Hiragana

Hello again!

This is a "homework" post. This means we set you work (important work) and you do it. Your homework is to learn hiragana.

Hiragana is one of four writing systems that the Japanese use. Here's what Wikipedia has to say about hiragana:

Hiragana is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system, along with katakana and kanji; the Latin alphabet is also used in some cases. Hiragana and katakana are both kana systems, in which each symbol represents one mora. Each kana is either a vowel (such as a あ); a consonant followed by a vowel (such as ka か); or n ん, a nasalsonorant which, depending on the context, sounds either like English m, n, or ng (IPA: [ŋ]), or like the nasal vowels of French.

Confused? I sure as hell am. Here are the things you need to know:

• Hiragana is the simplest "true" Japanese script.
• Each "letter" is one sound
• These sounds are usually a consonant and a vowel (eg na, ki, etc.)
• One hiragana (n) is pronounced nnn
  
• Five hiragana are vowels. They're pronounced differently to English vowels, however.
• A is pronounced as in car
• I is pronounced as in the last I in Hawaii (the eeee sound at the end of the word)
• U is pronounced as in you
• E is pronounced as in elephant
• O is pronounced as in hot

Hiragana is very, very important to learn. Save the following hiragana chart to your hard drive, and then begin writing out the first column until you know every single one of them off by heart.
Then, when you know the first column, go to the second column. Write all of those out until you know every single one of them. Here's something that'll speed up your learning.

Chonchons are the two little lines in the top right-hand corner of the hiragana in the second column.
Maru are the little circles in the top right hand corner of the P line of hiragana.

The K line + chonchons = G line (ka to ga, ki to gi, etc)
The T line + chonchons = D line
The S line + chonchons = Z line
The H line + chonchons = B line
The H line + maru = P line

Here's an easy mnemonic to help you remember:

Ted and Suzy got a keg from the hubba-bubba-pubba.

Yes, it's a bit stupid, but it works.

Now, after you've mastered the second column, you proceed to the third. See how all of them have a tiny little Y line hiragana in with them? See how it changes the sound? Once you've got note of that, it all becomes very easy.

Good luck! I'll be posting a hiragana test some time in following months, so please do your best to learn these to be ready!

Hiragana Chart

(To save the chart to your hard drive, right-click and then click "Save Target As" or Save Link As").

Honorifics

Hello, and welcome to the first installment of Learn Japanese! Today, we'll be learning about honorifics. In English, these are salutations like "Mr." or "Mrs." Japan's honorifics are very unique, but they make a lot of sense when you stop to think about them. You see, Japan is a country very concerned with social status and groups, and their language reflects this. You call people different things depending on how high or low their status in society is compared to yours. Here's a simple table with some honorifics:

san	The catch-all honorific. Functions as Mr., Mrs., Miss, etc.
kun	Used amongst boys for their friends, and older people to young boys. Girls can also use the kun honorific when talking about boys.
chan	Used amongst girls for their friends, and for all very young children.
sama	Used only for those worthy of utmost respect. Equivalent to "lord," or "lady."
sempai	Used for someone older who you respect as someone with a lot of experience in life.
sensei	Used for teachers.

All honorifics are added at the end of names. How about some examples? Let's use someone named Kaeko for the feminine honorifics and Kesuke for the masculine ones.

san	Kaeko-san and Kesuke-san	The honorific can be used for both genders. In this example, Kaeko and Kesuke are probably older than us, and we don't know them all that well.
kun	Kesuke-kun	Here, we can only use Kesuke. This is because this is a masculine honorific. Kesuke is probably around the same age as us, and we're all boys.
chan	Kaeko-chan	Kaeko is around our age, and now we're all girls! Kaeko could also be a young child.
	Kesuke-chan	Kesuke would have to be a young child, because he's certainly not a girl our age!
sama	Kaeko-sama and Kesuke-sama	Well, we've just been completely outclassed. Kaeko and Kesuke are now VIPs, and we owe them the utmost respect.
sempai	Kaeko-sempai and Kesuke-sempai	We like Kaeko and Kesuke, now. So much so that we've idolised them. If you had a really awesome older brother or sister, this is what you'd call them.
sensei	Kaeko-sensei and Kesuke-sensei	Kaeko and Kesuke are our teachers. The only opportunity to call someone sensei is if they are your teacher, otherwise it just doesn't fit.

*Note: sempai and sensei can be used as nouns, without a name at the front. They still carry the same meanings, though.