Quote:
Originally Posted by Gaberdeen
No, all 4 are not used simultaneously, Romanji (abc etc) is conveniently designed so westerners can phonetically pronounce japanese words using the roman alphabet - most japanese are educated to know how to write and read romanised japanese (Romanji)
hiragana, katakana and kanji are sometimes used simultaneously.
It IS a lot of work, Japanese is a rewarding language though and through it, i've began a process of realisation regarding it that has me thinking it's actually simpler in it's design and use than english 
Sounds preposterous I know!  But if you persevere, you'll see what I mean. |
Sorry, but it is very common to see all four used simultaneously. I just translated a sentence yesterday that had all four writing systems. Romaji (not "romanji") is hardly ever used for the benefit of non-speakers (train stations and airports are the only real examples I can think of). Spend more than a few days in Japan and you will realize that little is done for the benefit of non-speakers.
Japanese all study English and all know ABCs, so using them to write Japanese words and commonly known English words is not uncommon to see, but it isn't for foreigners benefit.