Do you know your kana?
Posted on 03. Aug, 2009 @ 3:14 pm by harvey in Language
How well do you know your Kana?
I’d like to take this opportunity to attempt a “kick in the pants motivational post.” I don’t do these often, but reading some Japanese-learning related forums recommending a textbook that spent most of the time using romaji just got me worked up. Plus, I wanted to try out this neato “auto thumbnail” image thing. Yes, seems to be working nicely.
If you’re studying Japanese and still rely on romaji instead of reading and writing straight kana (hiragana and katakana), then you need to stop whatever it is you’re studying, and go learn your hiragana and katakana again.
Seriously, your hiragana and katakana writing and recognition skills should be second nature by now. I say by now without knowing how long you have studied Japanese, but seriously, in most cases “by now” will apply. It only really takes about one month, two tops, to get hiragana and katakana drilled into your mind and body. Sure the characters look funny to a mind used to the roman alphabet, but if you’re slacking on the kana and want to learn Japanese, what are you going to do about kanji??
I’m sure many JapanNewbie readers will agree that I’m not being unrealistic here.
When drilling the kana I recommend using a variety of approaches to really absorb the essence of the characters into your being.
You should practice:
- Seeing the romaji, and writing the kana.
- Hearing the Japanese, and identifying the kana.
- Hearing the Japanese, and writing the kana.
- Seeing the kana, and pronouncing it out loud.
- Hearing some random Japanese word (even words you don’t know), and writing it down in kana (use a dictionary to input the Japanese you wrote to verify that you heard correctly).
- See the English for a word you know in Japanese, and write it down in kana.
- Read a ton of katakana words and translate them into English.
- Try to write English words in katakana. Check a dictionary from time to time to see if you’re getting the idea. You’ll probably find most of them in the Japanese dictionary. Table, computer, truck, rocket, all of these are written in katakana. Remember, the goal is to practice using the kana.
If you mix all of these activities into your study routine, eventually you’ll be able to read and write kana like you ride a bicycle (no offense to those who can’t ride a bicycle).
Back in high school in the mid-90’s our teacher would use a variety of games. In one game two teams of four students would go up to the blackboard with a piece of chalk. Only one student from each team could write at a time and the other team members couldn’t help out. The teacher would say a kana, and the first team to write it correctly would win the point. Then the next person on the team would step up to the plate and see how they could do. This game was great! You hear it, you write it. The pressure of letting your team down was enough to motivate even the most slacking slackers. Good times.
We also played a game where the hiragana flash cards would be all over the floor. The teacher would call one out, and we would break our fingers trying to be the first to grab the card. At the end of the game whoever had the most cards won. Great speed recognition skill building there.
Finally, we played a game where the class would be sitting in their seats, but one student would stand up behind another student. The teacher would hold up the Japanese side of a kana flash card. The seated student and the person behind them would try to be the first to shout out the character. The winner would move on to the next seat in the row, and the loser would sit down, or stay seated, whatever the case may be. The first student to rotate all the way around the class and get back to their own seat would win. I think this was called “Around the World.” Anyway, “see it, say it” was the name of the game here. Good times.
If anyone has experience any other cool kana learning games let us know in the comments!
Once you have your hiragana and katakana mastered Japanese becomes much more clear. Once you have your kana you’ll know how to pronounce every single sound there is in the Japanese language.
This is because of the morae concept that was recently mentioned on caught red handed.
“Why is this important? It might just be that the key to unlocking Japanese pronunciation is a very clear understanding of how these morae fit together as the fundamental building block of the spoken language”
Fun-da-mental.
Not only that, but you’ll instinctively understand how things are supposed to sound. You’ll be able to hear and see the difference in こんにちは (konnichiwa) and こにちは (konichiwa = nonsense). It’s great. Knowing the kana is power!
Oh, and lastly, do your self a favor and learn the proper stroke order for your hiragana and katakana, and use the proper stroke order when you practice them. Trust me. When I was in high school I didn’t, and now my handwriting in Japanese looks about as bad as my English handwriting. Sloppy!
Go forth and Drill your Kana
I asked some tweeps for recommendations on websites to study hiragana and katakana. Most of the suggestions I received were from @c_rh who has a serious problem with Katakana… So is looking for all the help he can get.
StudyJapanese.org has a “see the romaji, pick the kana” (and vice-versa) speed game on their site. It tracks user’s high scores so the competitiveness makes it fun.
NihongoUp is a downloadable Japanese educational game and reviewing tool that will drill your kana as well as other things.
ReadTheKanji.com is a popular online quiz that will test your kana and kanji skills.
Japanesepod101 has some good stuff, but I have never seen or tried them.
Ganbare with the Kana out there!
[UPDATE 09/19/2009]
For help getting the Kana into your head, check out our iPhone Japanese 101: Hiragana application. When you finish with that, the Katakana app will get the Katakana stuck in your head as well. You don’t need an internet connection to use either app, so they’re ideal for drilling while on the go! Enjoy!
Note, there is also a free version of the Hiragana app if you want to try before you buy.
Screen Shot from the Hiragana Application:
- Harvey
11 Responses to “Do you know your kana?”
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Joe
Aug 4th, 2009
at 13:37
Great post, I absolutely agree. Hiragana, katakana and even kanji (using a method like Remembering the Kanji) should be learned before seriously tackling vocabulary, grammar and the like. With a writing system like Japanese has, you’ll be spreading yourself thin if you try to do both at once. In the case of the kana, I personally had them under my belt in about a week and then after a couple more weeks of review, it was like riding a bicycle. I used Heisig’s Remembering the Kana, it was the very first book I bought for Japanese study. Good luck to everyone!
Navarr Barnier
Aug 4th, 2009
at 16:12
You’re a cheater! =p I see that Wi (ゐ) right there in front of all the other Kana.
That’d confuse almost EVERYONE!
megan
Aug 4th, 2009
at 23:56
Thanks for the links and everything!
I’ve been studying かな a lot recently in order to get ready for Japanese 1. I’m fine with ひらがな, but I also have trouble with カタカナ(getting better though!)。 Anki, a flash card program, has been a lot of help. I could probably use a bit more writing practice though…
Anyway, I’ve studied a bit of Japanese on my own before, but before I start Japanese 1, I asked some of friends who had already been through it what might be good to know beforehand, and they both said かな。 But you’re very right; it’s like how we learn the alphabet before really learning anything else first.
I’ve used JapanesePod101.com before–I think they’re pretty helpful, and they offer a lot of files as supplements to their podcasts (though after a certain time you have to pay).
Paul
Aug 5th, 2009
at 01:46
That a “Wi” or a “Ru”?
Japanese Words
Aug 5th, 2009
at 03:30
Learning the characters right away is very helpful. The first Japanese class I took in college took an entire semester to teach hiragana and katakana and it really slowed down my Japanese. Many colleges now teach both hiragana and katakana in just a few weeks. Also a great point on learning the pronunciation.
Jakkii
Aug 5th, 2009
at 21:09
I couldn’t agree more. Books that teach Japanese using roomaji aren’t doing the learner justice… I absolutely love ReadTheKanji. The #1 reason is because you have to type the answer, which I believe is the next best thing to writing it on paper) ^^… smart.fm (f.k.a. iKnow.co.jp) is another site where you can learn kana and stroke order. They use multiple choice and they also have the user type the answer. It’s also a great site for building vocab.
Fuct Gaijin
Aug 8th, 2009
at 02:50
Ahh, except if you’re studying grammar or sentence structure … not the easiest thing to pick up on tricky grammar points if the text you are reading is only written in kana. Get off your high horse, everyone has a different way of learning.
Harvey
Aug 8th, 2009
at 10:42
Hey Fuct Gaijin – In my opinion, studying grammar or sentence structure should be done AFTER mastering the kana. I would also argue that catching tricky grammar points will be easier after mastering kana. The romaji is just one more thing separating the learner from the actual Japanese…
Pejo
Aug 13th, 2009
at 18:00
I agree with you, sticking with romaji will not help you in the long term Learn the kana will obviously equip you with a proper japanese basics especially if you want to visit japan soon!
Chesu
Aug 24th, 2009
at 03:45
Here’s the site I like!
http://www.manythings.org/japanese/news/
You’re given around forty seconds to determine what the kana/kanji says and select the correct word in English. The katakana is obviously easiest for English-speakers, since the words are all English or derived from a western language, written in katakana.
The kanji is also easy to grasp, since you can know the meaning of a kanji independently of its reading. When I come across kanji that I don’t know, I look them up with the useful tool linked below. The hiragana is probably the hardest game, for me at least, since it depends more on vocabulary than the other two. Umineko (うみねこ/海猫) is written in both hiragana and kanji as “sea cat”, but is actually a type of seagull; if you didn’t know that and it came up, you would just have to hope that no other sea or cat-related words came up. The game tends to put similar meanings in the multiple choice, so that happens fairly often.
http://jisho.org/kanji/radicals/
Tony
Oct 13th, 2009
at 19:10
I’ve looked at this post and tried to implement some of your approaches to learning kana. I am the creator of a new Japanese website called thejapanesetutor.com.
I’ve created a flashcard program that can drill you based on the sound, romaji, or the writing. You will need to install Microsoft Silverlight (which is Microsoft’s version of Adobe Flash). There’s also a printable table that you can print out and fill in the characters.
Here’s a link:
http://www.thejapanesetutor.com/language/hiragana.aspx
Click on flashcards near the top to get to the flashcards program. The quiz program is a multiple-choice style quiz for you to test your knowledge!
Let me know if anyone finds this useful or if there are any other suggestions!