れ (re) – Hiragana

Pronunciation

– Pronounced as the Japanese ‘re’. 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 ‘e’ at the end of it – ‘re’.

About

れ, in hiragana, or レ in katakana, is one of the Japanese kana, each of which represents one mora. The hiragana is written in two strokes, while katakana in one.

Mnemonics

Mnemonic 1: A snake, a type of reptile, slithers past a sign saying “Beware of the reptiles”.

Mnemonic 2: It’s a reindeer looking up into the sky. The left part of the character represents its antlers.