Practice Hiragana: November 2012

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Japan - facts 9

1) The most important holiday in Japan is New Year's Day.

2) Christmas is celebrated in Japan but it is not a national holiday.

Friday, November 16, 2012

Hiragana - trivia 64

What sounds are these hiragana two-character combinations?
びょ
a) byo
b) byu
c) bya

ひょ
a) jo
b) cho
c) hyo

Check comments for the answers.

Hiragana - trivia 63

What sounds are these hiragana two-character combinations?
ちゃ
a) myo
b) nya
c) cha

ひゅ
a) rya
b) hyu
c) ryo

Check comments for the answers.

Hiragana - trivia 62

What sounds are these hiragana two-character combinations?
じゅ
a) nya
b) ju
c) mya

ちょ
a) cho
b) pya
c) shu

Check comments for the answers.

Hiragana - trivia 61

What sounds are these hiragana two-character combinations?
しょ
a) sha
b) sho
c) gya

じょ
a) jo
b) sha
c) myo

Check comments for the answers.

Hiragana - trivia 60

What sounds are these hiragana two-character combinations?
にょ
a) nyo
b) myo
c) ryo

ぴゅ
a) rya
b) pyu
c) pya

Check comments for the answers.

Hiragana - trivia 59

What sounds are these hiragana two-character combinations?
びゃ
a) bya
b) hya
c) mya

しゅ
a) jo
b) sho
c) shu

Check comments for the answers.

Hiragana - trivia 58

What sounds are these hiragana two-character combinations?
ぴょ
a) gyo
b) pyo
c) kyo

ぢゅ
a) bya
b) nya
c) ju

Check comments for the answers.

Hiragana - trivia 57

What sounds are these hiragana two-character combinations?
りゃ
a) ryo
b) rya
c) cha

ぢょ
a) jo
b) nya
c) rya

Check comments for the answers.

Hiragana - trivia 56

What sounds are these hiragana two-character combinations?
しゃ
a) hyu
b) sha
c) byo

みゅ
a) myu
b) ju
c) hyo

Check comments for the answers.

Hiragana - trivia 55

What sounds are these hiragana two-character combinations?
ぎゅ
a) gyu
b) sha
c) mya

みょ
a) cha
b) ju
c) myo

Check comments for the answers.

Hiragana - trivia 54

What sounds are these hiragana two-character combinations?
ちゅ
a) chu
b) jo
c) cho

りょ
a) pya
b) ryo
c) kya

Check comments for the answers.

Hiragana - trivia 53

What sounds are these hiragana two-character combinations?
にゅ
a) nya
b) nyu
c) hyo

きょ
a) kyo
b) kya
c) ryo

Check comments for the answers.

Hiragana - trivia 52

What sounds are these hiragana two-character combinations?
にゃ
a) nya
b) bya
c) pya

ひゃ
a) ryo
b) hya
c) pya

Check comments for the answers.

Hiragana - trivia 51

What sounds are these hiragana two-character combinations?
きゅ
a) hyo
b) kyu
c) hya

ぢゃ
a) nya
b) jo
c) ja

Check comments for the answers.

Hiragana - trivia 50

What sounds are these hiragana two-character combinations?
みゃ
a) mya
b) ryo
c) pya

りゅ
a) bya
b) ryu
c) pyu

Check comments for the answers.

Hiragana - trivia 49

What sounds are these hiragana two-character combinations?
ぎゃ
a) nya
b) ryo
c) gya

じゃ
a) gyo
b) ja
c) sha

Check comments for the answers.

Hiragana - trivia 48

What sounds are these hiragana two-character combinations?
ぴゃ
a) bya
b) kya
c) pya

びゅ
a) byu
b) bya
c) myu

Check comments for the answers.

Hiragana - trivia 47

What sounds are these hiragana two-character combinations?
きゃ
a) hyu
b) kya
c) kyo

ぎょ
a) cha
b) gya
c) gyo

Check comments for the answers.

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Dakuten ゛ (also called ten-ten ("dot dot") and handakuten ゜ (also called maru ("circle") are two signs that are used in the Japanese kana syllabaries hiragana and katakana to change the sounds of some of the characters. They are written after the character. Ten-ten is used more than maru.
An example is the hiragana character は ha.
It becomes ば ba with ten-ten added. It becomes ぱ pa with maru added.

Hiragana - trivia 46

What are the hiragana characters for these sounds? The other character is the sound in katakana.
a
a) あ
b) ア

e
a) エ
b) え

Check comments for the answers.

Japan - facts 8

1) The Shinkansens are high-speed railway lines and trains.

2) The Yomiuri Giants are a professional baseball team based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan.

Japan - facts 7

1) Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Shikoku are the four largest islands in Japan.

2) Honshu is the largest.

Japan - facts 6

1) Japan is an island country.

2) Tokyo is the most populous prefecture in Japan.

Japan - facts 5

1) Sakura are the flowers of cherry blossom trees.

2) Tokyo is on the east coast of Japan.

Japan - facts 4

1) Shibuya, in Tokyo, is known for fashion.

2) The Yen is the main currency unit.

Japan - facts 3

1) A ryokan is a Japanese inn.

2) Ocha is green tea.

Japan - facts 2

1) Japan is Nippon or Nihon in Japanese. Nippon is more formal. Nippon and Nihon mean "the sun's origin".

2) Japan is known as the "Land of the Rising Sun".

Japan - facts 1

1) Tokyo is the capital of Japan.

2) Tokyo is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan.

Romaji

Using the Latin script alphabet to write Japanese is called romaji in Japan. Romaji is used for non Japanese speakers who can't read kanji or the kana scripts hiragana and katakana. It is used in dictionaries and textbooks and other places. It is also used to input text into computers.

Kanji

Kanji are adopted logographic (logograms are visual symbols that represent a part of a word or whole word) Chinese characters which are used in the Japanese language along with hiragana and katakana. Several thousand kanji are in regular use in Japan.

Learning Japanese language

The best learn order for learning the Japanese language is: hiragana, katakana, and then kanji. Romaji is also sometimes used at first for non-speakers of the language.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

How to remember hiragana characters

Some of the hiragana characters look like something already familiar or remind you of a word. Here are some examples that I use.

The hiragana character と "to" looks like a toe.
The hiragana character う "u" looks like an ear.
The hiragana character へ "he" reminds me of Mount St. Helens.
The hiragana character や "ya" reminds me of the word "yap" because it looks like a "P".