[Deactivated user]
Japanese writting systems Hi everyone! I just started learning Japanese. I'm a little bit confused. I realized there are 3 types of writing systems: Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji. I started learning Hiragana characters. Do I have to learn the 3 writing systems? Which system is mostly used? Any advice for learning Japanese is appreciated Thanks Noura
May 9, 2016 1:25 PM
Answers · 4
Hiragana (ひらがな) is used mainly for grammatical purposes. While katakana (カタカナ) represents the same sounds as hiragana, it’s mainly used to represent foreign words. Foreign names are represented in katakana, as are many foreign foods. Kanji (漢字) are adopted Chinese characters used in modern Japanese writing. Most Japanese words (nouns, adjectives and verbs) are written in kanji. There are no spaces in Japanese, so kanji helps distinguish when a new word begins. Kanji characters are symbols that represents words. So, start with Hiragana and after it with Katakana. After you mastered these, you can go on with Kanji.
May 9, 2016
Thanks :)
May 10, 2016
In Japanese, Hirakana, Kakana, Kanji are used equally. Philip von S.'s answer explains their uses exactly. Actually, Kanji is useful in East Asia. You can really stay in East Asia only by Chinese Character (Chinese name: hanzi, Japanese name: kanji, Korean name: hanja).
May 10, 2016
Still haven’t found your answers?
Write down your questions and let the native speakers help you!