Katakana chart
Katakana writes words borrowed from other languages (コーヒー, coffee), foreign names and a lot of what you see on menus and signs in Japan. It has the same sounds as hiragana, drawn with sharper strokes. Tap any character to hear it, watch its stroke order and get a memory trick.
Basic characters
The 46 core sounds, read across by vowel and down by consonant.
Dakuten and handakuten
Two small ticks (゛) make a sound voiced: k→g, s→z, t→d, h→b. A small circle (゜) turns h into p.
Combinations (yōon)
An i-sound followed by a small ya, yu or yo blends into one beat: キ + ャ = キャ (kya).
Learn the whole chart, one row at a time
Nijikana teaches katakana in short lessons with mini-games and audio, then uses spaced repetition to bring back the characters you are about to forget. It's free.