Kanji and kana
Practical guides on speaking, grammar, pronunciation, listening, and study planning, written for learners who want to use Japanese in real life.
Kanji and kana · Page 9
The Katakana Long Vowel Mark and How to Read It
The dash in a katakana word is not punctuation and not a hyphen; it is a beat, and dropping it shortens the word.
5 min readJapanese Kana Spelling Rules That Trip Learners
Three of the most common words in Japanese are written with one kana and pronounced as a different one, and nobody warns you.
6 min readThe Gojuon Chart and Why Its Order Matters
The kana chart is arranged by how the sounds are made, which is why it explains verb conjugation as well as dictionary order.
6 min readWriting Foreign Sounds in Katakana
Japanese has a set of katakana combinations invented specifically to write sounds the language does not otherwise have, and your name probably needs one.
5 min readWhy Kana Is the Key to Japanese Rhythm
One kana is one beat, which means the script you already know is a diagram of the rhythm you are trying to produce.
6 min readHow to Read Kana Faster Without Sounding Out
You learned the kana in two weeks and you are still reading them one character at a time a year later, which is the normal and fixable outcome.
5 min readWhy Japanese Without Kanji Is Harder to Read
Removing the kanji from Japanese does not simplify it; it removes the only thing marking where one word ends and the next begins.
6 min readHow Japanese Kanji Compounds Work
Once you can read two hundred kanji, compounds start giving you words you have never studied, which is where kanji begins paying you back.
5 min readOkurigana: Where the Kana After a Kanji Go
The kana after a kanji tells you how to read the kanji, which is why moving it changes the word.
5 min readKanji That Look Almost the Same
Some kanji differ by a single stroke, and the pair usually turns up in the same kinds of sentence, which is what makes them stick together in memory.
5 min readLearning Kanji Through Words, Not in Isolation
A kanji learned alone gives you a meaning and no way to use it; the same kanji learned inside three words gives you three words.
5 min readReading Japanese Personal Names in Kanji
Japanese people routinely cannot read each other's names, which should be reassuring rather than alarming.
5 min readPractical guides
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