1- Introduction to Japanese

Writing Systems
Content: Brief Introduction to Japanese Writing Systems
Aim: What are the four ways Japanese people write their language?

I. Introduction:
The Japanese language is linguistically very different from
the Chinese language in that Japanese did not originate with its own
writing system. About 2000 years ago, Japanese nobles began
using Chinese characters, and eventually developed two distinct
writing systems Hiragana and Katakana. Both writing systems
were derived from Chinese characters and were developed in order
to express the phonetic sounds of Japanese in written form.
Katakana came along about 1000 years after Hiragana.
Katakana was originally developed by religious monks in an effort to
create a short hand form of writing Chinese characters. However, it
was later used to distinguish words of foreign origin. like the word
computer or bus borrowed from English. At the time, it was important
to the nobility to preserve the purity and heritage of the Japanese
language by writing words considered to be non-Japanese in a
distinctive manner.
Today, modern Japanese frequently combines the use of all
three writing systems in a sentence. Hiragana and Katakana
phonetically express Japanese are learned from the first grade
starting with 80 Chinese characters.
By the time children graduate from the sixth grade, they will

have mastered approximately 1000 Chinese characters. Chinese

characters used in Japanese are called Kanji. Although there are
about 50,000 80,000 Chinese characters, only about 3000 of them
are used in every day writing and publications.
Following the influx of foreign traders in Japan, the use of
the Romanized alphabet to express Japanese phonetic sounds was
introduced as a way to facilitate communication with foreign people
who were unable to read Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji. These
alphabetic characters are referred to as Romaji. We will be using
Romaji throughout each lesson to introduce the pronunciation of
Japanese words.
Summary of Japanese writing systems:
1) Hiragana Are symbols that represent the phonetic sounds of
words that are considered Japanese in origin.
Hiragana have a rounded appearance as follows:
(A, I , U, E, O)
2) Katakana Are symbols that represent, non-Japanese or foreign
words or Names like computer, football, James, Motorola, or
Salt Lake City.
Katakana have a more linear appearance as follows:
(A, I , U, E, O)
3) Kanji Are Chinese characters).
Examples:
4) Romaji Are the Roman alphabets used to represent the
phonetic sounds of Japanese words. Developed for people who
cannot read Japanese.
In the first 15 lessons, we will mainly focus more on the introduction
of new vocabulary, hiragana, and katakana. In later lessons we will
gradually introduce Kanji (Chinese characters).
II. Mini-Quiz: (Test your knowledge)

1. Q: What is this writing system called?

A: ___________________________
2. Q: Which writing system below is Katakana used to express
foreign words?
A: a. b. c.
3. Q: What is Romaji?
A: a. A type of Italian food that is popular in Japan?
b. Roman Alphabet characters used to express Japanese phonetic
sounds.
c. A neighborhood in Tokyo?
Quiz Answers: 1-Kanji, 2-b, 3-b
III. Writing Practice:
Overview of the 50 sounds of Hiragana

Compounds in Hiragana:

Overview of the 50 sounds of Katakana

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