Let's learn Japanese! ~Lesson 1: Kana & Kanji~

Because there are already too many sites that offer online courses to learn the Japanese language, I'm going to add one more. Or at least, I'm gonna try. Not sure if I can call this a real course or if I actually keep this up, but I guess it might help some people to learn the basics of the language. As some people might expect, I'm not a native speaker of the language. (neither is English my native language) Though, I did receive a bachelor degree in Japanese Studies and thus know about the language. At this very moment I'm so damn bored, I decided to create some kind of lessons.

Lesson 1: Kana & Kanji (1)

In Japanese, there are 3 kinds of writing systems: Hiragana　（ひらがな）, Katakana　（カタカナ） & Kanji　（漢字）. All three are used together to write Japanese.

• Kana:
• Hiragana are phonetic representations of sounds. They are used to write particles, inflectable parts of words, etc.
• Katakana are also phonetic representations of sounds. They are often used to write foreign names and loan words.
• Kanji are Chinese characters, they convey both meaning and sounds. There are 1945 kanji fixed as essential for daily use.

Other than this, roman letter (romaji) are also used. Often for the convenience of foreigners. You'll probably find these at stations or on signboards.

To learn Japanese, it's essential to know these writing systems. Learning all 1945 kanji will take some time of course. Learning a fixed amount of kanji every year, it takes Japanese students from their first year in elementary school until their last year in middle school to learn about 1006 kanji. As a foreigner you'll need quite some dedication if you intend to learn all kanji. Especially when you want to be able to write them all by hand and with the correct stroke order.

Funny Fact: Due to the rise of computer usage, many Japanese people aren't able to write kanji by hand any more.

Vowels 

The Japanese language is based on five vowel sounds: a （あ）, i （い）, u （う）, e （え） & o （お）. They are either used alone, or attached to a consonant, or attached to a consonant and a semi-vowel. The exception to this is n （ん）, it's not followed by a vowel. All these sounds are equal of length.

あ = hiragana
ア = katakana
a = roman alphabet
etc.

あ-line	い  -line	う-line	え -line	お -line
あ　ア a	い　イ i	う　ウ u	え　エ e	お　オ o
か　カ ka	き　キ ki	く　ク ku	け　ケ ke	こ　コ ko
さ　サ sa	し　シ shi	す　ス Su	せ　セ se	そ　ソ so
た　タ ta	ち　チ chi	つ　ツ tsu	て　テ te	と　ト to
な　ナ na	に　ニ ni	ぬ　ヌ Nu	ね　ネ ne	の　ノ no
は　ハ ha	ひ　ヒ hi	ふ　フ fu	へ　ヘ he	ほ　ホ ho
ま　マ ma	み　ミ mi	む　ム mu	め　メ me	も　モ mo
や　ヤ ya		ゆ　ユ yu		よ　ヨ yo
ら　ラ ra	り　リ ri	る　ル ru	れ　レ re	ろ　ロ ro
わ　ワ wa				を　ヲ wo
		ん　ン n

By adding something that looks like inverted commas ('') or a little circle (○) , you change the sound of a vowel. It only works for the following vowels though.

あ  -line	い- line	う  -line	え  -line	お  -line
が　ガ ga	ぎ　ギ gi	ぐ　グ gu	げ　ゲ ge	ご　ゴ go
ざ　ゼ za	じ　ジ ji	ず　ズ zu	ぜ　ゼ ze	ぞ　ゾ zo
だ　ダ da	ぢ　ヂ dji	づ　ヅ dzu	で　デ de	ど　ド do
ば　バ ba	び　ビ bi	ぶ　ブ bu	べ　ベ be	ぼ　ボ bo
ぱ　パ pa	ぴ　ピ pi	ぷ　プ pu	ぺ　ペ pe	ぽ　ポ po

It's also possible to combine　き、ぎ、し、じ、ち、に、ひ、び、み and り with a little ゃ、ゅ or ょ to create other sounds.

きゃ　キャ kya	きゅ　キュ kyu	きょ　キョ kyo
しゃ　シャ ja	しゅシュ ju	しょ　ショ jo
ちゃ　チャ cha	ちゅ　チュ chu	ちょ　チョ cho
にゃ　ニャ nya	にゅ　ニュ nyu	にょ　ニョ nyo
ひゃ　ヒャ hya	ひゅ　ヒュ hyu	ひょ　ヒョ hyo
みゃ　ミャ mya	みゅ　ミュ myu	みょ　ミョ myo
りゃ　リャ rya	りゅ　リュ ryu	りょ　リョ ryo

ぎゃ　ギャ gya	ぎゅ　ギュ gyu	ぎょ　ギョ gyo
じゃ　ジャ ja	じゅ　ジュ ju	じょ　ジョ jo
びゃ　ビャ hyu	びゅ　ビュ hyu	びょ　ビョ hyo
ぴゃ　ピャ pya	ぴゅ　ピュ pyu	ぴょ　ピョ pyo

 There are also vowels combinations that are use to write sounds which are not original Japanese sounds, but needed for use in loan words.

	ウィ wi		ウェ we	ウォ wo
			シェ she
			チェ che
ツァ tsa			ツェ tse	ツォ tso
	ティ ti	トゥ tu
ファ fa	フィ fi		フェ fe	フォ fo
			ジェ je
	ディ di	ドゥdu
		デュdyu

 It's possible to lengthen a vowel. Whether a vowel is longer or not can change the meaning of the word.

How to lengthen vowels in Hiragana:

• あ-line: add an あ to the letters belonging to the あ-line.
• い-line: add an い to the letters of the い-line.
• う-line: add an う to the letters of the う-line.
• え-line: add an い to the letters of the え-line. (exceptions: ええ yes, ねえ say, おねえさん elder sister)
• お-line: add an う to the letters of the お-line.

 How to lengthen vowels in Katakana:
Add "ー" for all lines.

 

About ん

ん never appears at the beginning of a word. It's sounds (apparently) changes according to the sounds that comes after, but as I supposed this change goes pretty much automatic, I'm not going tor elaborate on that. It's just a lot of unneeded theory. I never paid attention to it and I never heard any of my (native) Japanese teachers complain.

 

About っ

Sometimes you'll find a little っ in words. This little っ isn't pronounced. It should be regarded as a little break or pause in the word. So don't read it as つ, because it's not.

Alright, I think that's enough for the first lesson. Let's pretend I really taught you something and give you some homework. 

Homework:
Learn all Hiragana & Katakana. 

It's probably annoying and time-consuming, but you'll really need to be able to read all Hiragana & Katakana if you intend to follow more of my lessons. I don't think I'll be writing much Japanese in roman letters. 

Alright then, next time I'll talk a bit more about Kanji and maybe we'll do some grammar!

Questions and comments are welcome.