Post by Kari on Apr 26, 2011 16:57:00 GMT -8
The Japanese writing system is something else.... I mean, really. They have three different components to express a simple sentance!
Let's look at this, for example:
It says "I like computers". But look at it! ...Or does it just look like random scribbles to you? -_-
*Sigh* Well, let's break it down.
1. Kanji
Kanji are logographs (that means they express whole ideas or words), borrowed from Chinese. If we look back at our example, you'll see that "
" look really different from the rest of them. These are Kanji. the first one means "watashi" (I, myself), and the other two go together to make "daisu" (to like a lot; litterally "big like").
There are about 2000 of these guys used in daily life over there in Japan. Japanese kids are required to memorize so many per grade (like 70 or so I think). And you thought your vocabulary was hard? At least if you put the soounds of the letters together you can read it.
2. Hiragana
Hiragana are used for particles. Not like dust, but like "
" (ha, romanized as wa) showing us that the kanji before it is a noun, but may not be the real object this sentence is about. We later see "
" (ga) to tell us that what ever those squiggles before it mean is the thing we're talking about.
Also, hiragana are used to create and finish verbs. Where we have "
" it reads "daisuki", because you can't simply say "daisu"; that isn't the word. 
Right after that we have"
" (desu), which means "to be". "Like" (daisuki) is just the feeling; it's desu (pronounced dess) that makes it a verb.
3. Katakana
The final piece to our sentance is katakana. These are used for foriegn and borrowed words. "
" (konpyutaa) simply says computer.
Now we know what everything is, let's put it together:
I like computers.
**I would suggest looking on Wikipedia for hiragana/katakana charts to memorize in the very least before going to Japan. A lot of the train stations (from what I've heard) have the destinations written in the Kanji and syllabries (Hiragana and Katakana) for children. Also, you can get this game called PenPen trainer, if you really want to tackle some Kanji.
Good luck in your ventures through Japanese,
Kari
Let's look at this, for example:
It says "I like computers". But look at it! ...Or does it just look like random scribbles to you? -_-
*Sigh* Well, let's break it down.
1. Kanji
Kanji are logographs (that means they express whole ideas or words), borrowed from Chinese. If we look back at our example, you'll see that "
" look really different from the rest of them. These are Kanji. the first one means "watashi" (I, myself), and the other two go together to make "daisu" (to like a lot; litterally "big like").There are about 2000 of these guys used in daily life over there in Japan. Japanese kids are required to memorize so many per grade (like 70 or so I think). And you thought your vocabulary was hard? At least if you put the soounds of the letters together you can read it.
2. Hiragana
Hiragana are used for particles. Not like dust, but like "
" (ha, romanized as wa) showing us that the kanji before it is a noun, but may not be the real object this sentence is about. We later see "" (ga) to tell us that what ever those squiggles before it mean is the thing we're talking about. Also, hiragana are used to create and finish verbs. Where we have "
" it reads "daisuki", because you can't simply say "daisu"; that isn't the word. 
Right after that we have"" (desu), which means "to be". "Like" (daisuki) is just the feeling; it's desu (pronounced dess) that makes it a verb. 3. Katakana
The final piece to our sentance is katakana. These are used for foriegn and borrowed words. "
" (konpyutaa) simply says computer. Now we know what everything is, let's put it together:
I like computers.
**I would suggest looking on Wikipedia for hiragana/katakana charts to memorize in the very least before going to Japan. A lot of the train stations (from what I've heard) have the destinations written in the Kanji and syllabries (Hiragana and Katakana) for children. Also, you can get this game called PenPen trainer, if you really want to tackle some Kanji.
Good luck in your ventures through Japanese,
Kari
