Ten-tens

Now that you know your basic Hiragana and Katakana, you should now learn the Ten-ten for the characters. Ten-ten are added to characters to make a new one, for example, か(Ka) becomes が(Ga). Here's a list of what lines take Ten-ten and what they turn into :

Ks turn into Gs with Ten-ten

か-が    カ-ガ

Ss turn into Zs with Ten-ten

さ-ざ     サ-ザ

An exception to this is し/シ(Shi). Adding Ten-ten makes this じ/ジ(Ji)

Ts turn into Ds

た-だ     タ-ダ

*THE H LINE*

The H line is very special. It takes Ten-tens but it also takes a different symbol, a little dot at the top of the character. This is called a Handakuten. The Hs are the only characters that take this.

Hs turn to Bs 

は-ば    ハ-バ

Hs turn to Ps

は-ぱ ハ-パ

Katakana Part 2 (Ms,Hs, Ys, Rs, Ws and N)

こんにちは！ Welcome to Part 2 of the Katakana alphabet. My next post will be about adding Ten-ten to characters and then I'll begin posting topics. Stay tuned for my post on countries!

The 'Ms' Line

Ma = マ someone is opening their mouth! This is Ma for mouth.

Mi = ミ Oh no, it looks like a cat scratched me! This is Mi for me.

Mu = ム this was a lovely piece of Toberone until a moose came along and took a big bit out of it. This is Mu for moose.

Me = メ this looks like a metal sword. This is Me for metal.

Mo = モ I put worms on my fishhook so I hope I get more worms. This is Mo for more.

The 'Hs' Line

Ha = ハ haha someone broke this stick! This is Ha for haha

Hi = ヒ Look at this man. He is sitting. This is Hi for he.

Fu = フ this is the fool's hat. This is Fu for fool.

He = ヘ This is an arrow pointing to Heaven. This is He for heaven.

Ho = ホ this is a Holy Cross. This is Ho for Holy.

The 'Ys' Line

Ya = ヤ this is one hairy Yak. This is Ya for Yak.

Yu = ユ who's number 1? You are! This is  Yu for you.

Yo = ヨ look at this lovely carton of yoghurt. This is Yo for yoghurt.

The 'Rs' Line

Ra = ラ Look at this random piece of random floating up over the bowl! Ra is for Ramen.

Ri = リ these are reeds in a river. Ri is for reeds.

Ru = ル your rude friend tries to push you into a volcano. Ru is for rude.

Re =  レ You decide to take a rest. Re is for rest.

Ro = ロ look at this lovely round rock! Ro is for rock.

The 'Ws' Line

Wa = ワ Your baby sister got a new tooth and she won't stop crying! Wa is for wah.

Wo = ヲ you got some new dentures. Oh wow, you're getting old! O is for old.

N

N = ン This is a ship with only one sail. This is N for one sail.

This is the end of Katakana! From now on, I will using a mixture of Hiragana and Katakana in my posts so keep practising your characters! Thank you to everyone in my Japanese class last year who came up with these ways of remembering Katakana. さようなら for now!

Katakana part 1 (Vowels, Ks, Ss, Ts and Ns)

Katakana is the second Japanese alphabet you'll be learning! The pronunciations and Ten-tens will be the exact same, just the characters will be different. Katakana is much more angular than Hiragana so it will be easy to tell the two apart. You'll also notice that some Katakana are similar to their Hiragana counterparts.

Vowels

A = ア this is someone sticking their tongue out at the doctors saying 'Aah' This is A for Aah

I = イ this looks like an eagle. This is I for eagle.

U = ウ this is an old woman bending over  . A twig falls from a tree and hits her on her back. She says 'Ooph!' This is U for Ooph.

E = エ this looked like closed curtains ath the end of a performance. This is E for end.

O = オoh look! The boy is kicking the ball! This is O for oh.

The 'K' Line

Ka = カ oh no the car's gone off the cliff! This is Ka for car.

Ki = キ this look like a key. This is Ki for key.

Ku = ク this looks like a cook's hat. This is Ku for Cook.

Ke = ケ this reminds me of a kettle. If you  look at it closely, it also reassembles a K. This is K for kettle.

Ko = コ This is your half of the tennis court! Ko for court.

The 'S' Line

Sa = サ This character has 3 lines. The Japanese word for 3 is San (三) this is Sa for San.

Shi = シ it looks like she is smiling! This is Shi for she.

Su = ス the soup spoon is hanging out of your mouth! This is Su for soup spoon.

Se = セ The couple broke up so now he's watching the sunset all alone. This is Se for sunset.

So = ソ this looks like a needle and thread you'd use for sewing. This is So for sewing.

The 'Ts' line

Ta = タ *no example yet*

Chi = チ oh look it's a chicken feather! This is Chi for chicken.

Tsu = ツ *no example yet*

Te = テ this looks like a television antenna. This is Te for television.

To = ト this looks like a totem pole. This is To for totem pole.

The 'Ns' Line

Na = ナ this is the cross your Nana was praying at but she went away shopping. This is Na for Nan.

Ni = ニ this looks like the Kanji for two!Ni is Japanese for two. This is Ni for the Kanji ニ (Ni)

Nu = ヌsomebody's a messy eater! There's a noodle sticking out of their mouth! This is Nu for noodle.

Ne = ネ Aw no, looks like this person will never get a hug! This is Ne for Never.

No = ノ this is just a line. It makes no sense. This is no for no sense.

Hiragana Part 2 (Hs, Ms, Ys, Rs, Ws and N)

Hello and welcome to part 2 of my posts :) today I'll be looking at the rest of the Hiragana alphabet. Soon, I'll do a post of the alphabet with ten-ten added. Hope you enjoy! 

The 'H' Line

Ha = は This looks like a keg with a hole in it. Ha! The keg is broken. This is Ha for Ha! The keg is broken.

Hi = ひ this looks like a man's mouth while he is laughing. This is Hi for he is laughing. 

Fu = ふ this looks like Mount Fuji. This is Fu for Fuji.

He = へ This is an arrow pointing to Heaven. This is He for heaven.

Ho = ほ this is Ha with a hat on. Why would he put on a hat when it's hot? This is Ho for hot.

 

The 'M' line

Ma = ま This looks like a telephone wire. You need this to call home to your Mam. This is Ma for Mam.

Mi = み This looks like no sense to me. This is Mi for me.

Mu = む This looks like a cow. A cow goes moo. This is Mu for moo.

Me = め this character looks like you messed up の. This is Me for mess.

Mo = も This looks like a fishhook. If we put more worms on it, we'll catch more fish. This is Mo for more worms.

The 'Y' Line

*this line only has 3 characters*

Ya = や this looks like a yak. This is Ya for yak.

Yu = ゆ Oh, it looks like you need to do a u- turn! This is yu for you.

Yo = よ This looks like a yo-yo. This is Yo for yo-yo.

The 'R' line

Ra = ら if you add whiskers and an extra ear, this looks like a rabbit! This is Ra for rabbit.

Ri = り these are reeds in a river. This is Ri for reeds.

Ru = る look at this beautiful ruby! This is Ru for ruby.

Re = れ I've just climbed a mountain so I think I need a rest. This is Re for rest.

Ro = ろ Oh no where's the ruby gone? Someone must have robbed it! This is Ro for rob.

The 'W' line

*only has 2 characters* 

Wa = わ Look at this magic wand! This is Wa for wand.

Wo = を This has the same pronunciation as お. This is an Olympic disc thrower. This is O for Olympic.

N

*only has one character*

N = ん This looks like a h. It also like a n in end.

Well, that's the end of the Hiragana alphabet! Next week I'll look at ten-ten characters and then I'll move onto Katakana. さようなら till then!

Hiragana Part 1 (Vowels, Ks, Ss, Ts and Ns)

The basic Hiragana alphabet has 46 characters. This includes the 5 vowels, a 'N' characters  and 8 lines of characters. I've included a tiny pronunciation guide at the end of each Hiragana in order to help you pronunciate it. E.g. The あ(A) character is pronounced like the A in 'Antenna' 

The Vowels

A = あ This looks like an antenna on top of a roof. So this is A for Antenna.

I = い This looks like the 'ii' in Hawaii. This is i for Hawaii.

U = う this one possibly needs a picture to explain. This looks like an old woman, bending over. A twig falls on her back and she says 'Ooph'. This is U for 'ooph'

E = え this character looks like a h with a extra dot. This is E for an extra dot.

O = お (this one needs a picture too) Imagine this is a golf course. The top bit of the character is the flag and the bottom half is the course. The golf ball is on on the green. This is O for on the green. 

 

The 'K' line

Ka = か this looks like a car driving off a cliff. This is Ka for car.

Ki = き this looks like a key. This is Ki for key. 

Ku = く This looks like the beak of a cuckoo bird. This is Ku for cuckoo bird.

Ke = け This looks like a keg of beer. This is Ke for keg.

Ko = こ This looks like a coin. This is Ko for coin.

The 'S' line

Sa = さ this character looks like a Samurai's sword! This is Sa for Samurai's sword.

Shi = し This looks like a girl's hair. This is Shi for 'She has lovely hair' 

Su = す This is a little seed in the ground. It will grow soon. This is Su for soon.

Se = せ This is a couple watching the sunset. This is Se for sunset.

So = そ This looks like a stitch you'd sew with a sewing machine. This is So for sew.

The 'T' line

Ta = た the first half of this looks like a 't'. If you add a line to the second half of it, you get an 'a' this is Ta for 'ta'

Chi = ち This looks like like a cheese ball on a stick. This is Chi for 'cheese ball' 

Tsu = つ this looks like a man's very big nose. When he sneezes, he goes tsu. This is Tsu for 'tsu' 

*Alternatively, you could also remember つ as a harbour wave. It would then be Tsu for tsunami.*

Te = て this is a broken tennis racket. This is Te for tennis racquet.

To = と The curved bit is your toe. Ouch, you've a thorn in your toe! This is To for toe.

The 'N' line 

Na = な this is your Nan kneeling down to pray at a cross. This is Na for Nan.

Ni = に This looks like your knee. This is Ni for knee.

Nu = ぬ This is two chopsticks stuck into a bowl of noodles. This is Nu for noodles.

Ne = ね this is a weird basketball net. You're never going to get the ball in. This is Ne for never.

No = の this looks like a fancy n. It's not that difficult. This is No for not.  

That's the first set of Hiragana for today. Please leave comments if you need more help with remembering them or if you come up with better ways. Most of these came from my Japanese teacher and her flash cards.