9 replies to this topic

[NineLives]

I'm learning to WRITE japanese...
I was wondering which one should I practice first...
Hiragana or Katakana?

I've been wondering...

[Sharon Daniel]

Katakana looks easier.

[Takuya]

Katakana is alright, it's the foreign words / emphasis syllabary. It's used for words like "terebi" TV, "rinku" link, etc. Hiragana is for words like "ringo" apple, and native japanese words. I learned Hiragana first, I think you should do the same.

[Questwizard]

I've done the Hiragana first too. They seem quite a bit easier for me to remember than Katakana is. I was able to learn em by using a few flashcard programs, including a little IRC bot ShadowTiger made. I spent like an hour straight on each set of Hiragana (like (あ、い、う、え、お) (か、き、く、け、こ), etc, and hardly ever space out on which one's which, but on the Katakana, I still tend to get some mixed up. The hardest part will probably be remembering combinations like ぴょ、じゃ、ちゃ、etc.

[Sharon Daniel]

Maybe Katakana is harder because you learned Hiragana first...

Maybe. I'm not doubting you though; I've never learned either.

[NineLives]

Well I just learned that:
Hiragana is used for proper or formal, or original japanese text. Like "honto" (really) "so" (Correct, Exactly) and so on.
And Katakana is used for Rominized words... I think that's how you say it.
Like: "Hoteru" For Hotel. and "Takushii" for Taxi. etc.
I learned Hiragana already.
I'm trying to make my own Flash cards

[ShadowTiger]

I've done the Hiragana first too. They seem quite a bit easier for me to remember than Katakana is. I was able to learn em by using a few flashcard programs, including a little IRC bot ShadowTiger made. I spent like an hour straight on each set of Hiragana (like (あ、い、う、え、お) (か、き、く、け、こ), etc, and hardly ever space out on which one's which, but on the Katakana, I still tend to get some mixed up. The hardest part will probably be remembering combinations like ぴょ、じゃ、ちゃ、etc.

Firstly, I didn't make the bot you mentioned. I think it was Ajay, most likely, if memory serves. (Which it probably does not.) Secondly, I recommend putting all your Japanese characters in a size=3 tag, at least. It's a bit small.

[Sharon Daniel]

Secondly, I recommend putting all your Japanese characters in a size=3 tag, at least. It's a bit small.

They don't look small to me. The japanese characters are the same size as capital english letters.

[Linkus]

They don't look small to me. The japanese characters are the same size as capital english letters.

Pixel-wise, it does matter. You can confuse characters if they're in the regular-sized font.

[Questwizard]

Yeah, especially with kanji. Like this for example:

あるの必然だけ。「涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱」(Normal) Sometimes the kanji do get a bit small and can be pretty difficult to figure out sometimes. Especially the ones inside the 「」.

あるの必然だけ。「涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱」(Size 3) Much easier to figure this out.