Different Writing Styles

[Fedgrub]

Hey guys,

I am new to learning Japanese and would like to know the real differences between the three different types of writing. Which is most commonly used? Which should I start with, and are there similar ways of interepreting it? As much detail as you can provide would be ideal. Thanks in advance!

Matt

[McCrank]

they are all used.

kanji is used for verbs, nouns, adjectives etc
katakana for borrowed words from english
hiragana for grammar

something like that.

[Fedgrub]

Thanks! So you can't really focus on one more than the others because they are all required to communicate in conjuction with each other?

[angelfly]

Yeah they all require equal attention. I recommend learning hiragana and katakana before starting any kanji. I I just finished taking 101 at my university and starting kanji after I memorized how to read and write kana really helped.

[Jordi]

[quote="Fedgrub"]Thanks! So you can't really focus on one more than the others because they are all required to communicate in conjuction with each other?[/quote

Matt-san, first of all, welcome to JapanesePod101.com! We love to see new people come and share the joys of learning Japanese

Like McCrank-san said, all three scripts are used together although I will venture a small correction to his explanation, Katakana are used for almost all foreign loanwords, not just those from English, but for French, Portuguese etc. Learning too much at one time can be a bit daunting, so I would reccomend that you learn hiragana first, then once you know those by heart, start on katakana, before finally taking on kanji. Remember that it takes native Japanese people about ten years or so to learn all the commonly used kanji, so take your time . Yes, all three scripts are used together, but once you know a few kanji it will make reading a lot easier. For example, this sentence,

はじめまして私の名前はジョルヂてす

hajimemashite watashi no namae wa Jordi desu.

Nice to meet you, my name is Jordi

in the above sentence "hajimemashite" or nice to meet you, is written in hiragana, because it is customarily written like that, "watashi", or I, is in kanji, because it is a noun "no" the possesive particle is in hiragana, "namae" or name, is again, a noun, so we have kanji. "Wa" the topic marking particle is a grammatical concept, and therefore in hiragana, Jordi, my name, is not exactly a foreign loanword... seeing as how it does not mean anything, but it must be transcribed to Japanese, so it's in katakana, although some Japanese people, especially girls, like writing their names in katakana too, even though they are Japanese. Finally we have "desu" the ending copula roughly translated as "to be" in English.

I think I covered everything you asked, Matt, if you have any more questions don't hesitate to PM me or ask them on the forum

Have fun learning!


-Jordi

edit: sorry for the late reply, I guess someone else already beat me to the punch

[Fedgrub]

Wow, thank you for the indepth help! It's appreciated.

Are there any websites in particular that are better than others to help learn? I have done a google search but there are so many average websites, I thought there might be one that is commonly used by many people.

Thank you again!

[McCrank]

http://genki.japantimes.co.jp/self/self.html

works i guess.

but i found that i only could remember them when i see them and i couldnt really write them myself without looking it up constantly.

i use this program called "human japanese" which i DLed via torrent.

you get to see the stroke order when writing and hear how each sound and theres a quiz at the end of each lesson where you have to read what you have supposedly learned so far. and when you click on the text you get to hear it being spoken.

just reading on the internet or in a book doesnt work at all.

find a site or program that teaches you stroke order. then write the hiragana over and over while you say it out loud. and use the ones you know and make up words and read them out loud.

just keep using it each day is the best way to learn.

but when learning the language. you can study all day on grammar and writing but not understand one word when its spoken. you need to hear japanese being spoken. everyday if you can.

i have hardly studied any grammar or writing. just listened to some listen and repeat MP3s and watched anime and tv shows(non subbed). and im slowly picking up stuff. sure i cant write it but i dont need to just yet.

[angelfly]

As McCrank recommended Genki is a terrific resource. I think the best way to learn it though is there excercises in the workbook. Basically you memorize a few line a time by writing and pronouncing them over and over. I did the for hiragana and then for katakana. Hope the helps you somewhat.

[Fedgrub]

It does, the website and program are so great. Thank you!

[WalterWills]

Hi, I'm also a beginner, and am currently learning hiragana.

I've found a good way to learn is to get a big list of words in hiragana, look them up and write them down along with their english meaning. I have a Japanese dictionary which only has hiragana, katakana and kanji, no romaji. At the back there's a section entitled "The Japanese words you must know", and I've been going through that big list.

It's good progress for me and I can't see myself forgetting anything. I can't remember hardly any of the words, but the hiragana letters I most certainly can. I've just finished "Ko", so I know A, I, U, E, O, Ka, Ki, Ke, and Ko, and also some others that I've picked up through writing them, like "Shi", Ta, Re, Ru, Yo, etc. Also once you've learned the "K" syllables, then adding two little dashes turns them into "G" sounds.

When I first looked at hiragana I thought it was quite daunting, but I'm surprised at how quickly I've learnt them and it shouldn't take long before I know both hiragana and katakana.

がんばって!!!

[Fedgrub]

Well I gave Human Japanese a try and it is great for learning Hiragana and Katakana. I'm glad you are going great with it man!