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Wonder83 · Joined: 04 Mar 2010 Posts: 23

I have been debating whether to ask this question as I know I will probably get slated for it.......but here goes lol....

Im getting really confused but am determined to learn Japanese. I was wondering if I should just focus on learning to read Katakana? is this the most common used?
AAAAAAAAAAAAggggggHHHHHH I know Im prob just being stupid and should prob take a break!!!!!

Please be gentle wi me if this question is ridiculous, I do not think my mental health could take any criticism lol Surprised

Thanks guys xxx Embarassed

wayne432 · Joined: 05 Jun 2008 Posts: 255

The learning order usually goes hiragana, katakana, then kanji.

Katakana is the least common of the 3, but you'll still see it quite a bit.
Kanji is the hurdle that most people have trouble with, since there are a few thousand of them.

Bread · Joined: 24 May 2009 Posts: 318

Apsara · Joined: 20 Sep 2005 Posts: 2142 Location: Tokyo, Japan

Wonder83 · Joined: 04 Mar 2010 Posts: 23

I think Ill try Katakana then. This is sooooo overwhelming for me but I want to learn as Im going to Japan to teach English so its only fair I learn the language back lol. Plus it will be amazing to learn such a cool language. Is there any books dictionaries or websites that are trustworthy and purely devoted to teaching Katakana? Im jus worried Im wasting time looking at unreputable websites.

Sorry if Im becoming repetitive but Im sure some of you have been in my stresshead situation.

ps: I can not wait to get to Japan Surprised

Bread · Joined: 24 May 2009 Posts: 318

What exactly would an "unreputable" website teaching katakana entail?

Wonder83 · Joined: 04 Mar 2010 Posts: 23

The wrong/incorrect information ect, lol sorry if Im talking rubbish I think Im just looking at things to much.

fluffyhamster · Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 5:56 pm Post subject:

If you want something reputable and solid that 'brings together into a coherent whole a great deal of information which, until now, one would have had to search through half a dozen books to find' (reviewer's quote on back cover), then do yourself a favour and get Hadamitzky & Spahn's Kanji & Kana: A Handbook and Dictionary of the Japanese Writing System.

I can't think of another single-volume resource that is as informative and useful: books dedicated to just teaching one or other of the kana syllabaries for example may give you a fair bit of practice in reading and writing those (maybe more than H&S, though what H&S has is perfectly adequate - stroke order diagrams, historical origins of kana, and about ten pages of usage guidance [see below] that can be used as reading and writing practice generally) but won't teach you much about the kanji (unlike H&S!).

Standouts of H&S are: 1) it explains the difference between Hepburn and Kunrei-shiki romanization (though the book uses Hepburn generally) 2) it actually explains the ordering of items in Japanese kana-ordered dictionaries (which you may eventually switch to using in preference to Hepburn-ordered) 3) it thoroughly explains the conventions/usages of kana for representing certain sounds e.g. long vowels, assimilated/doubled consonants etc 4) it has a whole section/chapter on punctuation in Japanese 5) it has clear explanations of the origins and role of kanji, their readings, and their interplay with kana, as well as extensive guidance on correct stroke order, and how to find them in kanji dictionaries, and finally 6) a very clear presentation of the established 214 Kangxi/Kōki radicals (the standard in Japanese dictionaries certainly - only Chinese now uses fewer radicals, as few as 170-odd in some modern reference works, due to the more extensive simplifications made to mainland/PRC hanzi (hanzi=the Chinese reading of kanji, both meaning 'Chinese characters')), including their Japanese names and variant forms (the chart in the endpapers is particularly well-designed and therefore very useful). And of course the actual Jōyō kanji listings, as good as if not better than any rival book's, with stroke order diagrams and examples of high-frequency readings and compounds for each, all indexed three ways: by radical+residual count, total stroke count, or reading.

Wonder83 · Joined: 04 Mar 2010 Posts: 23

Thanks to everyone for their advice (and patience) hahaha

I WILL learn this one way or another!!!!

Laughing

fluffyhamster · Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 7:30 pm Post subject:

Heh, no worries, Wonder83.

A few examples of the mnemonics that I dreamt up for kana:

Apsara · Joined: 20 Sep 2005 Posts: 2142 Location: Tokyo, Japan

Mr_Monkey · Joined: 11 Mar 2009 Posts: 661 Location: Kyuuuuuushuuuuuuu

It took me less than a week to learn katakana and hiragana.

Reading it was slow going at first, but it does give you something to do before your internet is hooked up.

seklarwia · Posted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 6:35 am Post subject:

Definately learn katakana first. Not only is it useful for reading the abundance of foreign (often English) names for things especially in supermarkets, sometimes even Japanese words get written in katakana instead of kanji or hiragana.

I learnt the names of many fish and meats (both in hiragana and kanji) so that I had a good idea of what I was buying, then was confronted with loads of things that had their Japanese names written in katakana. I was so confused when onigiri had "maguro" (tuna for those of new to Japanese) written in katakana despite being a Japanese word.

I've asked many Japanese friends why Japanese words are often written in katakana (which I had learnt was the script for foreign words), but none of them were completely sure and gave many different instances of when they would do the same. One told me they often write animal or plant names in katakana whilst another would write them in hiragana or kanji. Even on TV, common Japanese responses like "really?" will be subtitled in all three at different points of the same show.