Learning Hirigana. How is my writing?

[Deox]

I want to know if i'm writing the characters atleast close to the way they should look. I know eventually It will probably get better, but hows it look so far? I've just learned 9 characters from Heisig's method :3 They get better more down the line because I just kept trying to get them better obviously, but give me your HONEST OPINION on how these look. Thanks ^_^ oh and i know i couldnt get graph paper at the moment so it didnt help >.<

Note: I epic failed on "ko"

Misspelled Hiragana >.<

 

[Toritoribe]

In い, こ, and に, you don't need to add a "hook" at the end/start of the strokes. Especially in に, the left part could be misread as し. They are too much emphasized in your writings.

 

[Deox]

I see. That helps alot thanks ! I just thought it didnt look so much like the characters that I saw in the book so if I just sort of, removed the hooks, then it would look good?

 

[Glenn]

That's something general that I've noticed: when starting out in ANYTHING, one tends to overemphasize the things that seem to stand out -- peculiarities. It's good to help it stick at first, but you need to find balance and learn to recognize and produce more subtleties as you advance.

 

[Deox]

In other words, It will come to me?

 

[Glenn]

Yeah, but it helps to bear in mind that you are in fact overemphasizing certain things, and to try to scale them back while retaining their characteristics. It takes time, but if you keep it in mind it should come to you, yes.

 

[Deox]

I will have to do my best. Thank you!

 

[Coffeesan]

I'm fairly new to Japanese Deox but can read and write in Hiragana now. I'm sure its not the case for all books but I have 2 Japanese books in which the Hiragana is all handwritten and its quite frankly atrocious quality and many of the kana look the same. Learning the shape of the kana online is more efficent when you're a beginner I think. I learned to write mine from the screen.

Just get some scrap paper and a pencil and drill yourself. Its replaced doodling for me when I'm bored waiting for a class or in a waiting room at the doctors.

 

[Deox]

Yeah. Ive "learned" 4/6ths of them now, not completely memorized, but i will be working hard to do so. And I like your idea, I will probably make it happen >

 

[ryuurui]

What Glenn said about paying attention to details is very important. There is however the danger of computer font misleading you in writing. Have a look here, to see how hiragana is written by hand. I have not completed the entire set of character yet, but it will be there, eventually.

Hiragana Etymology Archives - Beyond Calligraphy

In regards to the hooks in に, if you write them, make sure that there is an implicit continuity between the end of the top horizontal and the beginning of the bottom horizontal stroke. に comes from the cursive script form of the kanji 仁 and those hooks are not there to look pretty. I'd explain more but it may confuse you at this stage.

 

[Deox]

I thought it was sort of just from writing it fast, so I was like if I learn that way it will help me in the longrun. But apparently not. I don't write them like that anymore. Maybe I'll do a few update photos.

 

[Toritoribe]

Here are Hiragana Practice Sheets.

http://happyfu-fu.com/oyabaka/jpn_hirak1_a.pdf
http://happyfu-fu.com/oyabaka/jpn_hirak2_ka.pdf
http://happyfu-fu.com/oyabaka/jpn_hirak3_sa.pdf
http://happyfu-fu.com/oyabaka/jpn_hirak4_ta.pdf
http://happyfu-fu.com/oyabaka/jpn_hirak5_na.pdf
http://happyfu-fu.com/oyabaka/jpn_hirak6_ha.pdf
http://happyfu-fu.com/oyabaka/jpn_hirak7_ma.pdf
http://happyfu-fu.com/oyabaka/jpn_hirak8_ya.pdf
http://happyfu-fu.com/oyabaka/jpn_hirak9_ra.pdf
http://happyfu-fu.com/oyabaka/jpn_hirak10_wa.pdf

 

[Coffeesan]

Also just an opinion but... Most textbooks I've read suggest you learn the kana 5 at a time starting with the vowels and going down in 5's K's being next. But theres some really obvious cheats you can do like H/B/P

は ha ひ hi ふ fu へ he ほ ho
ば ba び bi ぶ bu べ be ぼ bo
ぱ pa ぴ pi ぷ pu ぺ pe ぽ po

As soon as you've learned the dakuten and handakuten rules you realise instead of learning 5 you can triple yourself and learn 15 in one go very easilly once you understand the rule. It seems so obvious to people who can read kana but I've never seen a book that explains the simple cheat. It also isnt apparent to beginners right away because nothing stands out their just looking at a table of alien characters.

Also after the inital vowls I started on Y/W/N because character wise they only have 2/2/1 respectively.

Then I did the rest in groups of 5's because its the rest which are in my opinion the most confusing for beginners. Things like assuming Ti instead of Chi and assuming the dakuten would be Di instead of Ji etc. Out of interest which kana did you start with and which are you still trying to memorize? I found the N's and R's the hardest personally

 

[Deox]

Also just an opinion but... Most textbooks I've read suggest you learn the kana 5 at a time starting with the vowels and going down in 5's K's being next. But theres some really obvious cheats you can do like H/B/P

は ha ひ hi ふ fu へ he ほ ho
ば ba び bi ぶ bu べ be ぼ bo
ぱ pa ぴ pi ぷ pu ぺ pe ぽ po

As soon as you've learned the dakuten and handakuten rules you realise instead of learning 5 you can triple yourself and learn 15 in one go very easily once you understand the rule. It seems so obvious to people who can read kana but I've never seen a book that explains the simple cheat. It also isn't apparent to beginners right away because nothing stands out their just looking at a table of alien characters.

Also after the inital vowls I started on Y/W/N because character wise they only have 2/2/1 respectively.

Then I did the rest in groups of 5's because its the rest which are in my opinion the most confusing for beginners. Things like assuming Ti instead of Chi and assuming the dakuten would be Di instead of Ji etc. Out of interest which kana did you start with and which are you still trying to memorize? I found the N's and R's the hardest personally

Well, using "remembering the kana" you remember characters using stories. And the order you learn them in is relevant to how the look, for example you learn sa, then ki, and so on. I actually don't necessarily like the idea of this method, atleast with the kana, I think it would work better with the kanji, but I must finish this method. I haven't completely memorized the ones I've learned so far, and I need to review them once I learn them all, but at the moment I have no power so I can't do anything.

 

[Coffeesan]

Well, using "remembering the kana" you remember characters using stories. And the oder you learn them in is relivant to how the look, for example you learn sa, then ki, and so on. I actually don't necesserily like the idea of this method, atleast with the kana, I think it would work better with the kanji, but I must finish this method. I haven't completely memorized the ones I've learned so far, and I need to review them once I learn them all, but at the moment I have no power so I can't do anything.

Try visual immersion for any you're feeling rusty on. Just write a kana down on a piece of torn paper and stick it to something you spend a lot of time observing. I have a ton of kana around my laptop screen and tv screen, I read them all when the adverts are on or when I'm taking a break from work. Helps when their always in your face because even when you cant be bothered your still taking them in subconsciously.

Also theres some kana you'll use a lot more as a beginner わたし for example Watashi is the basis of most newbie sentences when your starting out and its also very widely used anyway so you learn the wa ta shi, kana quite quickly because you use them a lot right from the very start of study. Theres other words too as you get used to the basic vocab you get more used to using the kana.

Like with me.. When I see a hiragana sentence I still always read the syllables individually and work out the word, it may take a split second but I'm not reading the whole thing as a word thats the difference. As soon as you start seeing collections of kana as words rather than syllables being put together then those specific kana are pretty ingrained and you're not going to forget them.

 

[Deox]

Try visual immersion for any you're feeling rusty on. Just write a kana down on a piece of torn paper and stick it to something you spend a lot of time observing. I have a ton of kana around my laptop screen and tv screen, I read them all when the adverts are on or when I'm taking a break from work. Helps when their always in your face because even when you cant be bothered your still taking them in subconsciously.

Also theres some kana you'll use a lot more as a beginner 窶堙ｭ窶堋ｽ窶堋ｵ for example Watashi is the basis of most newbie sentences when your starting out and its also very widely used anyway so you learn the wa ta shi, kana quite quickly because you use them a lot right from the very start of study. Theres other words too as you get used to the basic vocab you get more used to using the kana.

Like with me.. When I see a hiragana sentence I still always read the syllables individually and work out the word, it may take a split second but I'm not reading the whole thing as a word thats the difference. As soon as you start seeing collections of kana as words rather than syllables being put together then those specific kana are pretty ingrained and you're not going to forget them.

Once I finish learning all of them, I am going to try that. Also, I was going to use that flashcard program, I cant remember the name now, but I think it would help me remember them. If you know what I'm talking about, good! ^_^

 

[Deox]

I have finished "learning" the Hiragana, but now I have to study them hard and memorize them for good. I have Anki, the flashcard program, and it should really help. Im going to use that alot, is there any other things anyone could think of to help me remember them? Anki, and immersion are very good, but just looking for other ideas. Thanks! :3