Japanese Weekly Volume 4 - Basics - Katakana

Katakana was developed in the early Heian Period from parts of man'yōgana characters as a form of shorthand. For example, ka カ comes from the left side of ka 加 "increase".

Katakana are characterized by short, straight strokes and angular corners, and are the simplest of the Japanese scripts.

In modern Japanese, katakana are most often used for transcription of words from foreign languages (called gairaigo). For example, "television" is written " テレビ (terebi)". Similarly, katakana is usually used for country names, foreign places, and personal names. For example, America is written アメリカ.

Katakana are also used for onomatopoeia, words used to represent sounds. For example, ピンポン(pinpon), the "ding-dong" sound of a doorbell, would usually be written in katakana. Also, katakana is used for words the writer wishes to emphasize.

Technical and scientific terms, such as the names of animal and plant species and minerals, are also commonly written in katakana.

Next Volume: No new volume till further notice.

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Japanese Weekly Volume 3 - Basics - Hiragana

Welcome to the second volume of Japanese Weekly. Through this series, plan to learn new vocabulary, grammar points and Japanese culture each volume. In this volume, you'll learn all the hiragana characters.

Hiragana developed from man'yōgana, Chinese characters used for their pronunciations, a practice which started in the 5th century. The forms of the hiragana originate from the cursive script style of Chinese calligraphy.

Hiragana are used for words for which there are no kanji. Hiragana are also used in words for which the kanji form is not known to the writer or readers, or is too formal for the writing purpose. Hiragana are also used to give the pronunciation of kanji in a reading aid called furigana.

Next Week: Japanese Weekly Volume 4 - Basics - Katakana

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Japanese Weekly Volume 2 - VOCAB - Useful Japanese Expressions

Welcome to the second volume of Japanese Weekly. Through this series, plan to learn new vocabulary, grammar points and Japanese culture each volume. In this volume, you'll learn some useful Japanese expressions as well a practice skit.

Practice Skit

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Japanese Weekly Volume 1 - Difference between "Arigatou gozaimasu" and "Arigatou gozaimashita" + Other greetings

Welcome to the first volume of Japanese Weekly. Through this series, plan to learn new vocabulary, grammar points and Japanese culture each volume. In this volume, you'll learn the difference between "Arigatou gozaimasu" and "Arigatou gozaimashita," but first, lets learn some basic greetings.

Hello

こんにちは。　(Konnichiwa)

Good morning

おはようございます。 (Ohayō gozaimasu.) 

Good evening

こんばんは。 (Konbanwa) 

How are you?

お元気ですか。 (O-genki desu ka?) 

Fine, thank you

元気です。ありがとう。 (Genki desu. Arigatō.) 

What is your name?

お名前は何ですか。(O-namae wa nan desu ka?) 

My name is ____ 

私の名前は ____ です。 (Watashi no namae wa ____ desu.) 

Nice to meet you

始めまして。 (Hajime mashite.)

Now let's get into the arigatou business.

Most of you probably know that "Arigatou" is thank you in Japanese but there are many other phrases to say thank you.

Thank you (Polite)

ありがとうございます。(Arigatou gozaimasu)

Thanks a lot

 どうもありがとう。(Doumo arigatou)

Thank you very much

どうもありがとうございます。(Doumo arigatou gozaimasu)

Thanks

どうも。(Doumo)

Difference between "Arigatou gozaimasu" and "Arigatou gozaimashita." 

"Arigatou gozaimashita" is the past tense of "Arigatou gozaimasu." This expression is used when you thank for something that has been done to you, for example, when giving back a pencil you borrowed for the day, you say "Arigatou gozaimashita" because it's a favor that's already been done.

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New Series Coming Soon - Japanese Weekly

Japanese Weekly is a new series coming to this blog soon. Through this series, plan to learn new vocabulary, grammar points and Japanese culture each volume. Japanese word of the day will be returning as well soon.

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