Accent: Katakana - Part 1

Surfing the web, just came across "Richard's website" and found this great fun for listening enhancement.

Have fun:

I suggest you to have a look at my "Katakana posts" for more information...

Katakana : ta-chi-tsu-te-to

Let's take a look at the T's. You may want to make flashcards to practice by.

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タ - ta - as in TOm boy it looks like an invisible TOm boy hitting a TAmborine (the American pronunciation of Tamborine is off a little, but say it with 'tah' pronunciation) チ - chi - as in CHEEze NOTE: This is another 'irregular' pronunciation. You would think it would be 'ti' but it is 'CHI'. It is a CHEAp and CHEEzy umbrella turned inside out. ツ - tsu - as in caT SOUp It looks like someone smiling at such a ridiculous mnemonic as caT SOUp. Don't confuse this with ・#92; (so) テ - te - as in TApe It looks like someone is putting down a roll of TApe. ト - to - TOE Someone is kicking something with their TOE.

Write them out 10 times a day and soon you will get it. To
aid memorization, make silly associations to go
with them. You can use the above mnemonics or you can make your own!

Source: elanguageschool.net

Katakana : ya-yu-yo

Let's take a look at just 3 characters the Y's.

As with Hiragana, modern Japanese doesn't use Yi or Ye.

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ヤ - ya - as in hiYA! This looks like a YAk stepped on something ユ- yu - as in YOU It looks like a number 1 - You are #1! ヨ- yo - as in YO! It's someone doing that gangster sign and saying YO!?

Write them out 10 times a day and soon you will get it. To aid memorization, make silly associations to go with them. You can use the above mnemonics or you can make your own!

Katakana : ma-mi-mu-me-mo

Let's take a look at the M's. These five are as you should expect... No big surprise.

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マ - ma - as in MAMA It's someone's MAma kicking someone out with her foot. ミ- mi - as in ME It looks like a MEteor shower. ム- mu - as in MOOd It's an upside down MA, pronounced MU. メ- me - as in MAY It looks like a man with his legs tied who MAY fall if he doesn't stop leaning over. モ- mo - as in MOE This looks similar to a lawn MOWer.

Write them out 10 times a day and soon you will get it. To
aid memorization, make silly associations to go
with them. You can use the above mnemonics or you can make your own!

Source: elanguageschool.net

Katakana : ka-ki-ku-ke-ko

So you survived the first part. Take a deep breath and jump on in!

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In today's lesson, we will look at the K sounds.

カ - ka - as in CAr it looks like the hiragana ka (か), just remove the line. キ - ki - as in KEY This also looks like a hiragana ki (き) without the base. ク - ku - as in COOl It looks like guy giving a thumbs-up. That's COOl! ケ - ke - as in Kay or CAke It looks like someone's CApe コ - ko - COld It looks like a refrigerator door, that's COld!

Write them out 10 times a day and soon you will get it. To
aid memorization, make silly associations to go
with them. You can use the above mnemonics or you can make your own!

Katakana : sa-shi-su-se-so

Let's take a look at the S's. You may want to make flashcards to practice by.

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サ - sa - as in SOlitude it looks like a squished SAW blade. (Backwards Hiragana SE (せ)). シ- sHi - as in SHE NOTE: Th Publish Post is is the first 'irregular' pronunciation. You would think it would be 'si' but don't forget the middle 'H'. Someone is pulling down a SHEet from a closet. Or SHE always smiles tilting her head. ス- su - as in SUE It looks like SUE standing up. セ- se - as in SAY It looks like someone with a huge mouth SAYing something. ソ- so - SO NOTE: be careful - it looks simlar to another katakana character (ン n) we will study soon. Just remember the drop on ・#92; points down. Someone is touching something on a pedestal. It's SO pretty?

Write them out 10 times a day and soon you will get it. To
aid memorization, make silly associations to go
with them. You can use the above mnemonics or you can make your own!

Source: elanguageschool.net

Katakana : ha-hi-fu-he-ho

Let's take a look at the H's. What you would expect to be 'HU' is usually pronounced 'FU

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ハ - ha - as in HA! It looks like a capital 'H' laughing "HA!" so loud, its middle fell off ヒ- hi - as in HE HE's sitting down with his arms out. フ- fu - as in FOOd It's the end of someone's FOOt. ヘ- he - as in HEY! It looks same as the Hiragana! ホ- ho - as in HOE This looks like two people scraping a HOE on the ground in a field.

Write them out 10 times a day and soon you will get it. To aid memorization, make silly associations to go with them. You can use the above mnemonics or you can make your own!

Source: elanguageschool.net

Katakana : a-i-u-e-o

So you want to learn Katakana? Great!

You will soon notice how similar it is with Hiragana. However there are some important differences. Although you don't have to learn Hiragana before doing this page, I
recommend it if you are not living in Japan. Hiragana is used much more in writing. But Katakana is used when writing foreign loanwords and in advertising. Therefore, Katakana is very useful for the foreigner IN Japan.

Each Lesson will tackle 5 characters. If you haven't studied Hiragana yet, I would recommend starting with it.

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Today's lesson will teach you the vowel sounds in Japanese. These are the SAME SOUNDS as the Hiragana vowels.

Basically, like Spanish, there are 5 vowel sounds. a, i, u, e, o.

ア- a - as in fAther, Ah it looks like a capital A leaning over (doing exercises) イ - i - as in fEEt It looks like a lowercase i with a hat on instead of a dot ウ - u - as in fOOd It looks like a mouth about to eat fOOd エ - e - as in eh? or hAte It looks like a capital I but it is really an Eh sound オ - o - knOw It looks like someone kicking something "OH OH!"

These are the first 5 letters in the Katakana alphabet.
Write them out 10 times a day and soon you will get it. To aid memorization, make silly associations to go with them. You can use the above mnemonics or you can make your own!

Katakana - カタカナ

Katakana is mainly used for foreign words such as names and words that have been borrowed from other languages such as コンピューター (kompyu-ta- = computer). The Japanese language does not have as many sounds as the English language so, when creating a name in Katakana for instance, the name must be sound out to the closest Japanese equivalent. Katakana, Hiragana, and Furigana (when Hiragana is written small next to a Kanji character to show how that character is read) are collectively known as Kana.

ア a イ i ウ u エ e オ o カ ka キ ki ク ku ケ ke コ ko ガ ga ギ gi グ gu ゲ ge ゴ go サ sa シ shi ス su セ se ソ so ザ za ジ ji ズ zu ゼ ze ゾ zo タ ta チ chi ツ tsu テ te ト to ダ da ヂ ji ヅ zu デ de ド do ナ na ニ ni ヌ nu ネ ne ノ no ハ ha ヒ hi フ fu ヘ he ホ ho バ ba ビ bi ブ bu ベ be ボ bo パ pa ピ pi プ pu ペ pe ポ po マ ma ミ mi ム mu メ me モ mo ヤ ya ユ yu ヨ yo ラ ra リ ri ル ru レ re ロ ro ワ wa ヲ wo ン n/m

Combinations:

キャ kya キュ kyu キョ kyo ギャ gya ギュ gyu ギョ gyo シャ sha シュ shu ショ sho ジャ ja ジュ ju ジョ jo チャ cha チュ chu チョ cho ニャ nya ニュ nyu ニョ nyo ヒャ hya ヒュ hyu ヒョ hyo ビャ bya ビュ byu ビョ byo ピャ pya ピュ pyu ピョ pyo ミャ mya ミュ myu ミョ myo リャ rya リュ ryu リョ ryo