There are two steps to learn Hiragana letters on the app. The one is to practice a single Hiragana letter, which is focused on how to write and how to pronounce each letter. The other is to practice Japanese word written in Hiragana letters, which is focused on how to compose Hiragana letters to build a meaningful Japanese word. As you see, a single Hiragana letter has no meaning. Hiragana letters are only supposed to make sense if they are composed to build a Japanese word. On practice page of Japanese word, you can not only see both English word and Japanese word written in Hiragana letters but also Japanese word written in Kanji letters. So, you can see what Japanese word is like if Kanji letters are also used.
Here is an example.
Let’s say, if you want to say that you like summer.
If you only use Hiragana to write this, it would be
(A) わたし は なつ が すき です [watasi wa natu ga suki desu].
Then, if you replace some words with Kanji character, it would be
(B) 私 は 夏 が 好き です [watasi wa natu ga suki desu].
As you see, even though the face of (A) is different from the face of (B), both of them are exactly the same meaning. What is difference is that some words are replaced to Kanji character, such as
- わたし or 私, means [ I ].
- なつ or 夏, means [ summer ].
- すき or 好き, means [ like ].
You might wonder why only 3 words are replaced to Kanji and what about other words because these 3 words are replaceable words to Kanji characters. You might think why Japanese people use not only Hiragana but also Kanji character. As my understanding, it would be more concise, and also more easy to read, I suppose.
Lastly, I would like you to feel like having a bit of Hiragana letters up your Apple Watch, as the saying goes, "have something up ones sleeve."