hiragana and katakana are far different from the alphabet when it comes to describing sound. They are actually moraic writing systems (the mora being a phonological unit under but distinct from a syllable), but since 90% of syllables in Japanese can be described by a single kana character, most people take the easy route and simply refer to them as syllabaries.
What this means, is that almost all kana correspond to a single syllable, as opposed to a single segment (sound). This means that they all are pronounced as either a vowel (窶堋?, 窶堋｢, 窶堋､, 窶堋ｦ, and 窶堋ｨ) or consonants followed by a vowel (almost all of the other characters). Many words serve as simple examples of this structure: 窶堙や?堙寂?堋ｳ has three syllables, and three characters "tsuﾂ・baﾂ・sa" Although it's by no means proof that hiragana is a syllabary (as it certainly isn't), it's easy to think about it this way in order to help get used to the written language for now.
(One's own) mother:I think I get it. Could you please write a single example in kana (break it down in syllables, or something), then one in kanji?
I wouldn't put it that simple, for example, if you combine the kanji for ahead (先, in this case read as "sen" (on'yomi reading)） and the kanji for birth (生, in this case read as "sei" (on'yomi reading as well)) it would become 先生 (sensei) meaning teacher.So Kanji basically just has one character for each meaning, and hiragana / katakana have syllabic characters.
I wouldn't put it that simple, for example, if you combine the kanji for ahead (先, in this case read as "sen" (on'yomi reading)） and the kanji for birth (生, in this case read as "sei" (on'yomi reading as well)) it would become 先生 (sensei) meaning teacher.
Well, I've been watching subbed anime for years. I'm honestly having no problems with pronunciations...it all feels natural to me since I've heard a lot of Japanese audio in my days. Obviously I just started learning, but the words I have learned already feel natural to me when I'm pronouncing them, so I'm not worried about that.
I may be concerned about learning how to write in all those forms, but I'm sure I'll be fine (and I'm still watching subbed anime to this day).
By the way, I meant a Japanese native says the things in bold. A man, then it alternates to a woman throughout the lessons, back and forth. Simple enough so far.
Good. Definitely continue watching Anime. Just don't become overconfident in anything--it'll just make it harder if you are making a mistake to correct that mistake. For example, a friend of mine here would always say the 'ne' of 'sou desu ne' like the American pronounciation of 'neigh,' or the 'ei' sound from 'sensei.' I have tried to help her correct this, but because she refuses to believe she is misprouncing it, and has said it the wrong way so many times that it sounds natural, its difficult.
You don't say it three different ways in Japanese. It's ki, and that's it. But you can write it three different ways depending on audience or style.
There may be differences in dialects or pronunciation that vary by local speech / accents, although I doubt it for something as simple as "ki." Also, those differences usually show more with conjugations of verbs, adjectives, etc.That's what I meant...there's different ways to write it, but not a million ways to say it...correct (not counting the type of tree it is, like a Douglas Fir tree for example).
There may be differences in dialects or pronunciation that vary by local speech / accents, although I doubt it for something as simple as "ki." Also, those differences usually show more with conjugations of verbs, adjectives, etc.
Which is why everyone is always complaining how much more complicated the Japanese writing system is than the ways things are actually said. Not that both aren't necessary of course. Just realize it's much harder to try and speak without being able to read some first even if you don't understand all the reasons for it right now.
when i learned my other 3 langauges i learned them side by side but they weren't this difficult. You may be on to something...But I should get decently good at speech before I attempt to write it, right?
when i learned my other 3 langauges i learned them side by side but they weren't this difficult. You may be on to something...
If you're listening to audio tapes you should also never follow along with the transcription in romaji. The sounds correspond only to kana, romaji is a completely different and artificial system which is not naturally geared to Japanese speech. You're only going to end up extremely confused and frustrated trying to map romaji onto the words and sentences you're hearing.Chaotic,
You said,
"It just makes sense to learn to speak it before you write it (that's what I did with English anyway...)"
--> That is true. However, as soon as you hear something, you are going to want to write it down, so you can remember it. If you start from the beginning and write everything in Romaji, you will be making a big mistake. Take my adivce: you should never, never write Japanese words in Romaji.
I recommend that you learn Hiragana before you even start learning how to speak Japanese. In the long run, this will work out better.