Some Kana questions

[animeobsessions8188]

I have finally got my Kana down decently. Took a few weeks but I've been busy so it was a little off and on after I learned my Hiragana. Got back to it the past few days and just finished learning the Katakana. Now just to keep practicing so I recognize them all faster and get better at writing them out. I plan to keep reviewing my flashcards and I'm also going to use Anki to help

So now that I'm done, I have a few questions.

Can some words be written in both Hiragana and Katakana? For example, does あい and アイ both mean love? Or does the katakana form of ai not exist as a work/ mean something different? In one of my apps on my iphone, it gave some of the same words for both Hiragana and Katakana vocab.

What is the small つ　I see in some words mean? I watched one of the basic lessons and Hiroko-san gave the phrase ゆっくりおねがいします。 yukkuri onegaishimasu - slowly please
She mentions that the small っ　means you're supposed to pause when speaking the phrase. And in the romji form, it adds an extra k between yu and ku. Why is this?

How is Japanese usually written? I always thought it was vertically, from the right to the left. But I think I read somewhere that that has changed now to horizontally, from left to right; like English. Is it common to see new written materials written in the older way? How many years do you have to go back to find books written in the old way. (assuming I'm even right about this "old way" lol)

I'm really looking forward to starting with grammar and more vocab so I can start writing simple sentences. I am also going to start learning Kanji in a little bit. I'm thinking of ordering Remembering the Kanji vol. 1 as I've heard it has helped a lot of people.

[Belton]

Can some words be written in both Hiragana and Katakana?

Yes. In fact all words can be written using hiragana or katakana.
Usually katakana is used for foreign words or for emphasis or clarity. Telegrams were written in katakana for instance. The book, Requiem for Yamato, was written entirely in katakana I believe, to make it look like a military despatch.
Usually you wouldn't see foreign words written in hiragana.
Most Japanese is written with a mix of Kanji, hiragana and katakana with some Roman characters and Arabic numerals for good measure!

What is the small つ　I see in some words mean? I watched one of the basic lessons and Hiroko-san gave the phrase ゆっくりおねがいします。 yukkuri onegaishimasu - slowly please
She mentions that the small っ　means you're supposed to pause when speaking the phrase. And in the romaji form, it adds an extra k between yu and ku. Why is this?

If you take each character in kana as consisting of a single beat, the っ means you pause a beat on this character.
The double consonant in romaji is just the way this is represented, as usually there is a slight pause in English words containing double consonants.

How is Japanese usually written? I always thought it was vertically, from the right to the left. But I think I read somewhere that that has changed now to horizontally, from left to right; like English. Is it common to see new written materials written in the older way? How many years do you have to go back to find books written in the old way. (assuming I'm even right about this "old way" lol)

It is written both ways. Novels are typeset vertically, so are speech bubbles in manga, formally written certificates and letters; it goes on and on. It's really just a choice of style and convenience.

Good luck with your Japanese! がんばって！

[animeobsessions8188]

Thank you very much

I just remembered another question I meant to ask.

In Hiragana I've read that extended vowel sounds are done by adding in a vowel like かあ
And in Katakana it is done with a hyphen like カー

But I've seen people use the hyphen in Hiragana as well (かー). Is there a reason for it?
Can you use the vowels to extend sounds in katakana like カア?

[Belton]

Yes the long vowels are made in hiragana with other kana

In katakana the same is achieved using a long dash.

However as you've noticed sometimes you see the long dash in hiragana as well. Strictly speaking this is incorrect, but it is being done for stylistic reasons, or the writer is being very casual, or hasn't bothered to convert all the hiragana into katakana. I think you'd usually see it in words that are usually written in katakana but have been written in hiragana instead. I often see it on blog entries for instance.

I can't say I've seen the reverse, but Japanese is very flexible in how it's written a lot of the time.

[animeobsessions8188]

Thanks for clarifying. Japanese is unlike any language I've tried to learn so I come across a lot of things I don't understand. It's fun and challenging and I'm glad I started learning.