Lesson 5: Kanji

In this lesson we will learn the basics of Kanji which is another component in Japanese writing system. Kanji is similar to the Chinese characters. They are used in Japanese text for easier reading as a string of long Hiragana and Katana words will be difficult to understand compared to using Kanji. Kanji are mainly used to describe names and nouns. When used in verbs and adjectives, they can be combined with the hiragana.

For example: きょうのてんきはいいですね compared to 今日の天気はいいですね。 The sentence reads “today’s weather is good isn’t it?”.

きょう (Hiragana) and 今日 (Kanji) means Today.
てんき (Hiragana) and  天気 (Kanji) means weather.
いい means good.
ですね is a grammar structure which we will learn in later lessons which seeks confirmation such as isn’t it?.

Lesson 4: Katakana

Katakana is basically the same as Hiragana. That is the reason why it is important to master the Hiragana and Katakana will be a piece of cake.

The Katakana is used in the Japanese Language to differentiate “foreign” words to Japanese words. For example, ice-cream (アイスクリーム)　is a word imported into the Japanese language therefore it is written in Katakana. Ice cream is never written in Japanese using Hiragana as あいすくりーむ. Also when a foreign name is used in Japanese text, it is usually written in Katakana. Example if your name is Johnson, it will be translated to Japanese as ジョンソン when you are in Japan and not じょんそん.

Lesson 3: Functional marks

In lesson 1, basic Hiragana was presented. In this lesson, we will look at the final details which will cover the whole Hiragana and prepare you to read full Japanese Hiragana text. Below are the functional marks when added to some of the basic Hiragana in Lesson 1.

“: When this mark is added to the K,S,T,H consonant, the reading of the Hiragana changes to G,Z,D,B respectively. For example,

か(ka)　→　が(ga),　さ(sa)　→　ざ(za),　た(ta)　→　だ(da),　は(ha)　→　ば(ba)

Lesson 2: Hiragana writing

Below is a chart of how the Hiragana is written. The method for using the chart is to follow the numbers. For example, to write “a”, the first stroke will be labeled (1) which is a horizontal line from left to right. Second stroke will be labeled (2) from top to bottom, and the final stroke is (3) which is a curve starting from the top.

Lesson 1: Hiragana

Just like ‘ABC’ in English, the Japanese Language is made up of their own system which is divided into ‘Hiragana’, ‘Katakana’, and ‘Kanji’. For this lesson, we will go through the basic Hiragana.

Hiragana is the basic of the Japanese Language where all words from the language are made from a combination of the hiragana. Just like ABC!

Welcome to Japanese For All

Konnichiha (Konnichiwa). Welcome to Japanese For All. This blog is created for those who are interested in learning the Japanese language, whether you have zero knowledge of the language or some basic understanding of the language. The lessons will be updated weekly for you to catch up and work on the current lesson before moving on to the next.

Through my own experience learning the language, living in Japan, using it for my daily life, I believe that with your own will and determination, anyone can master the language.

This blog is intended to introduce and guide you towards reading and basic communication skills. The lessons from this blog will take you as far as JLPT N5 (basic) and N4. To go further, I would recommend you to join a Japanese class.