Learn the Hiragana T column
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| Hi everyone! Welcome to BASIC JAPANESE WRITING. The fastest, easiest, and most fun way to master the Japanese alphabet! |
| You've learned these 15 hiragana characters from the previous lessons. |
| In this lesson, you'll learn five new characters, 10 new syllable sounds, and an extra character function. Curious? Stay tuned to learn all about them. |
| ただちぢつづってでとど |
| The first Hiragana character for this lesson is た. た. |
| た actually looks like a "ta". Like a small letter t and a. |
| All of the Hiragana in this column can be altered by a dakuten as well. Can you guess what the new sound will be after adding a dakuten to た? |
| It will be だ. た; だ. た; だ. |
| Hiragana た is written in 4 strokes. |
| The first and second stroke is written like a small letter T but the second stroke goes diagonally to the bottom left. This should be a bit left of the center to make space for the following strokes. |
| The third stroke is a small curved stroke to the right of the T. |
| Then the fourth stroke is also a small curved stroke with an opposite curve to the previous stroke. |
| Ok, let's see it again. |
| Ok, next up is the Hiragana character ち. ち. |
| Does ち remind you of another character? It looks like the mirror image of さ doesn't it? Just think of ち as a CHEERLEADER angry at さ for copying her. |
| Now, let's add a dakuten to ち. How do you think it will sound like now? Is it "DI"? |
| Actually, ち with a dakuten is pronounced as ぢ. It's just like a し with a dakuten: "じ". ち; ぢ. ち; ぢ. |
| Hiragana ち is written in 2 strokes. |
| The first stroke goes from left to right. It is written at an angle. |
| The second stroke starts as a diagonal stroke that intersects the first stroke then continues into a semi-circle. Flick your pen at the end of this stroke. |
| Even though it's like a mirror image of さ, you don't need to lift your pen for this part to write it correctly. |
| Ok, let's see it again. |
| The third Hiragana for this lesson is つ. つ. |
| This Hiragana is very easy to remember. つ looks like a TSUNAMI wave. |
| Let's add a "dakuten" to つ as well. How do you think it will sound like? |
| It's actually pronounced as づ. It's similar to す with a dakuten: ず. Listen carefully. つ; づ. つ; づ. |
| Actually, つ has a special version that looks like this and is called 小さいつ, literally "small つ". |
| It's actually just a smaller sized つ. So what do we use it for? |
| The 小さいつ is used to prolong the consonant after it. Take a look at the following examples and listen to how I say them: かっこいい (cool), じっか (one's family home), かった (bought). |
| To compare, here are some words without it: かこ (past), じかん (time), かた (shoulder). Now listen as I say them side by side: かこ, かっこいい; じかん, じっか; かた, かった. |
| When found at the end of the word, the 小さいつ acts like a glottal stop. For example: あっ！, |
| Hiragana つ is written in 1 stroke. |
| It's written just like a big wave. Flick your pen at the end of this stroke. |
| Ok, let's see it again. |
| Next is the Hiragana character て. て. |
| Hiragana て looks like a dog's TAIL. |
| Let's modify て with a dakuten. |
| It is now pronounced as で. て; で. て; で. |
| Hiragana て is written in 1 stroke. |
| First, draw a line from left to right and then, go back and make a huge curve. |
| Ok, let's see it again. |
| Our final character for this lesson is the Hiragana と. と. |
| と looks like a TORNADO. |
| What does と sounds like with a dakuten? |
| と with a dakuten is pronounced ど. と; ど. と; ど. |
| Hiragana と is written in 2 strokes. |
| The first stroke is a small slanted stroke that goes to the middle. |
| The second stroke is a big curved line, meeting the first stroke in the middle then bends back almost near the bottom. |
| Try to keep the start and end of the second stroke aligned to ensure your handwriting is neat. |
| Also, make sure the second stroke doesn't cross the first stroke. |
| Ok, let's see it again. |
| Let's see all the characters again. た, だ, ち, ぢ, つ, づ, 小さいつ (っ), て, で, と, ど. |
| Quiz time! |
| Now, let's review what you've learned. I'll show you a character or group of characters and give you time to say them. Ready? |
| て. て as a word actually means "hand". |
| This is づ. づ. |
| Which one is the Hiragana ち? [pause 3 sec] It's this one. The one that looks like the angry CHeerleader. |
| ご. |
| せ. |
| くつ. This means "shoes." |
| ちず. ちず is "map." |
| でし. でし means "apprentice." |
| たつ. This means "to stand." |
| とおい. とおい means "far." |
| つづく. It means "to continue." If you've ever watched Japanese TV dramas or anime, I think you have seen this one. |
| どっち. It means "which" |
| だいがく. だいがく means "university". Literally it means "big school." |
| あさって. This means "the day after tomorrow." |
| おちつく. おちつく means "to calm down." |
| Great job! You might ask "If ち and し sound very similar with a dakuten, then how will I know which to use?" Most of the time we use "じ”. ぢ is very rarely used in Japanese. It is only used for compound Kanji which have ち as their original sound. For example, "blood" in Japanese is ち but "nosebleed" becomes はなぢ. |
| Ok, let's wrap up this lesson by recapping what you've learned. |
| In this lesson, you learned た and だ, ち and ぢ, つ, づ and 小さいつ, て and で, and と and ど. |
| よくできました！You've now mastered 20 characters and 35 Japanese syllables: |
| Now you know which is "which", but do you know what is "what?" Find out in the next lesson where I'll teach the Hiragana characters in the N column. |
| Before you go, practice writing the following words on your own! |
| [pause] |
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| See you in the next lesson! またね！ |
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