Japanese Writing Systems

1. Japanese Writing Systems Part 1: HIRAGANA (HEE-RAH-GAH-NAH)

2. HIRAGANA • 1. Main Japanese writing system • 2. Has 46 different characters • 3. Are sounds only!!! • 4. Has a total of 107 sounds • 5. Used for Japanese names and characters that came from China.

3. Hiragana Continued… a i u e o ka ki ku ke ko sa shi su se so ta chi tsu te to na ni nu ne no ha hi fu he ho ma mi mu me mo ya yu yo ra ri ru re ro wa wo n • 6. Can be written using English characters • 7. This allows foreign speakers to learn Japanese words • 8. Hiragana is also used as endings to Japanese words that use Chinese characters • 9. Japanese sounds are quite easy to pronounce

4. Hiragana sounds • 1. Hiragana Sounds • A. There are 5 vowel sounds. • B. They are… • a as in saw • i as in see • u as in you • e as in wet • o as in go

5. How To Write Hiragana • 4 Basic Rules • 1. Left to Right • 2. Top to Bottom • 3. All characters same size • 4. Pretend you are writing them in a box