Chee
02-04-2006, 02:06 AM
This is for people who had just started. Not for advance. So please don't whine about how "too basic" it is.
There are four types of ways to write and read in Japanese. This is the difficult part, after this, learning the language is quite easy.
First is Hiragana, this is used for words like...how can I put this, words that do not come from other countries. Like pizza, it wouldn't be written in hiragana, because that word does not come from Japan or other Asian countries. A word like steamed rice (which is goku in Japanese) would be written in hiragana because its from Japan. There are 5 basic vowel sounds: A (ah), I (ee), U (oo), E (a), O (oh).
Second there is Katakana, words that come from other countries (in other words: foreign words). Like Pizza would be spelled in katakana. (Quick note: Pizza is Piza in Japanese.)
Kanji is the most difficult to learn, there are over 50,000 different kanji words, but don't worry! The average person only knows about 1,000 by heart. Heheh, if you don't have time to memorize kanji, do what I do: look above the kanji. Usually above the kanji the word is written in hiragana or katakana. One kanji usally represent one to a few words.
Romanji used mostly for people who can't read Japanese well (ex: an American *cough-me*). This is hard to explain but, its sorta our alphabet and their alphabet and what not.
If you found this helpful, just post that you found it helpful and I might post more lessons on the way. :)
If you want to find Hiragana or Katakana charts use google or yahoo. Theres many websites with them. Post if you can't find them.
There are four types of ways to write and read in Japanese. This is the difficult part, after this, learning the language is quite easy.
First is Hiragana, this is used for words like...how can I put this, words that do not come from other countries. Like pizza, it wouldn't be written in hiragana, because that word does not come from Japan or other Asian countries. A word like steamed rice (which is goku in Japanese) would be written in hiragana because its from Japan. There are 5 basic vowel sounds: A (ah), I (ee), U (oo), E (a), O (oh).
Second there is Katakana, words that come from other countries (in other words: foreign words). Like Pizza would be spelled in katakana. (Quick note: Pizza is Piza in Japanese.)
Kanji is the most difficult to learn, there are over 50,000 different kanji words, but don't worry! The average person only knows about 1,000 by heart. Heheh, if you don't have time to memorize kanji, do what I do: look above the kanji. Usually above the kanji the word is written in hiragana or katakana. One kanji usally represent one to a few words.
Romanji used mostly for people who can't read Japanese well (ex: an American *cough-me*). This is hard to explain but, its sorta our alphabet and their alphabet and what not.
If you found this helpful, just post that you found it helpful and I might post more lessons on the way. :)
If you want to find Hiragana or Katakana charts use google or yahoo. Theres many websites with them. Post if you can't find them.