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し and シ

Pronunciation

“Shi” sound in She or Sheep.

し Memorization Story

In your town lives a friendly Sheep called “She”. Every time She the sheep tries to write the letter J, it ends up backwards. Every time. Because She’s a sheep.

シ Memorization Story

As for the katakana, it’s the face She the Sheep makes when “She screams in silence” every time she notices that she wrote J backwards again.

Writing

 
 

The hiragana し is easy enough to remember, since it’s basically a backwards J.

But for the katakana, there is one thing you MUST note now to save yourself pain later. シ starts with the TOP short line, and both short strokes are nearly HORIZONTAL. You SLIDE the final stroke UP from the left, ALSO almost horizontally. You’ll see why it’s important to get this style ingrained in your head when we get to a look-a-like later. 

Font Examples

し　　シ

し　　シ

し　　シ

し　　シ

し　　シ

Typing

Hiragana し
Type the letters “shi” or "si".

Katakana シ
Type "shi" or "si" and press the F7 key, or press spacebar until the katakana appears. 

Word(s)

あし

leg(s), feet

シクシク

sound of someone crying

 

 

Historical Form

Hiragana
之→し

HISTORICAL VERSION

 

Katakana
之→シ

PART BORROWED

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ToKini Kana Introduction Page あ・ア い・イ う・ウ え・エ お・オ Consonant Vowel Combinations か・カ き・キ く・ク け・ケ こ・コ Kana Reading Practice 1 さ・サ し・シ す・ス せ・セ そ・ソ た・タ ち・チ つ・ツ て・テ と・ト Kana Reading Practice 2 な・ナ に・ニ ぬ・ヌ ね・ネ の・ノ は・ハ ひ・ヒ ふ・フ へ・ヘ ほ・ホ Kana Reading Practice 3 ま・マ み・ミ む・ム め・メ も・モ や・ヤ ゆ・ユ よ・ヨ Kana Reading Practice 4 ら・ラ り・リ る・ル れ・レ ろ・ロ わ・ワ を・ヲ ん・ン Kana Reading Practice 5 Dakuten, Han-Dakuten, and Sokuon Kana Reading Practice 6 Kana Combinations Kana Reading Practice 7 Special Katakana Combinations The End Kana Worksheets