ル (ru) – Katakana

Pronunciation

– Pronounced as the Japanese ‘ru’. This can be a difficult kana to pronounce for new students. There’s no direct word in the English language that has this sound, it’s rather a cross between the English ‘r’ and the English ‘l’. Imagine a sort of soft ‘r’ where your tongue doesn’t roll, then add the Japanese ‘u’ at the end of it – ‘ru’.

About

る, in hiragana, or ル in katakana, is one of the Japanese kana, each of which represent one mora. The hiragana is written in one stroke; the katakana in two.

Mnemonics

Mnemonic 1: This shows a pair of legs (making a ‘run’ for it!)

Mnemonic 2: This character looks like two legs of a ‘kangaroo’.