Beginner Japanese: Can You Read Katakana?

Japanese has thousands of words (gairaigo) borrowed from other languages, so you'll see Katakana used all over the place in Japanese. To Westerners, Japanese words written in Katakana seem to be "less than Japanese," but many Japanese people think of these words as chic and trendy compared to their native Japanese vocabulary.

Learning Katakana takes patience and practice—lots of reading practice. In this free Japanese quiz, try reading all of the answer choices out loud, and see if you can pronounce the Katakana words correctly. Try a new introductory Japanese quiz at Nihongo-Pro every day, and your Japanese skill will improve steadily!

If you want to learn Japanese online fast, why not add online private lessons at Nihongo-Pro to your study plan? Our teachers are second to none, and will build private Japanese lessons customized for you. Plus, even though we pay our teachers better than other online Japanese schools, our lessons are among the most affordable anywhere.

We hope to see you in an online Japanese lesson soon. In the meantime, the staff and teachers at Nihongo-Pro wish you the best of luck in your Japanese studies!