Learn Basic Japanese Language With Me (1)

Hello there~ 

Sorry, I've been little busy lately, so I didn't update my blog.

Today, I'm going to share with you guys what I've learned in Japanese class from the very beginning.

Let's get started ლ(❛◡❛✿)ლ

  

 Japanese writing system consists of three different character sets:

1) Kanji (several thousands of Chinese characters)

2) Hiragana and Katakana (two syllabaries of 46 characters each; together called Kana)

3) Romaji 

HIRAGANA

-Strictly speaking,Hiragana is the most basic alphabet

Hiragana List 1

Hiragana List 2

KATAKANA

-is used for loan words and foreign words

-Loanword: コーヒー(coffee)、サラダ(salad)、パン(bread - derivative from Portuguese "paõ")

-Species: イヌ(dog)、ネコ(cat)、コウテイペンギン(emperor penguin or "aptenodytes forsteri")

-Sounds: ワンワン(bowwow)、ブーン(zoom)、チョキチョキ(snip-snap)

Katakana List

Katakana is a copy of hiragana, except with different letters. So you’re probably thinking, “why have 2 alphabets with the same sounds and different symbols?” Well, the katakana alphabet is mainly used to write borrowed words from foreign languages and distinguish them from standard Japanese words.

Example:

the Japanese word for “bus” is “basu.” The two sound similar right? That’s because they “borrowed” the word “bus” from English and made it Japanese. So, instead of writing it as ばす (hiragana), they write it as バス (katakana) to differentiate it from ordinary Japanese words. Katakana is also used to emphasize words and to spell foreign names and places. It’s easy to tell the difference between the two alphabets because hiragana looks more rounded and smooth, whereas katakana look more rigid with lots of short, straight strokes.

Kanji

Kanji is actually a subset of Chinese characters. The Japanese use kanji to help convey meaning and to make it easier to read written text

Example:

明日、動物園に行かない? (Sentence using hiragana & kanji) vs.

あした、どうぶつえんにいかない？ (Same sentence with only hiragana)

As you can see, it’s easier to tell where one word starts and another ends and it’s easier to scan the sentence..assuming you know how to read the kanji.

Example of where Kanji can be useful for meaning~

-All of the following words are pronounced “toru” but each have a different meaning:

とる (hiragana- it can mean a number of things!)

撮る (to take a picture)

取る (to take something/pick something up)

盗る (to steal something)

✿Hopefully, my post is helpful and useful to you, Happy Learning ✿