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Writing Japanese- Lesson 1
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Published: 2008-06-09 02:20:10 +0000 UTC; Views: 38277; Favourites: 1110; Downloads: 697
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Writing 日本語 in Japanese: Lesson 1I prefer this layout much better, don't you?
Well anyway, this is the followup to my previous lesson on how to read romaji
Again, this is just my test to see how it will look. I still think it will be a while before I put these tutorials up regularly. I also wanted to see every-one's opinion on it.
Any suggestions would be great
In the future I plan to include practice worksheets that you can download as PDFs. Flashcards too!
But it's hard to have that sort of thing when the students only know 5 of the hiragana so this lessons has just the explanations. As the lessons go on the methods of practice will become more elaborate. I'll include things like practice words/sentences that you have to translate back and forth between Hiragana and Romaji.
Like I said, any suggestions on what I can do to help improve your studies will be greatly appreciated.
Good luck!
がんばります！
*edit*
Fixed some spelling errors
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Comments: 230
XD In Chinese, you can't close off a "boxed" character like 国 until the character in the middle is finished. ALWAYS.
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Hey, this is really welldone 
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Thanks!
Tell me what they think of it
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Do you think you could translate some lyrics I wrote into Japanese for me?
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I could if you like
I'll try the best I can
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Ok. I'll note you the lyrics.
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would you be interested in having your lessons posted in my group?
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sure 
What kind of group is it?
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it's a japanese study group
[link]
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Nice
Yea, feel free to post the lessons.
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This tutorial is great! ... Now if only I'd found this last September when I started learning this.. would have been much easier. Luckily, I now know Hiragana for the most part and now I'm gonna stalk your gallery for any instructions on Katakana!
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Perhaps I should put katakana on my list
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For me, Katakana is much more difficult to remember! 
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It was just difficult for me to remember because I would always confuse between tsu and she. Is also not used nearly as often as Hiragana. So even if I remember all the characters it takes me a little longer to read a word
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ツ and シ are conspiring against me and I often get か and ガ mixed up (but only in my head). The only method of practicing katakana write the names of people I know. Mika and Natasha have simple names, so I convert their names to katakana and use them to remind me which character is which... it kind of works so far.
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Your sig: "Eschew obfuscation is the definition of sardonicism."
So... the confusion of the verb "avoid" is the definition of the adjective cynical/mocking.
It sounds like you're trying to mock people for trying to understand your signature... yet it doesn't make any sense itself. D:
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"Eschew Obfuscation" is a term using in writing (as in college or otherwise) which means "Avoid being unclear". The kicker is that the term itself is unclear, which to me is sardonic and kind of funny.
Though honestly, you are the only person who has understood it and pointed out just how little sense it makes. So #1 You have an awesome vocabulary and #2 I'm mocking no one
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Hahaha, in that case, well played. I only knew the definitions of the words "Eschew" and "Obfuscation," but wasn't familiar with the actual phrase "Eschew obfuscation."
And lol, now that I think of it, it does kind of make sense. But maybe quotation marks around the phrase, "Eschew obfuscation" would make it a lot more understandable. Because in its current context, it just seems confusing, reading as "Avoid confusion is the definition of sardonicism."
Thank you for the unusual and informative words.
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A lot of people I talk to are unfamiliar with the "eschew obfuscation" as a phrase, I just have a habit of confusing random people both intentionally and unintentionally... Though this time was accidental.
According to family, I've turned confusion into a hobby. I even have a habit of switching from everyday slang to proper english mid-sentence. So in order to keep up with my monthly 'WTF?' quota, instead of making it less confusing, I should make a new sig using words like: Grandiloquent, cruciverbalism, and illeism! 
I've never been thanked for making someone have to learn, but your welcome.
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That's a good and easy way to do it.
Good thing their names are so easy to put into katakana.
The other problem I will never be able to fix is spelling the katakana words correctly
I can still never get the hang of the word for computer. Have to look it up every time
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I dont mean to sound whiny, but japanese is a god damn hard language.
Strange.In my country there is only one school, where kids study japanese language and a culture.
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Hope that doesn't mean you'll give up on it though
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Actually I know some japanese but its the writing that bothers me.
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So you can write using romaji?
Well learning Hiragana is actually really easy. I don't know if I'm biased but I think it's easier than trying to learn to write in English.
Kanji is more difficult but perhaps it's best to think about one challenge at a time.
If you have a question or if there is anything I can do to make learning it easier for you please let me know.
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Hi, I know I wasn't in the original conversation, but I had a question myself and spotted this comment of yours from you helping 100yearseternalmaze.
Anyways, what I'd like to ask is: how do you recommend jumping into Japanese? So far I've seen a few people translate some English into Japanese and vice versa, I've taken notes on random subjects about Japanese grammar rules/etc, I've watched one or two short videos about greetings in Japanese, and I've written down the Katakana and Hiragana alphabets in English letters and Japanese writing.
The thing is, there really isn't much order to what I'm learning, it's all over the place! Now what I wanted to ask you is where do you think would be the best point to really dig into first? Should I just learn the hiragana and katakana alphabets and their respective sounds/English-letter partners first, and later on, work on actually making words? Or should I try learning words and phrases WHILE I learn the alphabets?
I mean, I already am trying to use some Japanese in my talking, but it's just stand-alone sentences and I only know random rules and stuff. I'm looking all over the internet for resources, so my knowledge is still ever-increasing, but I feel like a base to build upon might make things easier and more fun.
Basically, what should I be studying/practicing/doing? Thank you SO much in advance. ^^
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I understand how you might feel overwhelmed while deciding how to approach this
It is something that I struggle with even more when trying to work into more advanced materials.
But I can give you a bunch of tips that might make things a little easier.
First of all, the Internet is an amazing source of information and websites that can help you learn Japanese.
However I found that there is nothing that beats a good text book.
The problem with the internet is that no source will provide you all the information and practice you need. Even if you find one really good site to use you will still have to look for other sites to help with supplementary material. With me I end up spending more time creating a curriculum for myself than actually studying.
Rather than rely solely on internet resources, you might find it better if you do some research and invest in a good textbook. Not all textbooks are expensive. Some are actually quite reasonable. It just depends on what you are looking for.
While looking for a textbook keep in mind these few things:
1. make sure that it tries to use hiragana and katakana as soon as possible. The sooner the better I think. A textbook that uses Romaji from start to finish is just a waste of your time.
2. How far does the textbook go? Are there multiple volumes? If you keep to your studies you're going to eventually want more advanced materials. It gets very frustrating when you've gone through every level available and there's no intermediate or advanced level to move on to. For that reason the Genki textbook might be one that you should consider ([link] ). After you have finished the beginner material you can continue on to "An integrated approach to intermediate Japanese" which is from the same publisher.
3. Supplementary material is another thing to consider. As you go on learning you're going to want to slowly learn kanji. Do you want a textbook that teaches you kanji as well as the grammar? or would you rather buy a separate book entirely for learning kanji? Having the kanji and grammar integrated can be useful because you'll get better reading practice. However a a separate book is better if you want to learn it at your own pace
And if you can't decide on a textbook never hesitate to check out your library. They might have some textbooks that you can test out. You may not like any of them in the end but they'll give you a better idea of what you are looking for.
You said you feel like what you're learning is "all over the place" and that is the sad thing that happens when you have to study on your own. It's always best when you have something to direct you through your studies. I always had the benefit of a teacher in school but when I've studied Japanese on my own I found that a good textbook can still provide the structure that I need.
As for the question of when to learn hiragana and Katakana you should learn Hiragana as soon as possible. Just because of the nature of Japanese I think your pronunciation gets slightly better once you understand Hiragana. By 3 months of practice you should be able to read it smoothly and without problem.
When you get to the end of my Hiragana lessons you'll see that some beginner grammar is closely tied to Hiragana.
While you are trying to memorize all the characters I would focus most on the basic level things such as learning to count and building vocabulary. It is difficult to form a sentence without a basic vocabulary anyway. So although learning Grammar wont be bad, vocabulary might be a bigger priority.
I hope all of this helps a little bit
Please let me know if you have any other questions
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learning Hiragana? Ya it can be a pain at first.
I think the hardest part is knowing where to start
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from a guy who's trying to learn Japanese, thank you very much for this turtorial.
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I'm glad this helps
let me know if you have any questions
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Thank you for making this tutorial! Your tutorials are useful and easy to understand, and I like how it's laid out. I had so much trouble trying to write the hiragana for 'e'. From other free learning Japanese sources I randomly found online I had assumed 'e' was written with two strokes, not three. And some showed the stroke order but not the direction of strokes, which wasn't as helpful.
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The two last strokes for that character I think are actually one stroke so the other source would be correct. I could have made it that way in the tutorial as a mistake or because I wanted to show clearly the direction of the stroke. Either way, once you get familiar with all the characters you'll probably write them so fluidly that you'll hardly pick up your pen at all.
Perhaps it'll be easier for you to remember the final strokes for え if you think of it as a lopsided English "h"
I agree with how unhelpful it is if they don't show the direction of the strokes. Often my trouble with a character is not the stroke order but the direction the strokes are written. It can sometimes make a big difference
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Quick question. When you write Japanese, do you go down and over left?
T L
h i
i k
s e
or right?
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Japanese can be written two ways.
The traditional way to write is up to down and right to left. That was why most Japanese books are opened from right to left. Newspapers, manga, novels, just about everything is written this way.
However in western style notebooks like the ones you use for school, the lines will be horizontal and so the person will write from left to right. Sometimes you'll find a book that is written horizontally. I've only seen this in instruction and step by step books. In this case the book will open up the western way (left to right).
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Gah, thanks-I really want to learn Japanese, so thanks!!
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I hope you can get a lot from it! If you have any questions let me know
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Yes?
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I was saying that was me for no reason*giggles*
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