tsurara

Lesson 1: Hiragana あ-お

Lesson filepack: http://www.aragami.org/japanese/Japa...ic_Lesson1.zip
Quiz: Japanese Lesson #1 - Quiz
Master Thread: Free Weekly Japanese Lessons

Material covered in this lesson
-------------------------------
1. Introduction to the Japanese writing system
2. about hiragana
3. vowels - あ　い　う　え　お
4. basic vocabulary/pronunciation


1. Introduction to the Japanese Writing System

The Japanese writing system is made up of three different kinds of characters: hiragana, katakana and kanji. Each writing system has different uses and all three must be mastered in order to read and write properly in Japanese.

Here is an example of a typical sentence using all three character sets:


私はアメリカ人です。
(trans. I am an American)


*Please note that Japanese does not include any spacing between words.


Let's break that sentence down into it's parts:

私(kanji) は(hiragana) アメリカ(katakana) 人(kanji) です(hiragana)。

In this sentence, hiragana is used to denote grammatical elements. Katakana is used to write a loanword from another language ("America"). Kanji is used to represent the noun "I" and the "person" which makes up "American".

Don't worry about the specifics for now, we'll go into each in detail later on... just be aware that each element has a specific use and that all three need to be combined in order to make proper sentences.

Japanese can also be written in the roman alphabet.

ex. watashi ha amerikajin desu.

This is called "romaji" and is used when communicating Japanese to foreigners who do not yet know how to read or write in Japanese scripts. It is also used to write Japanese place names/titles in English-language signage or documents.

.-----------------------------------------------------------------------.
| Things to Keep in Mind
|
| - Japanese is typically written and read vertically from right to
| left. Letters, novels and magazines are almost always in this
| format. As a result: Japanese books open on the opposite side.
|
| - Japanese can also written from left to right, horizontally in the
| Western style... this style is usually adopted for business
| documents, school notes, blackboard writing, and anything
| written on or by a computer.
.----------------------------------------------------------------------.

Excersizes:

- define the following ~ "romaji"



2. About Hiragana

Hiragana (ひらがな) is the first character set that Japanese children learn both at home and at school. It's often used to write words when the appropriate kanji isn't known by the writer or reader. Since young children know very few (if any) kanji, books and media for small children are often written in nothing but hiragana.

Comic books and novels aimed at elementary or junior high aged students almost always include "furigana", hiragana in small print over any words written in kanji.

Hiragana is also used to communicate words for which there is no kanji at all. New words, slang, or words for which the kanji has become obselete or is especially difficult are often written in hiragana. Parts of grammar (for example, particles) are written in hiragana as well.

Hiragana is a syllabary. Each character represents a sound or set of sounds which, together, form a complete syllable. Unlike the English alphabet, the pronunciation does not change radically according to placement. That means hiragana will always sound more or less the same, no matter where they occur in a sentence or word.

There are 109 syllables represented by hiragana, though two of them are no longer used in modern Japanese.

Excersizes:

- define the following ~ "hiragana", "syllabary", "furigana"



3. Vowels

Japanese has five vowels. Most syllables pronounced in Japanese contain a vowel sound, so proper pronunciation is vital. The vowels are as follows:

あ　- a - as in father
い　- i - as in eat
う　- u - as in zoo
え　- e - as in end
お　- o - as in Ohio

The order is important! Dictionaries, store racks and telephone directories are organized in alphabetical order beginning with a, i, u, e, and o.

Now it's time to learn your first set of hiragana. Before you do, please keep the following in mind when writing Japanese:

- Stroke order and number (the order and number of lines written to make up a character) is important! Characters should be memorized with the proper stroke order if at all possible... Stroke number and order are vital to proper dictionary use, passing kanji proficiency exams, and doing calligraphy.

-characters should be written with a properly held pencil and good posture (see handout1.jpg for details)


Excersizes:

- worksheet 1 and 2 (line tracing)
- worksheets 3-5 (hiragana あ-お)


4. Basic Vocabulary

This week's vocabulary list consists entirely of words that can be constructed from the five vowel hiragana.

あい　－　ai - love (noun)
おい　－ oi - hey! (exclamation)
いえ　－ ie - house (noun)
うえ　－ ue - up, above (noun)
あお　－ ao - blue (noun)

Excersizes:

- pronunciation drills with the sound files included in this pack
- write each word 5 times in hiragana



Recommended Study Regimen:
----------------------------

Day 1: read the lesson and complete all activities
Day 2-5: repeat worksheets 3-5 and pronunciation drills
Day 6: test yourself with flashcards, review for quiz
Day 7: Quiz


Fun Semi-Relevant Media of the Week:
Only a few dozen more kana until you can sing this pretty song ~ YouTube - あいうえおほしさま
MILFs worldwide want you to learn! ~ YouTube - AIUEO(Japanese ABC) Song
if babies can do it, so can you ~ YouTube - 賢の「あいうえお」

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