A mora is the basic unit of sound timing in Japanese. Think of it like a musical beat - each hiragana character represents exactly one mora, one beat.

This is why さくら (sakura) has 3 beats: sa-ku-ra, not 2 syllables like English "cherry." Understanding mora helps you:

• Speak with proper rhythm and timing
• Count syllables correctly in poetry (haiku uses 5-7-5 mora, not syllables)
• Understand why っ (small tsu) and ー (long vowel mark) matter

Japanese uses pitch accent - certain syllables are pronounced with higher or lower pitch. It's like musical notes, not stress like in English.

Example: はし can mean "bridge" (high-low) or "chopsticks" (low-high). Same hiragana, different meanings based on pitch.

Most textbooks skip this because:

• It's hard to show in text without audio
• You can be understood without perfect pitch
• It varies by region

But learning it makes you sound natural instead of robotic!

Stroke order is the sequence your pen moves when writing a character. It's not just tradition - it's muscle memory optimization:

• Speed: Correct order flows naturally, wrong order fights itself
• Legibility: Characters look better when strokes connect properly
• Recognition: Your brain expects certain stroke patterns
• Handwriting: Cursive Japanese (連体) follows stroke order rules

It's like learning to tie shoes - there's a "right way" that becomes automatic and efficient.

Those marks are diacritics that change pronunciation:

• Dakuten (゛): Makes sounds "voiced" - か→が, さ→ざ, た→だ
• Handakuten (゜): Only used with h-sounds - は→ぱ, ひ→ぴ, ふ→ぷ

Think of it like adding "vibration" to your vocal cords. Touch your throat and say "ka" vs "ga" - feel the difference?

This system lets Japanese use the same base characters for related sounds, like having "k/g", "s/z", "t/d" families.

Long vowels hold the sound for two mora beats instead of one:

• お + あ = おお: Like "oh" but longer (おかあさん = o-ka-a-san)
• え + い = えい: Like "ay" but longer (せんせい = se-n-se-i)
• Same vowel twice: ああ, いい, うう, ええ, おお

The key: it's not just "longer sound" - it's literally two beats of time. This affects:

• Rhythm and timing when speaking
• Syllable counting in poetry
• How words fit into sentence patterns