Japanese character

To learn a new thing, it is easy if we learn how to write or read first. Even other studies like engineering, accounting, math and architecture also apply the same concept of learning. So for nihongo studies, (nihongo is japanese language) it is recommended if we learn japanese characters, its sound and how it is written in romaji (these will also help you to use romaji to japanese dictionary).

Basically japanese use 3 type of character which is katakana, hiragana and kanji. Katakana is use to write outside word. for example サッカ (sakka) means soccer, テレビ (terebi) means television and many more. And of course hiragana used for pure japanese words, while kanji is a Chinese characters. It is difficult to memorize kanji since there have thousands of them, but somehow it helps you to read better. Hmmm... it is difficult to describe them but you will understand what I mean after you learn them.

Katakana and hiragana (kana) is sound base character which means one character represent one sound. Katakana and hiragana produced same sounds, the only difference is its shaped. However, japanese have less sound than any other language I've learned. So don't be suprised if words in your language cannot be written or have to write it in difficult way by using kana

below is kana chart for your references (left side is hiragana - center is romaji - right is katakana)

Base Kana					Combined sounds
あ a ア	い i イ	う u ウ	え e エ	お o オ	(ゃ ya ャ)	(ゅ yu ュ)	(ょ yo ョ)
か ka カ	き ki キ	く ku ク	け ke ケ	こ ko コ	きゃ kya キャ	きゅ kyu キュ	きょ kyo キョ
さ sa サ	し shi シ	す su ス	せ se セ	そ so ソ	しゃ sha シャ	しゅ shu シュ	しょ sho ショ
た ta タ	ち chi チ	つ tsu ツ	て te テ	と to ト	ちゃ cha チャ	ちゅ chu チュ	ちょ cho チョ
な na ナ	に ni ニ	ぬ nu ヌ	ね ne ネ	の no ノ	にゃ nya ニャ	にゅ nyu ニュ	にょ nyo ニョ
は ha ハ	ひ hi ヒ	ふ fu フ	へ he ヘ	ほ ho ホ	ひゃ hya ヒャ	ひゅ hyu ヒュ	ひょ hyo ヒョ
ま ma マ	み mi ミ	む mu ム	め me メ	も mo モ	みゃ mya ミャ	みゅ myu ミュ	みょ myo ミョ
や ya ヤ		ゆ yu ユ		よ yo ヨ
ら ra ラ	り ri リ	る ru ル	れ re レ	ろ ro ロ	りゃ rya リャ	りゅ ryu リュ	りょ ryo リョ
わ wa ワ	ゐ wi ヰ		ゑ we ヱ	を wo ヲ
ん n ン
Second degree characters
が ga ガ	ぎ gi ギ	ぐ gu グ	げ ge ゲ	ご go ゴ	ぎゃ gya ギャ	ぎゅ gyu ギュ	ぎょ gyo ギョ
ざ za ザ	じ ji ジ	ず zu ズ	ぜ ze ゼ	ぞ zo ゾ	じゃ ja ジャ	じゅ ju ジュ	じょ jo ジョ
だ da ダ	ぢ dji ヂ	づ dzu ヅ	で de デ	ど do ド	ぢゃ ja ヂャ	ぢゅ ju ヂュ	ぢょ jo ヂョ
ば ba バ	び bi ビ	ぶ bu ブ	べ be ベ	ぼ bo ボ	びゃ bya ビャ	びゅ byu ビュ	びょ byo ビョ
Third degree characters
ぱ pa パ	ぴ pi ピ	ぷ pu プ	ぺ pe ペ	ぽ po ポ	ぴゃ pya ピャ	ぴゅ pyu ピュ	ぴょ pyo ピョ

っ ッ	Double consonant (e.g. さっか sakka)	ー	Prolonged sound (e.g. カーゴ ka-go)

*For kanji won't be elaborated in this chapter, but I'll put them little by little inside related chapters next. If anyone have any example to share please post inside comment