Japanese Writing System

Eveilaje · (#1 (**permalink**))

Modern Japanese writing system uses three main scripts:

Kanji, characters of Chinese origin,
Hiragana, a syllabary, and
Katakana, a syllabary.

Question:

Which one is more oftenly used in daily life?

SakanaMidori · (#2 (**permalink**))

Probably katakana...

But you'll definately need all of them.

Kanji is definately the hardest, so you should start learning those first, continue learning that as you learn katakana, keep learning kanji, and learn hiragana.

That's probably the most affective way to learn it.

I actually learned hiragan first, then katakana, and kanji(which I am WAYY behind in)

Amnell · (#3 (**permalink**))

They're all used together. You literally have to know all the systems to read a newspaper.

Fortunately, you can get by knowing about... 800 Kanji. You don't HAVE to know all 2,000 XD .

Best to start with Katakana, though, if you're going on vacation; you'd survive just knowing Katakana because they write all their loanwords with that, and us westerners can usually recognize those loanwords for what they mean.

If you want to learn the language, start with Hiragana. (ed) And I say this because Hiragana is their grammar marker. Every kanji is proceeded by a hiragana to show either the conjugation of the verb or the role of the given word in the sentence (subject, object, locative, etc).

Also, if you're trying to learn the language, start Kanji concurrently with Hiragana. It'll save you a lot of time.

InuSan · (#4 (**permalink**))

i actually learned hiragana first then kanji and katakana is thrown in there

SakanaMidori · (#5 (**permalink**))

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amnell

Fortunately, you can get by knowing about... 800 Kanji. You don't HAVE to know all 2,000 XD .

I thought it took like 2000 to read a newpaper and there were like 6000 total.....

Eveilaje · (#6 (**permalink**))

That's good news then.

Ichigo2013 · (#7 (**permalink**))

HOLY CRAP! I have learn all three of those, and cram them into 4 years! I have to do it before I turn 18. (I'm 14) Crap! Gotta get working asap. Can anyone help me with these?

DragonShade · (#8 (**permalink**))

these three are not completely substitute for each other... they work together,

Harold · (#9 (**permalink**))

Once you know about 800 kanji, you can kind of tell what the others mean by radicals and context clues. You just start to absorb them.

Hatredcopter · (#10 (**permalink**))

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ichigo2013

HOLY CRAP! I have learn all three of those, and cram them into 4 years! I have to do it before I turn 18. (I'm 14) Crap! Gotta get working asap. Can anyone help me with these?

Why before you turn 18? I'm not so sure its possible without formal classes or tutoring.