Use katakana for your name, for load words (e.g. based on English), some animals, scientific words and onomatopoeias and so on. Hiragana is the core alphabet. Use it for particles, the coppula, words with difficult kanii often favour hiragana too. You will see hiragana everywhere - especially in adjectives (sometimes mixed with kanji). Kanji are the complex characters that serve many purposes. Many words have the same pronunciation so kanji is needed, it also helps break up sentences (as spaces are not used). Nouns, adjectives, verbs often use kanji. But you don't need to worry about this too much. First you learn hiragana and katakana. Then you learn words and kanji. When you learn a word, you should learn the alphabets that come with it at the same time, so you don't need to worry. See it in katakana? Use it in katakana. See it in hiragana? Use it in hiragana. Of course there are words that can be written in hirgana, kanji, or katakana and are all perfectly acceptable - this is stylistic choice. Most important thing at the start is simply to try learn. Don't worry on the best techniques just yet, just get stuck into the language... make mistakes, fix mistakes, and make more mistakes. You won't stop making mistakes, so don't worry about it! Oh and btw, if you have time, please come check out my Japan blog channel ^^
A Japanese person can read it in all hiragana, but it does make it a little harder because it becomes one huge hiragana sentence with nothing to break it up. For example, こうしょう has up to 50 meanings if the kanji isn't used, but with context it becomes obvious. In lower school, kids will write in mostly hiragana since they still haven't learnt a lot of kanji yet, by high school they will use mostly kanji where possible.
+Micah Baucom It doesn't really have a special reason. Not much you can do about it either sadly. It is best to simply learn all alphabets and grammar.
Historical reasons. Originally Japanese had no writing system until they encountered China and imported that writing system (along with the on'yomi). Unfortunately Chinese and Japanese are completely different language families, and the result was a linguistic mess. The kana were introduced to help ease the burden, and to broaden literacy to those who didn't learn enough kanji. If you learn Japanese and then study Chinese, one of the first things that becomes apparent is how well organized a system it is. The organization turned to complexity when the characters were forced into the Japanese language.
+kinpatu Right. Hiragana and Katakana are actually Kanji characters transformed to feet the Japanese language and ease the writing. For particles for example (ni, wo, ga, wa,...)
+strohbaron In short: 1) Kanji are for meaning, and make up entire nouns, or the first part of verbs and adjectives (that have many different endings). 2) Hiragana are for particles (between main words) and words which do not have kanji, or instead of kanji if the kanji are difficult. 3) Katakana is used for foreign loan-words. An English example of a kanji would be "1", as it has a meaning on its own. An English example of hiragana would be "st", because the "1" kanji alone would be "one", but if it ends with the hiragana "st", then the word changes to "first". An English example of katakana might be _"sakura"_. You see how it is in italics? The word is of foreign origin and the italics can also stress a word.
This was very informative, thank you! I was recently able to memorize hiragana studying a little bit each day for a little over a week. I think that knowing hiragana will make it ever easier to memorize katakana. I'm excited to start learning kanji after that! JapanesePod 101 RUclips videos are a big help to me, so thanks very much! ^_^
There's one thing that Hiroko didn't explain which is the hiragana above the kanji. Kanji can have multiple readings, and hiragana above kanji, called "furigana," tells how to read it.
furigana isn't used though, only for kids. if you know the kanji you know the onyomi and kunyomi reading and when to use which one so furigana is not needed
I am learning Japanese online. Do you think an English speaking learner should master hiragana before being introduced to kanji, or must they be taught side by side from the beginning?
は:Use it if you want to be the main protagonist of the sentence. ex:私は日本語の生徒です。 /I'm a Japanese student . が:Use it if you want to focus the attention in something else. ex:これがあなたの本ですか。 /THIS is your book? を:This particle doesn't have a translation but is used to link an action with an object. ex:リンゴを食べます。/I eat an apple. Also,in others circumstance their use can change a bit but I it hope help you.
The way I could tell the difference between は and が is は focuses on the word in front of it like 私はふれどです。(i am **FRED**) が which is 私がふれどです。(**I** am fred) They both mean the same thing but you would use は as the whole point of the sentence is the saying your name.
FiveADay Kanji interesting. Ive been hearing many different views on this. Ive read that katakana can be used phonetically as well, just like hiragana. That it wasnt exclusively for foreign words, although ive read that it was exclusively PICKED to write foreign words. Ive also read that you cant or shouldnt use hiragana or katakana alone even if you space the particles. If it's true, what you say about being able to stick to one system alone, then i dont understand why the japanese dont just stick to katakana And maybe add a symbol for every letter or sound that's missing, that way theyd have just one alphabet. seeing as hiragana is missing much more letters than katakana, that is. Anyways I would love your opinion on this matter as you are a sensei. Thanks for responding
+Passion & Reason When she mentioned the 4, she didn't actually mean 4 separate alphabets. She said "patterns" (around 0:53), which are: just kanji, kanji + hiragana, just hiragana, or just katakana.
+SoulEverlasting It'll definitely be a challenge since, with the limited number of sounds there are in Japanese, there are so many homophones. Plus, there's no spacing in writing. Words are made out because the kanji usually serves as dividers. But as long as your grammar isn't too incorrect, they can most likely pick things up given the context.
I have a question, in that sample sentence, why was the sound o represented as the wo kana in hiragana? Also, which script are Japanese people's names written? Domo Arigato.
+LTejano85 By themselves, を is generally read as [wo] and は as [ha]. When they're used as particles in sentences their readings change to [o] and [wa], respectively.
+LTejano85 Nah. As far as I know, these are the only sounds that change because of a special purpose they serve. Other than that, Japanese doesn't throw any curve balls at you so things are pronounced as is.
Something I'm confused about at the moment is when to use kunyomi and onyomi when reading kanji. I'm halfway through learning grade 1 kanji, and every time I see a rule about when to use which pronunciation, there are so many exceptions. Do you really just have to learn the case for each word one by one?
+Cakes with Faces Why do you want to write kanji anyways? Its best in my opinion to know Japanese words while trying to read it then if you want to, writing. That is my opinion but I totally support what you have to say. Yes, I do realize I should've stayed quiet
+Cakes with Faces In general terms, you use the on'yomi when there are multiple kanji in a row, and you use the kun'yomi when there is one kanji (often followed by hiragana). Sometimes two (or more) kanji in a row can use kun'yomi...but the general rule is that the more kanji in a row there are, the more likely the pronunciation is using on'yomi. However, no rule is fool-proof, and you will have to learn exceptions. But once you learn the word, it is learned. I would say that instead of learning the meanings of kanji and then trying to form words from them, you should instead learn how to read words (and at that time studying their kanji), and then you'll already know how to read them when you see their kanji.
Konichiwa sensei Hiroko.. question please...is there no letter or pronunciation for the English letter 'L'? if you hv to write Los Angeles, how do you write it? or is L replaced with R?? please answer me??? Arigatou
Hi Mani Rai Chamling, Thank you for posting! A good question!! Yes, that's right. We replace the letter and sound "L" to "R" in Japanese. Actually, we don't have "L" nor "R" sound of English. Our ら・り・る・れ・ろ are written as "ra" "ri" "ru" "re" "ro", but they are not pronounced like English "R" (more like Spanish "R"...) So we write ロサンゼルス for "Los Angeles". (It should be ロス アンジェルス, but we say like that.) Other examples are ライオン (lion) リンカーン (Lincoln) ランニング (running) イアリング (earring) I hope this helps you. Keep studying with JapanesePod.com! Team JapanesePod.com
+Seezer Zhu Hiragana first. Katakana immediately after. (Maybe you can do it simultaneously but I wouldn't recommend it.) Kanji is a lifetime pursuit. Haha.
I just started to learn Japanese too and it is certainly daunting. But think about the English language, it's not much better. We have stuff like there, their, they're...to, too, two...random silent letters...triple abbreviations (y'all'd've ?!)...I before E except after C but not always...cursive and print writing...This gem-It can be understood through tough thorough thought, though...our vowels have 2 voicings based on seemingly arbitrary rules... I could go on and on, lol, but think about it. You mastered it and now it is second nature. I believe Japanese will click into place eventually for both of us, provided we put in the effort. And yeah, Kanji seems like a huge hurdle. I try to think of it more as art than just writing a word. After drawing a Kanji character it looks way cooler than just letters. Best of luck to you. :)
Can We Survive In Japan With Only Hiragana and Katakana? Because Im A secondary Student in Philippines And I reall Love Japan So I Start Learning Japanese with Japanedepod 101 but Still Kanji gives me A Bit nervous!
+Paul Ramirez I'd say writing Kanji is not really necessary for survival, but being able to read is very important. If you can't read at least the most common Kanji, you'll be basically illiterate in Japan. That is of course if you plan to live there, you obviously don't have to learn all Kanji if just go on a trip.
+Paul Ramirez the main problem is, that basicly all signs are written with kanji... even the toilets have two different flushes... for big and small jobs ^^ labelled as 大 and 小... it's not a big deal when you're there for about 2 weeks... but kanji will help you a LOT to understand your surroundings...
+Zefa Husain That's a huge question, yo! But lemme' try to take a stab at it. **Ahem** は: -character for [ha], but when used as a particle it's read as [wa] -dubbed the "topic marking particle" が: -character for [ga], and read as such -dubbed the "subject marking particle" (though I've heard it dubbed as the "identifier particle", and honestly, I think this is better and less confusing) Let's look at 2 sentences. Sorry, but because I'm lazy I'm gonna' use romaji and mix it with English, but they're still grammatically correct. (1) Bob wa student desu. (2) Bob ga student desu. Whatever's in front of は is established as the topic. It's what we're talking about until a new one is brought up. In this case, whatever we say will be about Bob. が is used to identify what's currently being focused on at the moment when it was spoken. As I once heard it explained, for が, try to imagine it as an answer to an imaginary question. For (2), it'd be like: [Who's the student? Bob is the one that's the student]. が doesn't make Bob the overall topic like は but identifies him as one. (3) Kuruma wa akai desu. (4) Kuruma ga akai desu. (3) makes what we're talking about to be "cars" (and that it's red) whereas (4) says that the thing that is red is the car. [Sorry. I know I did a poor job at explaining. Heck, I probably confused you more. With more studying and practice you'll get a better hang of it and see where I'm trying to come from. Haha.] を: -character for [wo], but when used as a particle it's read as [o] -dubbed the "direct object marking particle" -whatever's in front of this is the one that's directly receiving the action that's being done (5) Kuruma を kicked. (The car is the thing that was kicked.) (6) Tree を hugged. (The tree is the thing that was hugged.) Hope that enlightened you, even just a little.
+Painting Amber キム Yes. You can write kanji words in hiragana. However, it doesn't look professional. So if you can write kanji, then write them, but if you can't, then you can write the words in hiragana and it will look more childish but better than nothing.
+Rationalific so writing in hiragana every word of a sentence of a paragraph is still understandable to the japanese? but basically in simple, toddler level like words? meaning if i know atleast hiragana and katakana i can write alot which they can read and accurately understand?
Marius Kajanas If you write using only kana (hiragana and katakana), then they will be able to understand it, because kana represent sounds, so when they read it, the correct sounds will come out. But kanji represent meanings. So, in essence, it's like an English speaker using "there" for "there", "they're", and "their", and using "to" for "to" and "two" and "too". It is far better, and more accurate, to use the correct spellings in English, because from the spelling, you can understand the exact meaning. For example, "They're" = "They are". "Their" is the possessive. So it should be "I like their house." But if someone writes "I like there house." then it could be understood, but you will not win any writing awards for that. Do note that while in English, writing a word with the wrong spelling is incorrect, but in Japanese, writing a word that usually uses kanji but instead writing it in kana is not "incorrect", but rather "simple" and "not professional". So, it is still better than writing a word incorrectly.
Oh, thats great! Thanks for answering! I was kinda wondering also about the incorrect word part. As i knew words like "i" "go" "shoping" but i was woried if they changed when i typed "I am going shopping "... Well, cleared up alot, thanks buddy :)
Marius Kajanas No problem! And by the way, "I go shopping" in Japanese is （私は）買い物へ行く。/ (Watashi wa) kaimono e iku. If you mean "I am going shopping." to mean that you will go in the future, then you can say "（私は）買い物へ行くつもりです。" / (Watashi wa" kaimono e iku tsumori desu. ("...tsumori desu" means "intend to..." And lastly, instead of "買い物へ行く。", you can write "かいものへいく。" However, that is simpler in a childish way and harder to read (for people who know kanji) because the meanings of the words are not there (and unlike English which has spaces, Japanese doesn't have spaces between words, so kanji help to break things up and show where words begin as well).
I always get confused when it is proper to use "wakaranai" & "shiranai"... i know that wakarimasu means "to understand" while shirimasu means "to know" but japanese people often used wakarimasu over shirimasu even if the context means to know... can u help me?
On screen, the romaji sentence "Watashi wa conpyuutaa o tsukaimasu." Wouldn't it be more correct to spell it as 'konpyuutaa' ? There is no "co" in katakana or hiragana romaji.
+Arthur S there is no "ko" either... only こ... however... romaji is a conventional writing system with different styles... for example - it can be either "sha", "sya" or "shya"... try to write the kana こ with "ko" and "co"... both are possible :) it's more important to see how a word is pronounced... so "conpyuutaa" is totally fine
+Nifuruc - With romaji, Japanese is written as a, i, u, e, o...ka, ki, ku, ke, ko. There is no ca, ci, cu, ce, co. Correct, there is no actual ko written in Japanese, but when using romaji there is a system that people learn from and you can't go using whatever letters you want. You also need to use the correct romaji when using a keyboard to type Japanese.
Arthur S this is simply wrong... I possess an old book where コーヒー is written like coohii... nowadays 99% of all books have rules for romaji to not complicate things BUT that's the point of view for foreigners and teachers who want to have an easy system to work with... Japanese who don't have this problems often write ca - ci - cu - ce - co when the english word is also written with c... just because you can write the words (IME standard) with c... there's a similar "problem" with し... most write "shi" but it can also be written like "si"... it makes no difference phonetically... all that said... it really IS better to only use k instead of c when you start learning... the language is complicated enough and beginner should get rid of romaji as quick as possible anyway... only the kana itself is accurate...
+Arthur S It isn't the best decision to try matching up every single latin character with a Japanese one because there is no correct answer. There is no such thing as a universal romaji conversion chart. As +Nifuruc was saying, a lot of the Japanese characters are Romanized in many different ways based on what system they're using. There isn't really a "correct" romaji when using a keyboard either. On my American laptop the characters become こeven when I type it with a "c".
you can write all the japanese in hiragana and all hiragana can be translated directly into romaji. am I wrong? *On my American laptop the characters become こeven when I type it with a "c".* do you know why it did that? because it knew you wanted to type "ko", haha...ha.
@Learn Japanese with JapanesePod101.com Umm... can you translate these words in English? Usuratonkachi, Shan'naro, and Dattebayo. Do animes use proper Japanese?
+xDeydeyxtartelette not native, but learning and used to a mix of kanji, hiragana and katakana. It's honestly really hard to read romanji sentences. I wouldn't say someone would understand you well. There's also the problem of many verbs sounding exactly the same, so written out in romanji most sentences would get tricky fast!
+xDeydeyxtartelette , Romaji should be just just like a cast, while your bulding knowledge. It's just a phonetic representation of kanas so we can understand better, but itself does'nt stand for anything.
Might be a silly question, but here goes... Why do you even need Kanji when you can just write: たべる? It seems like Kanji just makes a mountain out of a molehill. Why not just write in Kana?
Hi Eric Winkler, Thank you for posting. I think spaces are not used between words in Japanese, so using three types of scripts (hiragana / katakana / kanji) makes it easier to read. Let me show you an example; すももももも、ももももも、すももももももももはもも。 スモモも桃、桃も桃、スモモも桃も桃は桃。 (Sumomomomomo, momomomomo, sumomomomomomomomohamomo.) =Plum is a kind of peach, peach is a kind of peach, both plum and peach are kinds of peach. Keep studying with JapanesePod101.com Cheers, Miki(美希) Team JapanesePod101.com
Ah, okay, I see. I forgot about the homophones. ...I wonder did they know when they were coming up with this stuff, that they were creating what would ultimately become the greatest linguistic clusterfuck the World has ever seen? I say yes. I think they were just trolling the people of the future. It would explain a lot.
FiveADay Kanji Calm down guy. I wasn't looking to pick a fight. Just pointing out the fact that it seems to be overly complicated, but you've explained why it has to be that way, and I accept that.
But would the japanese still understand what i wrote, if i wrote it all in hiragana, because thats the only thing i can write in? like every single word, or would it make no sense, and in order to write and communicate i need all of them?
You can write everything in hiragana and it will be understood. The hiragana alphabet has every syllable of the Japanese language, meaning you can write anything in hiragana. It's like talking (because obviously you can't see kanji) and you will be understood
Awesome! That means I just have to learn the words, and I can write them! All with a weeks of practise. I think Japanese is not so hard at the start, rather at the end. Thanks!
+Marius Kajanas yep it gets harder, definitely... especially when it comes to 敬語、the honorific and respectful language because a lot of words Change almost completely
+Marius Kajanas They'd be able to understand it to a certain extent. Kanji is really important for differing between homophones which means writing in all kana could be as detrimental as writing in romaji.For example: ”わたしはあめがだいすきです”/ watashi wa ame ga daisuki desu. The sentence literally translates to "I love ame" But a native speaker wouldn't be able to understand what "ame" is without context or kanji because "ame" is how you pronounce both candy and rain. You would need to use the kanji "雨" to specify rain and " 飴" to specify candy, because they are pronounced exactly the same. I know Kanji can seem really intimidating at first, but trust me, learning in just the kana script would be far more difficult.
+David Rivadeneira That's used to extend the vowel that precedes it. ー extends the [i] in ヒ and the [o] in ロ. So compare saying [hiiroo] to [hiro]. So pay attention to stop sounds and extended vowels. They do make a difference. Also, It's only used in katakana though, not hiragana, and it cannot be omitted if that's how the word is spelled.
I say we start a movement to eliminate kanji from Japanese language so everyone in the world can learn Japanese easily and that way create a strong bond with this amazing culture and the rest of the globe! Live hiragana and katakana!!!
Even with 2000 Kanji it wouldnt scare me off, but when I saw a canji with 6 completely different pronunciations and meanings, I gave up. How the hell are you supposed to learn it!?
kanji is more cool, majestic, official, formal and public. hiragana is more warm, sympathic, childish and foolish. katakana is more cold, insipid, robotic and mechanic.
The multiple writing systems are the least of your concerns. The kanji themselves are far and away the challenge. Learning the kana is an afterthought.
@@paulramirez8540 she is like 30 something by now. I'm younger than her and followed her in College and I'm like 28 now lol I first watched her channel in hs I was 17 then damn. She was suuuper young when she started like 23 around there.
But how are you supposed to know the loan words? Say, I want to write down a sentence I heard. What differentiates one word from the next aside from knowing all other languages on the face of the planet before learning Japanese? Maybe that's why Japanese are so racist. The writing system is even "THIS IS FOREIGN!!!"
Use katakana for your name, for load words (e.g. based on English), some animals, scientific words and onomatopoeias and so on.
Hiragana is the core alphabet. Use it for particles, the coppula, words with difficult kanii often favour hiragana too. You will see hiragana everywhere - especially in adjectives (sometimes mixed with kanji).
Kanji are the complex characters that serve many purposes. Many words have the same pronunciation so kanji is needed, it also helps break up sentences (as spaces are not used). Nouns, adjectives, verbs often use kanji.
But you don't need to worry about this too much. First you learn hiragana and katakana. Then you learn words and kanji. When you learn a word, you should learn the alphabets that come with it at the same time, so you don't need to worry. See it in katakana? Use it in katakana. See it in hiragana? Use it in hiragana.
Of course there are words that can be written in hirgana, kanji, or katakana and are all perfectly acceptable - this is stylistic choice.
Most important thing at the start is simply to try learn. Don't worry on the best techniques just yet, just get stuck into the language... make mistakes, fix mistakes, and make more mistakes. You won't stop making mistakes, so don't worry about it!
Oh and btw, if you have time, please come check out my Japan blog channel ^^
So say if I was in school, would it be acceptable to use all hiragana or katakana?
+BroKenPatchwork yes am wondering too! so far i know hiragana only, so if i wrote to a japanese person, could he read it correctly? or what!?
A Japanese person can read it in all hiragana, but it does make it a little harder because it becomes one huge hiragana sentence with nothing to break it up. For example, こうしょう has up to 50 meanings if the kanji isn't used, but with context it becomes obvious.
In lower school, kids will write in mostly hiragana since they still haven't learnt a lot of kanji yet, by high school they will use mostly kanji where possible.
Oh so katakana for names? So it'll ニア not にや? Right?
why does the Japanese language have to have more than on alphabet so confusing but I'll learn it eventually
one*
+Micah Baucom It doesn't really have a special reason. Not much you can do about it either sadly. It is best to simply learn all alphabets and grammar.
Historical reasons. Originally Japanese had no writing system until they encountered China and imported that writing system (along with the on'yomi). Unfortunately Chinese and Japanese are completely different language families, and the result was a linguistic mess. The kana were introduced to help ease the burden, and to broaden literacy to those who didn't learn enough kanji. If you learn Japanese and then study Chinese, one of the first things that becomes apparent is how well organized a system it is. The organization turned to complexity when the characters were forced into the Japanese language.
+kinpatu Right. Hiragana and Katakana are actually Kanji characters transformed to feet the Japanese language and ease the writing. For particles for example (ni, wo, ga, wa,...)
+rony perez に、を、が、は
I just finished memorising the Hiragana..long way to go bro T_T
Good luck
LittleLexiChan X3 thank you :D
@@abdulfattah5236 did you learn it? :)
Well its been 4 years now i guess you are already fluent
What do you recommend to learn them? Like any tips to make memorizing easier?
😓 but some day I will understand.
+strohbaron In short:
1) Kanji are for meaning, and make up entire nouns, or the first part of verbs and adjectives (that have many different endings).
2) Hiragana are for particles (between main words) and words which do not have kanji, or instead of kanji if the kanji are difficult.
3) Katakana is used for foreign loan-words.
An English example of a kanji would be "1", as it has a meaning on its own. An English example of hiragana would be "st", because the "1" kanji alone would be "one", but if it ends with the hiragana "st", then the word changes to "first". An English example of katakana might be _"sakura"_. You see how it is in italics? The word is of foreign origin and the italics can also stress a word.
+Rationalific I love how you phrased this. I have been studying for a coup,e years now and explaining it to my friends has been very difficult
Rook Cramer I'm glad you liked it! Thanks for the comment!
+Rationalific This is so well worded, I thought it would be impossible for me to understand, but this made me process it really easy... thank you
Nelson Anners No problem! I'm very happy that I could be of assistance!
Thank you!!I never understood how to use the three alphabets but i know the basic reasons so memorizing the letters will be easier
This was very informative, thank you! I was recently able to memorize hiragana studying a little bit each day for a little over a week. I think that knowing hiragana will make it ever easier to memorize katakana. I'm excited to start learning kanji after that! JapanesePod 101 RUclips videos are a big help to me, so thanks very much! ^_^
I've been taking some notes and this helps a lot. ありがとう！
It was really help full lesson for me . Need more
外国人に説明する際の参考になりました。ありがとうございます
I think u should focus on teaching us how to use the particles,
Really helpful, thanks for sharing Hiroko 先生大好き！！
This is why I'm grateful to have lived in Taiwan for 10 months, so I can read some kanji from Chinese like 大 心 天 日 一二三四五⋯十
Me: Never went to China
Also me: Reads the Chinese characters fluently on this comment.
*parties in half chinese*
Thank you so much hiroko
This cleared up a lot! Thank youuuu
There's one thing that Hiroko didn't explain which is the hiragana above the kanji. Kanji can have multiple readings, and hiragana above kanji, called "furigana," tells how to read it.
furigana isn't used though, only for kids. if you know the kanji you know the onyomi and kunyomi reading and when to use which one so furigana is not needed
thank you this helped a lot
I thought easier to speak but the truly is when I start to learn, its really really difficult to write and read. :)
Thanks so much! This really helps
Happy Birthay!!!
このビデオは面白かったです。
excellent video! Thank you :)
Please guide, use of "ji" pronounced alphabets in words.
I'm glad to know I'm not alone to forget using Kanji
Very interesting! Hiroko thanks for nuances of these script words ,watashiwamontoliolu ni nihongo o benkyo shimashita Maaku.
I knew this already, but this was explained very well!
OMG Thank you so much, I get it now
Copula is also だ
What's 振り仮名 (ふりがな)?
I am studying Kanji now. But it will take me a long time to keep everything straight
I see......I thought it is something......I am preparing for the N4 exam hence asked......thanks a lot.
ありがとうございます
I am learning Japanese online. Do you think an English speaking learner should master hiragana before being introduced to kanji, or must they be taught side by side from the beginning?
Hilary Sings Definitely start with Hiragana and not Katakana. I made that mistake.
Could you explain the usage of は, が, をetc.
は:Use it if you want to be the main protagonist of the sentence.
ex:私は日本語の生徒です。 /I'm a Japanese student .
が:Use it if you want to focus the attention in something else.
ex:これがあなたの本ですか。 /THIS is your book?
を:This particle doesn't have a translation but is used to link an action with an object.
ex:リンゴを食べます。/I eat an apple.
Also,in others circumstance their use can change a bit but I it hope help you.
The way I could tell the difference between は and が is は focuses on the word in front of it like 私はふれどです。(i am **FRED**)
が which is 私がふれどです。(**I** am fred)
They both mean the same thing but you would use は as the whole point of the sentence is the saying your name.
Which alphabet used lime
I am almost done with learning Hiragana. It is actually really fun and somewhat easy to learn!
Thank you for the video but, I have question: When we use honorific prefix and when we use honorific suffix?
should I learn to speak, read or write first?
Hi Hiroko,
how to do practice for learning Japanese language ?
I am still confused!
Which should i learn? Cant i use only one way?
I wish you could use only hiragana all the time. it seems like the funnest and easiest
FiveADay Kanji interesting. Ive been hearing many different views on this. Ive read that katakana can be used phonetically as well, just like hiragana. That it wasnt exclusively for foreign words, although ive read that it was exclusively PICKED to write foreign words. Ive also read that you cant or shouldnt use hiragana or katakana alone even if you space the particles. If it's true, what you say about being able to stick to one system alone, then i dont understand why the japanese dont just stick to katakana And maybe add a symbol for every letter or sound that's missing, that way theyd have just one alphabet. seeing as hiragana is missing much more letters than katakana, that is. Anyways I would love your opinion on this matter as you are a sensei. Thanks for responding
FiveADay Kanji i ser thanks
You mentioned that Nihongo have 4 kinds of alphabets, I could notice 3 (Kanji, Hiragana, Katakana) in this lesson, may you please explain the 4th one.
they also use English letters and i think numbers sometimes.
+Passion & Reason When she mentioned the 4, she didn't actually mean 4 separate alphabets. She said "patterns" (around 0:53), which are: just kanji, kanji + hiragana, just hiragana, or just katakana.
Thank you Tut58 and terebiomimasu
Can school Boys and girls use watashi to address themselves? Or Boys have to use Boku and Girls Watashi?Thanks
If I visit Japan and I use only Hirigana, as I have learnt in many of the instructional videos, will I be understood in writing by most individuals?
+SoulEverlasting It'll definitely be a challenge since, with the limited number of sounds there are in Japanese, there are so many homophones. Plus, there's no spacing in writing. Words are made out because the kanji usually serves as dividers. But as long as your grammar isn't too incorrect, they can most likely pick things up given the context.
Arigatou sensei
I have a question, in that sample sentence, why was the sound o represented as the wo kana in hiragana?
Also, which script are Japanese people's names written? Domo Arigato.
AmazingSam most of the Japanese names I've seen are in Kanji
AmazingSam を is a particle and pronounced "o. Just like は. If は is a particle in a sentence, it's pronounced "wa" instead of "ha"
so confusing but i still love Japanese
why is the HA symbol used for WA and the WO symbol used for O?
+LTejano85 By themselves, を is generally read as [wo] and は as [ha]. When they're used as particles in sentences their readings change to [o] and [wa], respectively.
thanks, but confusing lol. Are there any more symbols which are read differently depending on the context?
+LTejano85 Nah. As far as I know, these are the only sounds that change because of a special purpose they serve. Other than that, Japanese doesn't throw any curve balls at you so things are pronounced as is.
Something I'm confused about at the moment is when to use kunyomi and onyomi when reading kanji. I'm halfway through learning grade 1 kanji, and every time I see a rule about when to use which pronunciation, there are so many exceptions. Do you really just have to learn the case for each word one by one?
+Cakes with Faces Why do you want to write kanji anyways? Its best in my opinion to know Japanese words while trying to read it then if you want to, writing. That is my opinion but I totally support what you have to say.
Yes, I do realize I should've stayed quiet
+XxMadHatterxX I mean when you're reading kanji - whether to read the kunyomi or onyomi pronunciation. Haven't even tried writing yet! :-)
+Cakes with Faces In general terms, you use the on'yomi when there are multiple kanji in a row, and you use the kun'yomi when there is one kanji (often followed by hiragana). Sometimes two (or more) kanji in a row can use kun'yomi...but the general rule is that the more kanji in a row there are, the more likely the pronunciation is using on'yomi. However, no rule is fool-proof, and you will have to learn exceptions. But once you learn the word, it is learned. I would say that instead of learning the meanings of kanji and then trying to form words from them, you should instead learn how to read words (and at that time studying their kanji), and then you'll already know how to read them when you see their kanji.
Thanks for the explanation! Wish me luck learning the kanji! :-)
Cakes with Faces Good luck!
Konichiwa sensei Hiroko.. question please...is there no letter or pronunciation for the English letter 'L'? if you hv to write Los Angeles, how do you write it? or is L replaced with R?? please answer me??? Arigatou
Hi Mani Rai Chamling,
Thank you for posting!
A good question!!
Yes, that's right.
We replace the letter and sound "L" to "R" in Japanese. Actually, we don't have "L" nor "R" sound of English. Our ら・り・る・れ・ろ are written as "ra" "ri" "ru" "re" "ro", but they are not pronounced like English "R" (more like Spanish "R"...)
So we write ロサンゼルス for "Los Angeles". (It should be ロス アンジェルス, but we say like that.)
Other examples are
ライオン (lion)
リンカーン (Lincoln)
ランニング (running)
イアリング (earring)
I hope this helps you.
Keep studying with JapanesePod.com!
Team JapanesePod.com
I don't even know where to begin to start learning all of this
+Seezer Zhu Hiragana first. Katakana immediately after. (Maybe you can do it simultaneously but I wouldn't recommend it.) Kanji is a lifetime pursuit. Haha.
Hello.
I have seen that Watashi is written with "Ha" instead of "Wa". Is there any particular reason as to this. Kindly explain.
I think young people use this to look "cool" in Japan but keep using "Wa" instead of "Ha".
Way too rush for a complex question. I'm still left confused and I've read 4 books about this.
Which alphabet used a drink lime
Great video but I still find it hard juggling 3 alphabets and contextually deciding what to use while memomorizing 😣
I just started to learn Japanese too and it is certainly daunting. But think about the English language, it's not much better. We have stuff like there, their, they're...to, too, two...random silent letters...triple abbreviations (y'all'd've ?!)...I before E except after C but not always...cursive and print writing...This gem-It can be understood through tough thorough thought, though...our vowels have 2 voicings based on seemingly arbitrary rules...
I could go on and on, lol, but think about it. You mastered it and now it is second nature. I believe Japanese will click into place eventually for both of us, provided we put in the effort.
And yeah, Kanji seems like a huge hurdle. I try to think of it more as art than just writing a word. After drawing a Kanji character it looks way cooler than just letters.
Best of luck to you. :)
Do I learn Hiragana Alphabet or Katakana Alphabet ?
Or Both ?
Learn Hiragana first, then Katakana, then after (if you didn't give up yet) go for kanji
ok Thanks
please make video about kanji reading
on yomi or kun yomi
o_0
Can We Survive In Japan With Only Hiragana and Katakana?
Because Im A secondary Student in Philippines And I reall Love Japan So I Start Learning Japanese with Japanedepod 101
but Still Kanji gives me A Bit nervous!
Same
+Paul Ramirez I'd say writing Kanji is not really necessary for survival, but being able to read is very important. If you can't read at least the most common Kanji, you'll be basically illiterate in Japan. That is of course if you plan to live there, you obviously don't have to learn all Kanji if just go on a trip.
+Akagami Matsu oh thank you so much! :) for answering my questionありがとございます
Paul Ramirez どういたしまして （０ｗ０）
+Paul Ramirez
the main problem is, that basicly all signs are written with kanji... even the toilets have two different flushes... for big and small jobs ^^ labelled as 大 and 小... it's not a big deal when you're there for about 2 weeks... but kanji will help you a LOT to understand your surroundings...
I have a question: When do you use the diffrent particles in japanese （が、は、を）
+Zefa Husain That's a huge question, yo! But lemme' try to take a stab at it. **Ahem**
は:
-character for [ha], but when used as a particle it's read as [wa]
-dubbed the "topic marking particle"
が:
-character for [ga], and read as such
-dubbed the "subject marking particle" (though I've heard it dubbed as the "identifier particle", and honestly, I think this is better and less confusing)
Let's look at 2 sentences. Sorry, but because I'm lazy I'm gonna' use romaji and mix it with English, but they're still grammatically correct.
(1) Bob wa student desu.
(2) Bob ga student desu.
Whatever's in front of は is established as the topic. It's what we're talking about until a new one is brought up. In this case, whatever we say will be about Bob. が is used to identify what's currently being focused on at the moment when it was spoken. As I once heard it explained, for が, try to imagine it as an answer to an imaginary question. For (2), it'd be like: [Who's the student? Bob is the one that's the student]. が doesn't make Bob the overall topic like は but identifies him as one.
(3) Kuruma wa akai desu.
(4) Kuruma ga akai desu.
(3) makes what we're talking about to be "cars" (and that it's red) whereas (4) says that the thing that is red is the car.
[Sorry. I know I did a poor job at explaining. Heck, I probably confused you more. With more studying and practice you'll get a better hang of it and see where I'm trying to come from. Haha.]
を:
-character for [wo], but when used as a particle it's read as [o]
-dubbed the "direct object marking particle"
-whatever's in front of this is the one that's directly receiving the action that's being done
(5) Kuruma を kicked.
(The car is the thing that was kicked.)
(6) Tree を hugged.
(The tree is the thing that was hugged.)
Hope that enlightened you, even just a little.
terebiomimasu Thanks man! It really helped!
あなたはすごいです、ありがとうございます先生！
@@terebiomimasuThanks for your long reply 😅😊😇😇❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤👁👄👁
What is 使います
Cerebral Palsic RUclipsr it means use. The sentence means I use a computer.
great
But if you forget or don't know a kanji, is it correct to write it in hiragana?
+Painting Amber キム Yes. You can write kanji words in hiragana. However, it doesn't look professional. So if you can write kanji, then write them, but if you can't, then you can write the words in hiragana and it will look more childish but better than nothing.
+Rationalific so writing in hiragana every word of a sentence of a paragraph is still understandable to the japanese? but basically in simple, toddler level like words? meaning if i know atleast hiragana and katakana i can write alot which they can read and accurately understand?
Marius Kajanas If you write using only kana (hiragana and katakana), then they will be able to understand it, because kana represent sounds, so when they read it, the correct sounds will come out. But kanji represent meanings. So, in essence, it's like an English speaker using "there" for "there", "they're", and "their", and using "to" for "to" and "two" and "too". It is far better, and more accurate, to use the correct spellings in English, because from the spelling, you can understand the exact meaning. For example, "They're" = "They are". "Their" is the possessive. So it should be "I like their house." But if someone writes "I like there house." then it could be understood, but you will not win any writing awards for that. Do note that while in English, writing a word with the wrong spelling is incorrect, but in Japanese, writing a word that usually uses kanji but instead writing it in kana is not "incorrect", but rather "simple" and "not professional". So, it is still better than writing a word incorrectly.
Oh, thats great! Thanks for answering! I was kinda wondering also about the incorrect word part. As i knew words like "i" "go" "shoping" but i was woried if they changed when i typed "I am going shopping "... Well, cleared up alot, thanks buddy :)
Marius Kajanas No problem! And by the way, "I go shopping" in Japanese is （私は）買い物へ行く。/ (Watashi wa) kaimono e iku. If you mean "I am going shopping." to mean that you will go in the future, then you can say "（私は）買い物へ行くつもりです。" / (Watashi wa" kaimono e iku tsumori desu. ("...tsumori desu" means "intend to..." And lastly, instead of "買い物へ行く。", you can write "かいものへいく。" However, that is simpler in a childish way and harder to read (for people who know kanji) because the meanings of the words are not there (and unlike English which has spaces, Japanese doesn't have spaces between words, so kanji help to break things up and show where words begin as well).
interesting
I always get confused when it is proper to use "wakaranai" & "shiranai"... i know that wakarimasu means "to understand" while shirimasu means "to know" but japanese people often used wakarimasu over shirimasu even if the context means to know... can u help me?
This is my advice and it has helped me a lot,Just do what they do.
ヒロコノニホンゴハジョウズデスネ！
On screen, the romaji sentence "Watashi wa conpyuutaa o tsukaimasu." Wouldn't it be more correct to spell it as 'konpyuutaa' ? There is no "co" in katakana or hiragana romaji.
+Arthur S
there is no "ko" either... only こ... however... romaji is a conventional writing system with different styles... for example - it can be either "sha", "sya" or "shya"... try to write the kana こ with "ko" and "co"... both are possible :) it's more important to see how a word is pronounced... so "conpyuutaa" is totally fine
+Nifuruc - With romaji, Japanese is written as a, i, u, e, o...ka, ki, ku, ke, ko. There is no ca, ci, cu, ce, co. Correct, there is no actual ko written in Japanese, but when using romaji there is a system that people learn from and you can't go using whatever letters you want. You also need to use the correct romaji when using a keyboard to type Japanese.
Arthur S
this is simply wrong... I possess an old book where コーヒー is written like coohii... nowadays 99% of all books have rules for romaji to not complicate things BUT that's the point of view for foreigners and teachers who want to have an easy system to work with...
Japanese who don't have this problems often write ca - ci - cu - ce - co when the english word is also written with c... just because you can write the words (IME standard) with c...
there's a similar "problem" with し... most write "shi" but it can also be written like "si"... it makes no difference phonetically...
all that said... it really IS better to only use k instead of c when you start learning... the language is complicated enough and beginner should get rid of romaji as quick as possible anyway... only the kana itself is accurate...
+Arthur S It isn't the best decision to try matching up every single latin character with a Japanese one because there is no correct answer. There is no such thing as a universal romaji conversion chart. As +Nifuruc was saying, a lot of the Japanese characters are Romanized in many different ways based on what system they're using. There isn't really a "correct" romaji when using a keyboard either. On my American laptop the characters become こeven when I type it with a "c".
you can write all the japanese in hiragana and all hiragana can be translated directly into romaji. am I wrong? *On my American laptop the characters become こeven when I type it with a "c".* do you know why it did that? because it knew you wanted to type "ko", haha...ha.
@Learn Japanese with JapanesePod101.com Umm... can you translate these words in English? Usuratonkachi, Shan'naro, and Dattebayo. Do animes use proper Japanese?
No they don't.
So Japanese names are usually written in harigana ?
J Snow Kanji is used for Japanese names.
Hiragana*
can i only use hiragana ?
My World no
I haven't see you since the tsunami. I stopped watching back then. It's good to have you back.
What if I write in Romaji? Would a Japanese person be able to understand whay I'm saying?
+xDeydeyxtartelette not native, but learning and used to a mix of kanji, hiragana and katakana.
It's honestly really hard to read romanji sentences. I wouldn't say someone would understand you well. There's also the problem of many verbs sounding exactly the same, so written out in romanji most sentences would get tricky fast!
Kate Howat Thank you (:
+xDeydeyxtartelette , Romaji should be just just like a cast, while your bulding knowledge. It's just a phonetic representation of kanas so we can understand better, but itself does'nt stand for anything.
Don’t be a scrub, learn ひらがな 、 カタカナ and 漢字。
Might be a silly question, but here goes...
Why do you even need Kanji when you can just write: たべる?
It seems like Kanji just makes a mountain out of a molehill.
Why not just write in Kana?
Hi Eric Winkler,
Thank you for posting.
I think spaces are not used between words in Japanese, so using three types of scripts (hiragana / katakana / kanji) makes it easier to read.
Let me show you an example;
すももももも、ももももも、すももももももももはもも。
スモモも桃、桃も桃、スモモも桃も桃は桃。
(Sumomomomomo, momomomomo, sumomomomomomomomohamomo.)
=Plum is a kind of peach, peach is a kind of peach, both plum and peach are kinds of peach.
Keep studying with JapanesePod101.com
Cheers,
Miki(美希)
Team JapanesePod101.com
But if it's all about making it easier to read, wouldn't it make much more sense to introduce spaces and retire Kanji & Katakana?
Ah, okay, I see. I forgot about the homophones.
...I wonder did they know when they were coming up with this stuff, that they were creating what would ultimately become the greatest linguistic clusterfuck the World has ever seen? I say yes. I think they were just trolling the people of the future. It would explain a lot.
FiveADay Kanji Calm down guy. I wasn't looking to pick a fight.
Just pointing out the fact that it seems to be overly complicated,
but you've explained why it has to be that way, and I accept that.
But would the japanese still understand what i wrote, if i wrote it all in hiragana, because thats the only thing i can write in? like every single word, or would it make no sense, and in order to write and communicate i need all of them?
You can write everything in hiragana and it will be understood. The hiragana alphabet has every syllable of the Japanese language, meaning you can write anything in hiragana. It's like talking (because obviously you can't see kanji) and you will be understood
Awesome! That means I just have to learn the words, and I can write them! All with a weeks of practise. I think Japanese is not so hard at the start, rather at the end. Thanks!
+Marius Kajanas yep it gets harder, definitely... especially when it comes to 敬語、the honorific and respectful language because a lot of words Change almost completely
さま ありがとう
+Marius Kajanas They'd be able to understand it to a certain extent. Kanji is really important for differing between homophones which means writing in all kana could be as detrimental as writing in romaji.For example: ”わたしはあめがだいすきです”/ watashi wa ame ga daisuki desu. The sentence literally translates to "I love ame" But a native speaker wouldn't be able to understand what "ame" is without context or kanji because "ame" is how you pronounce both candy and rain. You would need to use the kanji "雨" to specify rain and " 飴" to specify candy, because they are pronounced exactly the same. I know Kanji can seem really intimidating at first, but trust me, learning in just the kana script would be far more difficult.
Konpyuutaa or Conpyuutaa?
I think it should be konpyuutaa. He or she mistyped.
I’ll learn Japanese.....but one word I won’t learn is that “kokoro” I have bad memories with that name I think some of y’all should understand
I don't get it. Now I can understand why the technology is so fuckin good in japan.the people are SMART
You meant that we have to choose one of them to speak in japanese???😐🤔🙄please tell me !!!🙏🙏🙏I need to know🥺😫😭
How will you say "I'm 16 years old." In japanese?
16歳だ
+Tokay romaji?
+Sheldon Kyle Kairuz Abasolo
Watashi wa juu roku sai dess
Jūrokusai da
+Tokay thanks
What are these ー used for? An example is ヒーロー。Can't you just say ヒロ or is it grammatically incorrect?
+David Rivadeneira That's used to extend the vowel that precedes it. ー extends the [i] in ヒ and the [o] in ロ. So compare saying [hiiroo] to [hiro]. So pay attention to stop sounds and extended vowels. They do make a difference.
Also, It's only used in katakana though, not hiragana, and it cannot be omitted if that's how the word is spelled.
+terebiomimasu Thanks for that!
I say we start a movement to eliminate kanji from Japanese language so everyone in the world can learn Japanese easily and that way create a strong bond with this amazing culture and the rest of the globe! Live hiragana and katakana!!!
Kanji seems impossible 😭
can i survive in japan by only katakana ???? :(
+nora khalid You can survive just as well as without any Japanese, but for more than just survival you'll need both Kanji and Kana.
+MSP Redgrave i mean do i need kanji to choose stuff from a vending machine or a menu ?? or kana is fine?
Mostly fine. The most ubiquitous kanji you'd get used to in time.
+Ms Yagami yeah those the upgraded new ones with screens that gives you like what stuffs are in this drink or so
Then I better get on my kanji!!
Even with 2000 Kanji it wouldnt scare me off, but when I saw a canji with 6 completely different pronunciations and meanings, I gave up. How the hell are you supposed to learn it!?
Is Mata ne Is Always Used By Girls right?
+Paul Ramirez No, また ね literally means "see you" you normally use it around friends!
+10%Potato Yeah I know that But I watched a video that またねis a girly way to say
guyd oftenly use またな
Well sort of girls often say またね more then boys but it is more common for people to say また ね than また な even if you are a boy
+10%Potato oh okay thanks:) do you live in japan?
Yes,but I am actually South Korean :)
why do you not spell out the complete を as "WO"? Even thou its prounounced O
Syllabaries and Ideogram here, no alphabets
liked :)
Japanese Kana and Kanji is not an alphabet because an alphabet is a letter that consonant sound and vowel sound is separated.
They are technically character sets, yes.
Plz help
Which alphabet used a drink lime
🤗
whhaattt?
kanji is more cool, majestic, official, formal and public.
hiragana is more warm, sympathic, childish and foolish.
katakana is more cold, insipid, robotic and mechanic.
....
Cutie!
how tf am I supposed to learn Japanese if it's so complicated?
+Maxground600 How are you going to learn anything at all when you give up as soon as you face difficulties?
+Kim Steinbach-Reif who said I gave up?
Maxground600
You gave off that vibe. You learn it by just keep trying, there's no magical solution, just keep practicing.
The multiple writing systems are the least of your concerns. The kanji themselves are far and away the challenge. Learning the kana is an afterthought.
FIRST COMMENT AND LIKE AGAIN!
Sensei!! Do you Have boyfriend? Hahaha you are so cute! :') Jā nē thanks
hiroko sensei is a mother now^-^
@@paulramirez8540 she is like 30 something by now. I'm younger than her and followed her in College and I'm like 28 now lol I first watched her channel in hs I was 17 then damn. She was suuuper young when she started like 23 around there.
But how are you supposed to know the loan words? Say, I want to write down a sentence I heard. What differentiates one word from the next aside from knowing all other languages on the face of the planet before learning Japanese? Maybe that's why Japanese are so racist. The writing system is even "THIS IS FOREIGN!!!"