Familiar characters.
A changed voice.
You already know the shapes. The same dakuten marks now move to the さ-row — and your ear meets one especially important change: し → じ.
IJ-0013 unlocked the が-row. This page extends the same system with five more voiced sounds.
Familiar characters.
A changed voice.
In IJ-0013, you discovered dakuten: the two small marks ゛ that give familiar kana a voiced sound. Now the same idea moves to the さ-row.
ざ・じ・ず・ぜ・ぞ
Not “ZI.” Hear JI.
し is SHI. With dakuten, it becomes じ — JI. Let your ear learn the sound before worrying about spelling systems.
A clear ZU.
す becomes ず. Listen for the voiced beginning, then keep the vowel short and clean.
One character at a time.
Select a sound. Play the stroke order once. Watch how a familiar base character receives its dakuten marks.
さ + ゛ = ざ
Watch the familiar base form first. The two dakuten strokes complete the changed sound.
Read what you already can.
Time is not only a word to memorize. In Japan, you meet it in train departures, appointments, work, school, shops and everyday plans. From this lesson onward, Japanese begins helping you locate yourself not only in space, but in time.
Ask the time.
You will hear and see ごぜん when a morning time needs to be clear. ごぜん くじ means 9 a.m. Learn it as something attached to real schedules—not merely as a dictionary translation.
A new sound becomes memorable when it enters an ordinary human exchange. You already know を and のみます. Now ず lets you read and use another everyday word.
Will you drink water? / Would you like some water?
Listen. Answer. Keep moving.
Notice time around you.
Japanese does not live only inside this lesson. The next time you are in a station, office, shop, clinic or public building, notice where time appears and how people organize themselves around it.
Find one clock or scheduled time in your environment. Quietly ask yourself: いま なんじですか。 If you know the hour in Japanese, answer it.
Can your ear hear the change?
Do not read first. Press play, listen, then identify what changed.
Your reading world is expanding.
Read each card aloud. These are not “new alphabet letters.” Dakuten lets familiar hiragana carry additional sounds.
I can hear and read another dakuten row.
I can connect さ・し・す・せ・そ with ざ・じ・ず・ぜ・ぞ, recognize じ and ず, read useful time words, ask the current time, and use みず in a simple exchange.
You are not memorizing another alphabet.
You are learning how Japanese sounds transform.
The same marks move again.
The dakuten pattern reaches the た-row—and two sounds will need special attention.