31 docs tagged with "writing-systems"

Common romaji mistakes for English readers: pure vowels, the Japanese r flap, the bilabial fu, devoiced u, and the Tōkyō vs Toukyou notation crisis.

Dakuten and handakuten explained: how the two dots voice k, s, t, h into g, z, d, b, why the small circle turns h into p, and where you meet them next.

Extended katakana for loanwords: the small-vowel chart of ファ, ヴ, ティ, トゥ and the rest, when each is used, plus the 1991 Cabinet notation rules.

Furigana explained: the kana printed above (or beside) kanji, where it appears, full vs. partial vs. parenthetical forms, and how layout shifts it.

Hiragana mnemonics compared: how the Tofugu, Dr. Moku, Kana Quest, and story-per-kana methods work, how to pair them with SRS, and when to retire them.

Hiragana stroke order explained: the MEXT standard for all 46 base kana, the universal rules behind them, and why typists still need it for kanji.

Hiragana vs. katakana, sorted: which script handles native words, loanwords, names, onomatopoeia, and emphasis, plus the curly-vs-angular visual test.

Hiragana, katakana, or kanji first? The right order for beginners, why romaji is a one-week tool, and why "kanji first" methods fail in real Japanese.

Hiragana writing practice that sticks: a four-week drill schedule, the free sheets worth printing, the Anki plus handwriting hybrid, and when to stop.

How to type Japanese on any OS: install the IME, type romaji to get kana, convert with space, and master the F7 katakana and half/full-width shortcuts.

How to write your name in katakana: the mora-fitting workflow, the l→r, th→s/z, v→b/ヴ rules, double consonants, long vowels, and worked examples.

Japanese punctuation explained: every mark from 。 and 「」 to ・ and 〜, the no-spaces-between-words rule, and full-width vs. half-width in mixed text.

Katakana mnemonics compared: how Tofugu, Dr. Moku, Kana Quest, and Heisig stack up, the shared-shape shortcut from hiragana, and when to retire them.

Katakana stroke order explained: the MEXT standard for all 46 base kana, the angular shapes that make it lighter than hiragana, and the シ/ツ direction rule.

Long vowels in hiragana: the five patterns (ああ, いい, うう, ええ/えい, おう/おお), why おとうさん is spelled with う, and the closed list of おお exception words.

Long vowels in katakana: how the chōonpu ー extends any vowel by one mora, why hiragana uses doubled kana instead, and the エイ vs エー split.

Lookalike hiragana, sorted: the loop, crossbar, mirror, and stroke-ending tests that disambiguate ぬ/め, わ/れ/ね, さ/ち, は/ほ, and る/ろ at a glance.

Lookalike katakana, sorted: the stroke-direction rule that disambiguates シ/ツ and ソ/ン, plus the roof-and-bar tests for ク/ワ/ウ/フ and ヲ/フ.

Japanese mixed script explained: what kanji, hiragana, and katakana each do in one sentence, an annotated breakdown, and why all-hiragana text is hard.

Okurigana explained: why kanji wear hiragana tails, the MEXT rules that govern them, and the permitted variants like 行う vs 行なう that throw learners.

Japanese romanization systems compared: how Hepburn, Kunrei-shiki, and Nihon-shiki diverge, when to use each, and what the 2025 Cabinet notification changed.

When to stop using romaji: by the end of week 2. Why the cutoff is real, how romaji corrupts pronunciation, and a rescue plan if you're months in.

Hiragana chart explained: the 46 gojūon kana, 25 dakuten and handakuten, 33 yōon, plus why the chart's name says 50 but the modern count is 46.

Katakana chart explained: the 46 gojūon kana, 25 dakuten and handakuten, 33 yōon, a preview of extended loanword sounds, and why the count is 46.

History of hiragana: the Man'yōgana to sōgana to hiragana lineage, the qualified women's-script story, hentaigana, and the 1900 and 1946 reforms.

History of katakana: the 9th-century Buddhist-monk shorthand origin, the kanji-component mechanism, the pre-war legal-script role, and the 1946 flip.

The small つ (sokuon) in Japanese is a silent beat that doubles the next consonant. Learn how to read, write, type, and pronounce っ with minimal-pair drills.

Hiragana spelling exceptions explained: why は is read wa, へ is read e, and を is read o when they act as particles, and why the 1946 reform kept them.

Tategaki vs yokogaki explained: where vertical and horizontal Japanese each appear, how punctuation and numbers behave, and how layout flips the page.

When native Japanese words appear in katakana: emphasis, onomatopoeia, scientific names, slang, signage, and stylized speech, with a reading and writing rule.

Yōon contracted sounds in hiragana: how small ゃ, ゅ, ょ fuse with i-column kana into one beat, the full 33 combinations, romanization, and worked examples.