Japanese writing

[Twirl]

Can anyone here write in Japanese proficiently? I am practicing writing, but having problems with balance of characters.

P.S.
Does anyone know where I can find the paper (workbook) the Japanese students use to practice kanji (it’s a paper divided into many small squares), or at least what’s it called in Japanese.

**Note: any other hints are welcome:sarutobi


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[Kissed_by_Kakashi]

here (http://www.japanese-name-translation.com/site/hiragana_symbols.html#05) i hope this helps.sorry if it dont

[The Black Knight]

Just write lots....It's not hard....build it by muscle/hand memory. Also learn proper stroke order. You don't always have to use it...you can take shortcuts normally, unless you are doing formal writing for school or business. Also handwriting is quite different to the characters you see on the computer.

[Yoshitsune]

Handwritten is more free than the stuff you see on the comp.
And, following the stroke orders actually makes writting them easier and faster~

[Yoshitsune]

I've actually stopped writing as much Japanese as I should.....
I usually type all my stuff out for school etc.

But learning to write it will definately become the basis for this, so don't abandon writing all together!

[xThehavenx]

Thanks! the Hiragana symbols really helped!

[Kiba_Kun]

Can anyone teach me how to write in japenese?

[The Black Knight]

guidetojapanese.com

It's one of the first few lessons.

There are 3 writing systems Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji.
Hiragana and Katakana are collectively called Kana, and this is the phonetic alphabet/syllabetry. Each character represents a different sound. There
Hiragana is mainly used for grammar particles and Japanese words

There are 46 basic sounds. (48, if you count wi and we, but these sounds are obsolete in modern Japanese)
But of course there can be more when you combine them or add dakuten. (dakuten look like " marks)
46 basic sounds in Japanese alphabetical order:
A, I, U, E, O, Ka, Ki, Ku, Ke, Ko, Sa, Shi, Su, Se, So, Ta, Chi, Tsu, Te, To, Na Ni, Nu, Ne, No, Ha, Hi, Fu(Hu), He, Ho, Ma, Mi, Mu, Me, Mo, Ya, Yu, Yo, Ra, Ri, Ru, Re, Ro, Wa, Wo, N'

Of course there is more....so go to japaneseguide.com to learn them all.

Hiragana is used for mainly Japanese words or grammatical particles. This is kind of the "cursive" syllabetry.

Katakana is the Japanese version of italics It is used to make words stand out. It is also used for foreign words imported to Japanese and it is used for otomatopoeia (sound words).

Kanji......this is the one that represents meaning. The character gives no clue to the sound. You must remember meaning and pronunciation. When you see a kanji character it's you either know it or you don't. Sometimes you may across one, where you know the meaning, but not the pronunciation. There are 2000 kanji in Japanese that you must know in order to be literate. This means that you can pick up a newspaper and read it.

If you need help send me a PM

[sensei_andrew]

Does anyone know if it's true that you write your family name in Hirigana and your first name in katakana cuz thats what I've been doing but my friend said I was writing them backwards. :huh

[The Black Knight]

No it doesn't matter. It's whatever was given to you. Family names are usually in Kanji, but not always. As for your name, whatever is on your seal.
Your parents assign kanji, katakana, or hiragana for your name at birth.

For foreign names, all of it should be in katakana, since it's foreign.

[KuroHyo]

IIE! Ex: Neko, Kokiro wa nihongo...ego: Kokiro Neko...

Nihongo: Neko=katakana Kokiro=hiragana

[Twirl]

In case anyone was wondering what paper I was talking about (I finally found it), its called 原稿用紙 (really now?:P This is ironic) ... print as many as you like:wink www.punahou.edu/acad/japanese/ady/j3/documents/genkooyooshi.pdf

This is in case you want to know where they sell them
http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/434101725X/249-9021647-2952360?v=glance&n=465392&s=books

Hope this helps (this is the paper that is customarily used to practice kanji)

[Hinata's#1fan]

hi im new so whats up everyone??