All other characters (except
n) are made of a
consonant sound and one of the 5 vowel
sounds.
The not-so-logical-pronunciation
letters are chi,
tsu, and
fu. BE CAREFUL
The R letters are
pronounced somewhere between the R and L
sounds of English - Click here for more
n cannot be used to
start a word
You cannot 'ten-ten'
vowels
Combinations are
formed using only ya, yu, and yo 'helpers' and the i
column (ki, shi, chi, ni, hi, mi, ri)
A small tsu causes a slight
pause or break between syllables. For example in
English we say a slight pause after "book"
in "booK Club"
Here are two examples in Japanese where the small tsu
can clear up / cause a lot of problems!
gakki - musical instrument [with
a slight pause]
and gaki - brat, annoying kid [without
the pause]
FUN WITH HIRAGANA
A cute drawing
made from hiragana is called Henohenomoheji
n) are made of a
consonant sound and one of the 5 vowel
sounds. 
chi,
tsu, and
fu. BE CAREFUL 
ya, 
yu, and 
yo 'helpers' and the i
column (ki, shi, chi, ni, hi, mi, ri)
gakki - musical instrument [with
a slight pause]
The name sounds impossible to learn,
but i