Written Japanese

Written Japanese is comprised of 4 different systems. Each of them can say the same exact thing, written in different ways. They are Hiragana, Katakana, Kanji, and Rōmaji.

Hiragana (ひらがな) - Hiragana is a phonetic alphabet. That might sound complicated but it isn't. Each letter stands for a syllable in spoken Japanese (e.g. か = ka). There are 46 basic letters in all, with multiple ways to alter them. Hiragana is used for writing native Japanese words that don't have a kanji associated with it, or whose kanji is relatively unknown. It has more curved shapes compared to Katakana and Kanji. When learning the writing system, this is usually your first stop.

Katakana (カタカナ) - Katakana is also a phonetic alphabet. As a matter of fact it's the same alphabet as Hiragana! Why are there two alphabets for the same sounds? Katakana is used to write foreign words and onomatopoeia. For example, アメリカ reads "amerika". This would not be written in Hiragana simply because it is not a native Japanese word. I look at Katakana as a flag that tells me the word I am about to read will likely be a butchered English word, made to fit into Japanese syllables. It's usually pretty entertaining to read! It should be noted that Katakana is block-shaped compared to Hiragana.

Kanji (漢字) - Kanji is the bane of any student of Japanese. These are the thousands of symbols that you see when looking at Japanese writing that make your eyes roll back and the drool pour forth. Kanji characters are ideographic (in English: representing ideas), with the thought being the character symbolizes what it means. So you have thousands of symbols that all vaguely represent their meaning. Awesome. To seal the deal, most Japanese writing prefers to use Kanji over any other form of writing where possible. I am sure there are some rules to this, but I can't say I know what they are. To be "newspaper literate" in Japan, you must know how to read at least 2,000 Kanji. There are a few different lists describing which of these are considered important to know. These characters are VERY pretty to look at, and are generally blocky with few curved lines.

Rōmaji - Rōmaji is Japanese written in Roman letters. Yes, English! It is a relief to know that there is a system that uses English. Unfortunately nobody really uses it natively. It will be helpful to us while learning the written language either way, so we are grateful. It should be understood that even though the letters are in English, the sounds are still Japanese. So don't try to pronounce things the way you would in English.

I'll be going over what I learned of Hiragana first, proceeding to Katakana, and then Kanji. I have only just started learning Kanji at this point, so that may be drawn out. As usual, any comments or corrections are welcome!