (e.g. saying あめ “ame” or いえ “ie”) and gain confidence. This turns rote memorization into real communication practice.
Smart Quizzes & Mock Tests: Tomodai uses adaptive, spaced-repetition quizzes that focus on your weak spots. If you struggle with a character, it will reappear until you’ve mastered it. These quizzes operate on the proven spaced repetition principle (retesting items just as you’re about to forget), so you retain everything long-term. You can also take mock tests (50–100 questions) to check your mastery before moving on.
Personalized 7-Day Plans: Tomodai’s AI analyzes your pace and progress to generate a custom 7-day study schedule. You’ll get daily targets that fit your learning speed, ensuring steady growth. (If 7 days feels too fast, the app will automatically adjust and let you take longer – it’s not a rigid deadline.)
All-in-One Toolset: Unlike using multiple apps, Tomodai puts everything in one place. You have writing practice (stroke order drills), reading exercises, listening practice, and even error explanations built in. After each lesson you can immediately do related activities without hunting for a separate tool.
Progress Tracking & Gamification: Tomodai keeps you motivated with achievements and rewards. You earn badges, points, and see your streaks – a classic gamification trick. This is no gimmick: research shows that gamified elements like points and badges provide a “sense of achievement” and significantly boost learner engagement. In Tomodai, every quiz passed and lesson completed earns you visible progress, turning your study into a fun game.
All these features combine to help you learn Hiragana fast. For instance, Tomodai’s Beginner (N5) stage explicitly covers “Learn hiragana, katakana, and basic greetings” from the very start. You aren’t left wondering what to study next – each new character is introduced in context, immediately practiced, and then reinforced in a quiz. And since it’s a free Japanese learning tool, you can access all of this any time at no cost.
7-Day Kana Mastery Plan
We’ve put together a realistic 7-day schedule that assumes about 30–45 minutes of focused study each day using Tomodai. Follow the plan below:
Day 1 — Master the Basic Hiragana Vowels (あ・い・う・え・お)
Start with the core five vowels. Tomodai’s Day 1 lesson introduces あ、い、う、え、お through audio pronunciations, stroke-order animations, and immediate quizzes – a perfect combination to learn hiragana fast without getting overwhelmed.
Tomodai Activities for Day 1:
Lesson: Hiragana Vowels (あ, い, う, え, お)
Writing Practice: Trace/write each vowel in correct stroke order
Quiz: Match vowel sounds to symbols (sound–character matching)
AI Talk: Practice saying simple vowel-based words (e.g. あめ ame “rain”, いえ ie “house”)
By the end of Day 1, these five characters – the most common sounds in Japanese – should feel familiar. As Tomodai notes, you’ll soon “immediately recognize the most common sounds in Japanese” after just this session.
Day 2 — Learn the K-Row and S-Row (か,き,く,け,こ and さ,し,す,せ,そ)
With the vowels locked in, expand naturally to the next ten characters: the K-row (か through こ) and S-row (さ through そ). These build on the vowels you know, so they’re easy to pick up.
Tomodai Activities for Day 2:
Lesson: K-row and S-row Hiragana (か き く け こ; さ し す せ そ)
Vocabulary Practice: Build words using these characters (e.g. さかな sakana “fish”)
Quiz: Drill the new K/S characters (sound–symbol matching)
By Day 2 you’ll start to see the logic in Hiragana’s structure. As one guide puts it, after learning these rows “you begin noticing how predictable and logical Hiragana is”. Your reading ability jumps dramatically once you know these 15 characters (5 vowels + 10 from Day 2).
Day 3 — Complete the Rest of Hiragana (T, N, H, M, Y, R, W rows)
Today cover the remaining Hiragana rows: T, N, H, M, Y, R, and W (た〜わ). Tomodai breaks these into bite-sized lessons, mixing new characters with review quizzes to avoid overload.
Tomodai Activities for Day 3:
Daily Kana Lesson: About 10–12 new Hiragana characters (one or two rows)
Review Quiz: Mixed Hiragana recognition (all characters learned so far)
AI Talk: Read short simple sentences aloud using Hiragana
This is the heaviest day, but Tomodai’s guided approach prevents burnout. The app blends fresh lessons with review seamlessly, ensuring you’re “never overwhelmed” even as you learn 20+ new symbols. By evening, you will have seen all 46 basic Hiragana.
Day 4 — Review Day: Strengthen Your Hiragana Recall
You’ve now been introduced to every Hiragana character. Day 4 is for consolidation: identifying and shoring up any weak spots.
Tomodai Activities for Day 4:
Personalized Quiz: Target your weak Hiragana (the app will focus on the ones you missed)
Writing Drill: Handwriting practice for troublesome characters (trace and write them)
Mock Test: A 50-question quiz on all Hiragana learned so far
AI Talk: Read aloud some beginner sentences using only Hiragana (like こんにちは konnichiwa)
By the end of Day 4, Hiragana should truly feel comfortable. As Tomodai promises, after these drills “Hiragana should feel comfortable”. You’ve built strong recall before moving on to Katakana.
Day 5 — Start Katakana: Reading Loanwords
Katakana looks angular compared to the curvy Hiragana, but it represents the same sounds you know. Tomodai introduces Katakana by tying new characters to words you already use (e.g. アイス aisu “ice cream”, コーヒー koohii “coffee”). This makes learning Katakana fun and immediately practical.
Tomodai Activities for Day 5:
Lesson: Katakana Vowels + K-row (ア,イ,ウ,エ,オ + カキクケコ)
Vocabulary: Listen and repeat familiar loanwords using those characters (ice cream, taxi, etc.)
Quiz: Identify Katakana characters in common loanwords and brand names (see if you can read スーパー suupaa “supermarket”)
Seeing Katakana in action all around you (signs, menus, tech names) makes it click fast. As the guide notes, once you start recognizing Katakana words, “it becomes fun” because you see it everywhere.
Day 6 — Complete Katakana + Writing Practice
Now cover the rest of the Katakana chart. Tomodai mirrors your Hiragana learning pattern: you’ll do a comprehensive Katakana lesson, then practice writing and distinguishing them from Hiragana.
Tomodai Activities for Day 6:
Lesson: Remaining Katakana (all rows beyond K-row)
Writing Practice: Use the AI stroke-recognition tool to handwrite each new Katakana character
Mixed Quiz: Practice distinguishing Hiragana vs Katakana (tomorrow you’ll mix them)
AI Talk: Read Katakana-only sentences aloud (for example, カタカナで katakana de)
By the end of Day 6 you will be able to read basic Japanese menus, product labels, or names written in Katakana. Tomodai assures that after this intensive session, “you can read basic Japanese menus, product labels, and names”.
Day 7 — Final Review & Mastery Test
Day 7 is all about consolidation and celebration. You’ll test your knowledge and plan for continued practice.
Tomodai Activities for Day 7:
Mastery Test: A 100-question Hiragana–Katakana recognition test (mix of both scripts)
AI-Generated Review Plan: Tomodai gives you a personalized plan for any characters that still need work
Reading Practice: Read short beginner stories or dialogues written purely in Kana (to build fluency)
Certificate (optional): Tomodai even offers a “Certificate of Completion” to reward your hard work!
Congratulations – by now all 92 Kana characters should be within your grasp. Tomodai highlights that at this point you “now know all Kana characters confidently in just one week”, a milestone that normally takes new learners months to reach.
Tips for Success on Your 7-Day Journey
To make the most of this plan, keep these proven tips in mind:
Review Frequently: Make good use of Tomodai’s spaced-repetition quizzes – they’re designed so you repeatedly revisit each character at the optimal time. This ensures yesterday’s lessons stick as well as today’s.
Write as Well as Read: Practice writing each character by hand (Tomodai’s stroke-tool can check you). Writing reinforces memory through muscle activity.
Speak the Sounds Aloud: Say each character and word out loud when you study. This engages more of your brain and makes recall stronger.
Use AI Talk Every Day: Even just a minute of speaking simple Kana words or sentences to the AI tutor builds confidence and helps you hear yourself pronounce characters correctly.
Don’t Rush If You Need More Time: The goal is mastery, not speed. If 7 days feels too intense, Tomodai will adjust your study plan to a gentler pace. Consistent daily practice (even longer than a week) is better than cramming.
What Makes Tomodai Different?
Many apps offer flashcards or phrase lists, but Tomodai combines a true learning path with smart technology. For example:
Expert-Crafted Roadmap: Tomodai was developed by Japanese educators who know the exact progression beginners need. You follow a step-by-step syllabus (aligned with JLPT N5–N1 levels) instead of random lessons.
Adaptive AI: The platform constantly adjusts to you. Its smart AI tracks which characters give you trouble and tailors review sessions accordingly. This personalized tutoring feels like having a private teacher.
Complete Toolkit: Tomodai is all-in-one – no juggling separate apps. You get structured lessons, AI conversation practice, targeted quizzes, writing and reading tools, and JLPT mock tests all in one place. Every feature reinforces the same lesson plan.
Confidence from Day 1: Even beginners start reading real Japanese words almost immediately. Tomodai notes that learners can read their first Japanese words within the first hour thanks to the interactive lessons. That early success boosts motivation enormously.
Plus, remember: Tomodai’s core Kana course is free forever for beginners. Thousands of learners have already benefited from this clear roadmap and AI support. As the company puts it, learning Japanese isn’t luck – it’s “consistency, structure, and the right system”. Tomodai gives you all three.
Start Your Kana Journey Today with Tomodai
Mastering Hiragana and Katakana is the first big milestone in your Japanese journey. With the right system, you can achieve in one week what often takes others months. Tomodai provides everything you need: a guided 7-day learning path, smart quizzes targeting your weaknesses, fun writing and speaking practice, and supportive AI tools. Whether you’re aiming for the JLPT, planning a trip to Japan, or just want to enjoy anime without subtitles, your foundation starts here.
Sign up for Tomodai (it’s free) and begin your Kana adventure now. In just seven days, you’ll be reading and writing Japanese at a whole new level – and you’ll have the rest of the language learning journey on solid ground. Your first step toward fluency begins today!