Japanese writing system for beginners

Here is Moon-chan's video for the katakana character combinations ミャ、ミュ、ミョ (mya, myu, myo). Watch from 3:03 to 3:37 for example words containing these characters.

At 4:15 Moon-chan says あたらし いことば which means, "new words.") (We also see it written on the screen.)

At 4:44 Moon-chan says, "きょう の じゅぎょう は ここ まで です。また ね。"

Vocabulary:

きょう today
きょう の today's
じゅぎょう lesson
きょう の じゅぎょう today's lesson
は (wa) indicates the previous phrase (きょう の じゅぎょう) is the topic of the sentence.
ここ here; this place
まで until; up to
ここ まで until now; up to this place
です am; is; are; be
きょう の じゅぎょう は ここ まで です。 (literally): "Today's lesson is up to this point (in time)." (free translation) "That's it for today's lesson."
また again
ね Indicates a tag question, such as, "You study Japanese, <>don't you?"
また ね。 "See you again." or "Until next time."

Here is Moon-chan's video.

Here is Moon-chan's video for the katakana character combinations リャ、リュ、リョ (rya, ryu, ryo). Watch from 2:38 to 3:23 for example words containing these character combinations.

Here is Moon-chan's video for the katakana characters ガ、ギ、グ、ゲ、ゴ (ga gi gu ge go). Watch from 2:18 to 3:36 for examples of words containing these katakana characters.

It may not be clear from the video, but the English phrase "give up" is rendered into Japanese as ギブ・アップ. Also, please notice that we can write this phrase in katakana either with or without a dot separating the two words; for example, ギブアップ or ギブ・アップ. (Words like these always used to be written with a dot between them, but this dot is slowly disappearing from Japanese.)

At 4:38 we see the words ⎡あたらしい ことば⎦ which means, "new words." We also hear Moon-chan say, ⎡きょう は ここ まで です。また ね。⎦ which means, "That's it for today. See you next time."

You may have noticed that we use the character ⎡ and the character ⎦ for quotation marks in Japanese. These marks help to reduce confusion. If we were to write ガ inside of English quotation marks, it would look like "ガ", with a total of four small strokes in the upper right corner, which might cause confusion for some people. But writing it as ⎡ガ⎦ removes all confusion.

Here is Moon-chan's video.

Here is Moon-chan's video for the katakana characters ザ、ジ、ズ、ゼ、ゾ (za ji zu ze zo). Watch from 2:29 to 5:04 for examples of words containing these katakana characters.

ズ pronounced ZU or DZU

ズ is pronounced ZU in the word クルーズ ("cruise") as in the phrase リバー・クルーズ ("river cruise").

ズ is pronounced DZU in the word キッズ ("kids") as in the phrase キッズ・コーナー ("kids corner")

At 4:40 Moon-chan says ⎡あたらしい ことば⎦ which means, "new words." We also hear Moon-chan say, ⎡きょう は ここ まで です。また ね。⎦ which means, "That's it for today. See you next time."

Here is Moon-chan's video.

Here is Moon-chan's video for the katakana characters ダ、ヂ、ヅ、デ、ド (da ji zu de do). Watch from 2:29 to 5:04 for examples of words containing these katakana characters.

ヂ (ji) and ヅ (zu) are two of the least-used characters in all hiragana and katakana. They are so rarely used, my word processing software doesn't even have the ability to type them out. (I was only able to put them here by cutting and pasting them from somewhere else.) Moon-chan says there are no common Japanese words containing ヂ and ヅ. I personally didn't know any Japanese words that contain either of these two katakana characters.

At 4:52, Moon-chan translates ドラマ as "drama", which I think is a little confusing. I think a better translation would be "TV soap opera."

Examples of ヂ (ji)

We sometimes see names that contain ヂ or ヅ, but I think this is only for dramatic effect. I suppose it's 'cool' or 'exotic' to use them, when there are more common characters that can be used. Below is an example of a company called Tsuiji Kabushiki-kaisha. (The word kabushiki-kaisha means incorporated company, so Tsuiji Kabushiki-kaisha translates into the company name Tsuiji Incorporated.) The company uses ヂ in its logo (red arrow) and ヂ in its company name (green arrow)



It seems the Chinese syllable 'jiu' (九) (nine) is often transliterated into katakana as ヂウ (jiu). Below is a Chinese restaurant named Jiu, in the northern Japanese city Marioka. (The Chinese syllable jiu is often pronounced like the English name Joe, but I have to wonder if this restaurant's name is pronounced like the ethnic name Jew.)



Below is the name of the southern Chinese city Kauwloon, written in Mandarin Chinese as Jiulong, and in katakana as ヂウロン (jiuron).



Below is what appears to be a grinding wheel called ヂテクマ (jitekuma), presumably a power tool attachment.



Examples of ヅ (zu)

Below is a person's username ヅヅ (Zuzu) on Twitter.



Below is a company named Ezure Interia Kabushiki-kaisha (Ezure Interiors Incorporated).



Below is a ヘアブラシ (hairbrush) for sale called Zuzu Maru Honey Hairbrush (ヅヅ丸Honeyヘアブシ).



The example below is interesting because I think it is a 'new' attempt to render into Japanese a sound that does not exist in native Japanese, the sound 'dzu', which is at the end of the English word 'airpods'. (Many years ago, when I was learning Japanese, I think such usage of ヅ was unheard of, but it may be increasing in today's Japanese. Does anyone have ideas on this?) This gives us the katakana word エアポッヅ (airpods).



Here is Moon-chan's video.

My apologies, I had three typos in my last post. The company name ツヂ, when written in romaji, should be spelled Tsuji. I mistakenly put an extra letter i in the middle of the romaji version of the word. And, when I wrote the word hairbrush in katakana, I got it right the first time (ヘアブラシ), but the second time I left out a ラ.

Here is Moon-chan's video for the katakana characters バ、ビ、ブ、ベ、ボ (ba bi bu be bo). Watch from 2:37 to 4:45 for examples of words containing these katakana characters.

An example of similar katakana words

ビル (building)
ビール (beer)

Speaking of beer, here is a difference that many Japanese people have never thought about.

ビール (from German; "beer")
ビア (from English; "beer"; only used in the phrase ビアガーデン, "beer garden", a summertime drinking establishment)

Another German and English difference

ハンバーガー ("hamburger", served American style, on a bun)
ハンバーグー ("hamburger", served German style, on a plate, often covered with a dark-colored sauce)

Here is Moon-chan's video.

Here is Moon-chan's video for the katakana characters パ、ピ、プ、ぺ、ポ (pa pi pu pe po). Watch from 2:21 to 4:37 for examples of words containing these katakana characters.

At 4:38 Moon-chan says ⎡きょう は ここ まで です。また ね。⎦ which means, "That's it for today. See you next time."

My favorite katakana word of all time containing プ has to be オープン・カー ("open car") which means a convertible (a car with a retractable fabric roof)!

Here is Moon-chan's video.

Here is Moon-chan's video for the katakana character combinations ギャ、ギュ、ギョ (gya gyu gyo). Watch from 3:02 to 4:40 for examples of words containing these katakana character combinations.

Here is Moon-chan's video for the katakana character combinations ジャ、ジュ、ジョ (ja ju jo). Watch from 4:10 to 6:07 for examples of words containing these katakana character combinations.

Here is Moon-chan's video for the katakana character combinations ビャ、ビュ、ビョ (bya byu byo). Watch from 3:05 to 4:29 for examples of words containing these katakana character combinations.

Here is Moon-chan's video for the katakana character combinations ピャ、ピュ、ピョ (pya pyu pyo). Watch from 4:35 to 6:22 for examples of words containing these katakana character combinations.

Here is another video from the Kakakana o Oboeyo! ("Let's remember Katakana!") series of videos to practice hearing and writing words in katakana. Please pay special attention to the words クッキー (cookie), ホットケーキ (hotcake; pancake), and ロボット (robot), and ヤッホー (Yahoo -- a mountain climber's yell, not the web page) because they contain small ッ (tsu), which is not pronounced, but is kind of a placeholder, adding an extra 'beat' to a word.

Just like the other Kakakana o Oboeyo! videos in this thread, we will be making a big jump in the level of difficulty, because these videos are meant for Japanese children and not meant for students who speak Japanese as a foreign language. (Welcome to the world of 'real' Japanese, not 'textbook' Japanese.)

Here is the vocabulary in this video. Watch the video one time, stop the video, and write out the word in katakana. The second time you watch the video, see if you can write out each word without looking at the screen and without stopping the video. (Yes, this will be quite a challenge, but with practice, you will be able to do it.) You may want to write out all of these words in katakana before watching the video.

アイス ice cream
インコ parakeet
ウシ cow
エスカレーター escalator
オレンジ orange

カメラ camera
キウイ kiwi
クッキー cookie
ケーキ cake
コアラ koala bear

サンタクロース Santa Claus
シーソー seesaw
スズメ sparrow
セミ cicada
ソリ sled

タクシー taxi
チーズ cheese
ツナ tuna
テント tent
トマト tomato

ナス eggplant
ニンジン carrot
ヌリエ a drawing in a coloring book, to be colored in
ネコ cat
ノート notebook

ハンバーガー hamburger
ヒマワリ sunflower
フライパン fry pan
ヘリコプター helicopter
ホットケーキ hotcake; pancake

マイク microphone
ミキサーしゃ cement truck (literally, "mixer vehicle")
ムササビ flying squirrel
メロン melon
モノレール monorail

ヤッホー Yahoo (a mountain climber's yell; not the web page)
ユニフォーム uniform
ヨーグルト yogurt

ライオン lion
リス squirrel
ルビー ruby
レモン lemon
ロボット robot

ワニ alligator
ハ ヲ ミガく brush teeth (v.) The katakana ヲ is just like hiragana を, which indicates the previous word is the topic of the sentence.

パン bread

(spoken vocabulary)

オレマイ finished; the end
チャンネル channel
とうろく register
コメント (make a) comment
おねがいします。 Please do me a favor.
チャンネル とうろく、コメント おねがいします。 Please do me a favor, subscribe to my channel, and leave a comment.

Here is the video.

Sorry, but I had a typo in my last post. The word for "finished; the end" should be オシマイ. (The characters on the screen in the video are correct.)

Here is another video from the Kakakana o Oboeyo! (カタカナ を おぼえよう！) ("Let's remember Katakana!") series of katakana-teaching videos. This video is special practice for ダクオン characters (characters with two strokes in the upper right hand corner that look like quotation marks) and ハンダクオン characters (characters with a small circle in the upper right hand corner). A ダクオン mark changes ハ (ha) into バ (ba), and a ハンダクオン mark changes ハ (ha) into パ (pa).

(on the very first screen)

あそぶ play
まなぶ learn
はぐくむ cultivate

~~~

Here is the katakana vocabulary. Try writing out all of these katakana words before watching the video.

ガ moth
ギター guitar
グレープ grapes
ゲーム (video) game
ゴリラ gorilla

ザリガニ crayfish
ジーンズ bluejeans
ズッキーニ zucchini
ゼリー jelly
ゾウー elephant

ダンス dance
チヂミ Korean pancake
ミカヅキ crescent moon
デザート dessert
ドーナツ doughnuts

バイク motorcycle (This is not the word for "bicycle".)
ビル building
ブーツ boots
ベーコン bacon
ボタン button

パンダ panda
ピーマン green pepper
プール pool
ペンギン penguin
ポテト French fries (This is not the word for "potato".)

(spoken)

オシマイ finished; the end
チャンネル channel
とうろく registration; subscription
よろしく with warm regards
ねがい request (n.)
おねがい honorable request (n.)
します the verb to do
おねがい します request (v.) (Placing します after the noun おねがい creates the verb phrase おねがい します.)
よろしく おねがい します (a polite way of saying, "Please do me this favor.")
チャンネル とうろく よろしく おねがい します。 Please consider my humble request and subscribe to my channel.

(on the screen)

いっしょ に together
まなぶ learn
まなぼう。 Let's learn.
いっしょ に まなぼう。 Let's learn together.
で by means of
チャンネル とうろく で、いっしょ に まなぼう。 Let's learn together by means of you subscribing to my channel.

Here is the video.

Here is another video from the Kakakana o Oboeyo! (カタカナ を おぼえよう！) ("Let's remember Katakana!") series of videos, used to practice hearing and writing words in katakana. This video is special practice for ヨウオン syllables (contracted syllables like キャ, キュ, キョ) and ソクオン syllables (syllables with small ツ).

Here is the vocabulary.

(on the very first screen)

あそぶ play
まなぶ learn
はぐくむ cultivate

~~~

Here is the katakana vocabulary. Try writing out all of these katakana words before watching the video.

キャッチャ― (baseball) catcher
ドラキュラ Dracula
ホッキョクグマ polar bear

ギャグ ("gag") gag; joke (n.)
フィギュアスケート figure skating
キンギョ goldfish

シャワー shower
シュークリーム whipped creme
ショベルカー ("shovel car") backhoe loader

ジャガイモ potato
ジュース juice
ジョギング joging

ケチャップ ketchup
チューリップ tulip
チョコレート chocolate

ニャンコ cat
ニュース news (Please notice that, in Japanese, "news" is pronounced "nyoos" not "nooz")
ニョッキ Italian dumplings

ヒャクニチソウ zinnias
ヒューストン Houston (location of Mission Control for American spaceship launches)
ヒョウタン gourd

サンビャクエン 300 yen (Japanese money)
インタビュー interview
ビョウイン hospital

ロッピャクエン 600 yen
コンピューター computer
カンピョウ a type of sushi roll

ミャンマー Myanmar (country in Asia)
ミュージカル musical (n.)
ミョウガ Japanese ginger

リャマ llama
リュック backpack (from the English word "rucksack")
マトリョーシカ matryoshka (Russian nested dolls)

サッカー soccer

おんびき (line that placed after a syllable to make it a long syllable)

ブルドーザー bulldozer

(spoken)

オシマイ finished; the end
チャンネル とうろく よろしく おねがい します。 Please consider my humble request and subscribe to my channel.

(on the screen)

いっしょ に together
まなぶ learn
まなぼう。 Let's learn.
いっしょ に まなぼう。 Let's learn together.
で by means of (This is a preposition, or more correctly, a post-positional)
チャンネル とうろく で、いっしょ に まなぼう。 Let's learn together by means of you subscribing to my channel.

Here is the video.

This is the most-watched Japan-related video on YouTube (with 118 million views!). It is a fun video about words borrowed from English into Japanese. Here is the vocabulary list. See if you can write out all of the words in katakana.

マクドナルド McDonald's
グーグル Google
トイレット toilet
キットカット Kit Kat (chocolate bar)
ディズニーランド Disneyland
タクシー・ゴー・ホテル taxi go hotel
セブン・イレブン Seven Eleven Convenience Store
ミルク milk
バス bus
ビール beer
スターバックス Starbucks

サラダ salad
ハンバーガー hamburger
サンドイッチ sandwich
ソーセージ sausage
コーヒー coffee
ケーキ cake
アイスクリーム ice-cream
コンビニ convenience store
フライド・ポテト fried potato (French fries)
エスカレーター escalator
アルコール alcoholic beverage
バレーボール volleyball
ベースボール baseball
バスケットボール basketball
ゴルフ golf

Here is the video.

All katakana evolved from kanji. Take a look.



This completes this introduction of hiragana and katakana characters. The next step is to learn Japanese grammar, vocabulary, and kanji (Chinese characters). Each of the YouTubers I have previously mentioned in this thread has an amazingly large number of videos teaching these three topics. Go to each YouTuber's channel and take a look.

Learn Japanese with Moonchan
Educational Quiz (Hiragana/Katakana o Oboeyo)
CyberBunny
Learn Japanese with JapanesePod101.com
Campanas de Japanese (Mei-sensei)
Komei's Channel

And let's not forget our very own Lily-sensei.

As an example, take a look at the large number of videos on Moon-chan's channel

https://www.youtube.com/@JapanesewithMoonchan/videos

I have figured out another way to distinguish katakana so (ソ). First, take a look at the two ways to write hiragana so (そ) which I have previously posted in this thread.


In the image below, take a look at the first two sections of the hiragana character so (そ) on the left, highlighted in red.


Next is the katakana character so (ソ).



Next are the hiragana character so (そ) and the katakana character so (ソ).


Take a look at the first two parts of the hiragana character so (そ) on the left, highlighted in red.


As you can see, the first two parts of the hiragana character on the left are essentially the same as the katakana character on the right.

I forgot to mention that there is a katakana ミ (mi) and a kanji 三 (mi). They are very similar in both pronunciation and how they are written.

They are both written with three strokes, from left to right, then top to bottom. They so nearly identical, they are intentionally written in different ways, so that a reader can easily distinguish which is which.

Kanji 三 is written with three horizontal lines




Katakana ミ is written with three diagonal lines.



In addition, the strokes for katakana ミ are shorter whereas the strokes for kanji 三 are longer.

This introduction to the contemporary Japanese writing system was published today. Very useful for beginners.




Wes Robertson's blog is a treasure trove for students of Japanese: