Japanese Hiragana and Katakana Flash Cards Kit: Learn the Two Japanese Alphabets Quickly & Easily with this Japanese Flash Cards Kit (Online Audio Included) Cards – July 10, 2012

I’m 60 years old (yeah I can’t believe it either) and am taking a non-credit Japanese language class. Leaning kana seemed daunting but I learned them all with these cards. Here’s how I did it:1. Kicked back, got comfy2. Grabbed the first 6 hiragana cards3. Memorized the 6 cards then shuffled them to make sure I actually learned them4. Set them aside, grabbed the next 6, repeated step 35. Shuffled together all the cards I’d learned and reviewed them6. After passing my review 100% I got the next 6 cards and repeated steps 3, 5, and 6 (this step)7. Kept at it until I got through them all8. Reviewed cards daily, even when I didn’t take time to learn new kana. Reviewing what I’d already learned was the least I’d do daily.It seemed like it took no time at all to get through all the cards. I bought extra binder rings to keep cards organized out of the box.Here’s what I like about these cards (almost as much as I like bulleted lists!):* No romaji on front. I bought Dr. Moku’s flash cards at the same time as these and haven’t really touched them.* The mnemonics work. Some seemed odd or hard to picture at first but they actually stuck in my head. A few of my own came immediately to mind so of course I went with those.* The posters are useful. Every once in a while I get a couple of characters mixed up (i/ri and re/wa I’m looking at you!) and looking at the posters is easier than looking through piles of shuffled cards.* They’re flash cards. I am easily distracted so flash cards on a device would not work for me. Devices are kept well away from my comfy flash card spot.That being said I also use Duolingo. The gamification is good enough to keep my attention, however, I would not recommend using Duolingo to learn kana. It takes forever to get through them all. I mean, not literally forever but since I haven’t finished them I don’t know how long it will take. Seriously, it’s a slog.These cards are the sauce. Buy them.Side note: I’ve downloaded the audio but haven’t used it since my class is taught by a native speaker.Side note 2: I work full time, have 3 cats, and play way too many video games. I’m talking PC video games, not Candy Crush, so don’t sass me or I’ll have to chase you young punks off my lawn! 🙃 My point is if I can somehow do it, so can you!

Perfect for the student of the Japanese language. But everytime I used them the theme song of Mission Impossible began playing in my mind...

Nice small flash cards on a metal ring with the character on one side and the phonetic pronunciation on the other side. Great for working on hiragana and katakana (yes, both of them) by yourself. Not only does this include the basic characters, but all the additional katakana and hiragana characters- not many flash cards have all 200+ characters.Only downsides is that the cards are fairly flimsy, but would be a huge stack of cards if they weren't this thin. Also, the characters on the card are the handwritten characters, which differ a little from the printed characters you usually see. But thats a small complaint

I would have given the product 5 stars, but the "loose leaf book ring" it came with to put cards on was defective and would not snap together and stay closed. For a product with so few parts, it was a disappointment when you're excited to put it all together and study. We did put one of the posters on the freezer door and I had some stainless steel ball chain (2.4mm ball diameter) pieces that could be hooked together (the sort used on military dog tags) and he put his cards on them. Had I known a single ring was so difficult to get hold of, I would have tried to contact the company for a replacement.Just FYI - Wal-Mart and Staples did not have rings large enough. Office Depot had 3" "binder rings" in a set of 10 for $6.79 ($5.45 on Amazon). I have seen single rings sold at Ace Hardware (in the store area where they 'cut' car keys), but it was a few years ago, so I don't know if they still have them; they do have sets of rings, though.In the end, my son kept the cards on two 3" sections (about 6" total) of chain clasped together, he just liked it best. :::sigh::: Whatever works! :) So, if you're not in a hurry, here are some ball chain products on Amazon:Polished Silver Ball Chain Connectors $1.59 w/free shipping: http://www.amazon.com/Beadaholique-10-Piece-Stainless-Steel-Connector/dp/B009V90ADS/ref=pd_sim_ac_4?ie=UTF8&refRID=0P9P82P6Q6Z3PPR290W5Polished Silver Ball Chain $3.80 w/free shipping: http://www.amazon.com/Inch-Stainless-Steel-Chain-Necklace/dp/B004HMVXW6/ref=pd_sim_ac_12?ie=UTF8&refRID=0MXQKF9S5YFTW33JBC4D