New to Japanese... questions on a few things.

[FreddyLea]

Ello,

Okay I have started learning Japanese, mostly just by hearing the words spoken. But i am now trying ot learn to read Hiragana and Katakana as well.

I am looking for some explanation in the differences in these characters. and reasons on why one is used so it will make more sense to me...

The person i am emailing started off a sentence with (which i had to use google to translate to find out what it meant, i assume it is Kanji right?)

'私

What is the difference between using that or...

イ

I know this is a simple question. But i am just trying to grasp the basics of sentence structures at the moment.

thanks for your help.

[Nagoyankee]

私　is read 'watashi' and it's the first-person pronoun.

イ is a katakana. It's read 'i' and it doesn't mean anything. It's just a letter.

[FreddyLea]

Originally Posted by Nagoyankee

私　is read 'watashi' and it's the first-person pronoun.

イ is a katakana. It's read 'i' and it doesn't mean anything. It's just a letter.

Oh! i know Watashi, now i know the character for it. thank you. When i tried to translate it on google it just came up as 'i' for the translation which threw me off.

Okay, thank you for the explination. after i read it i realized i was thinking about a typical sentence in English when using the katakana for 'i'.

[Tangram]

I'll help with the hiragana and katakana. Hiragana is the basic character set, used more often. Katakana is used for foreign based words and onomatopoeias.

[FreddyLea]

Originally Posted by Tangram

I'll help with the hiragana and katakana. Hiragana is the basic character set, used more often. Katakana is used for foreign based words and onomatopoeias.

hmmm okay, i remember hearing that now. And thank you for the offer to help with them.

[Tangram]

No problem. I'm more than glad to. ^.^ Learning on your own can be difficult.

[jpallan]

Hi FreddyLea,

if you want to learn kana you can practice on this site.
It's fun and you learn pretty fast.

Just start of with the 1st level. When you're able to master a level perfectly ("perfect" is also the grade you get after you finished a level without mistakes), try to write down a whole level without looking at the possibilities. If you have wrote it down, then click on the answer and check if it's correct and move on until you complete the level.

That's how I learned most of the kana, a few characters are missing but that shouldn't bother too much.

[FreddyLea]

Originally Posted by jpallan

Hi FreddyLea,

if you want to learn kana you can practice on this site.
It's fun and you learn pretty fast.

Just start of with the 1st level. When you're able to master a level perfectly ("perfect" is also the grade you get after you finished a level without mistakes), try to write down a whole level without looking at the possibilities. If you have wrote it down, then click on the answer and check if it's correct and move on until you complete the level.

That's how I learned most of the kana, a few characters are missing but that shouldn't bother too much.

hmmm thanks for the link to that site.