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Amazing Japanese Calligraphers on Instagram (part 1.5 bonus!) - Emi Yogai 恵美・曄涯
I can't believe I wrote an entire blog post about calligrapher Emi Yogai and forgot to include this amazing pun…
I can't believe I wrote an entire blog post about calligrapher @yogai888emi and forgot to include this amazing pun.
タイ料理が食べタイ
tai ryouri ga tabe-tai
"I want to eat Thai food."
What's the Japanese word for "Thai?" it's タイ (tai). And how do you say "want to eat" in Japanese? You stick -tai on the end of the verb.
It's funny, right?
Cute, too ♡
Read more in this series:
Amazing Japanese Calligraphers on Instagram (Part 1) - Emi Yogai 恵美・曄涯
Amazing Japanese Calligraphers on Instagram (Part 2) - Mitsuru Nagata
Amazing Calligraphers on Instagram (Part 3) - Isawo Murayama
Amazing Calligraphers on Instagram (Part 4) - Uchiyama Kenichi
First published 25th Jan 2018; updated 30th Nov 2021
Amazing Japanese Calligraphers on Instagram (Part 1) - Emi Yogai 恵美・曄涯
I absolutely love kanji - Chinese characters that are also used in Japanese writing.
But calligraphy is not my strong point. My writing is good, but not particularly beautiful.
I have, however, recently become slightly obsessed with instagrammers who post Japanese calligraphy photos.
So I thought it might be fun to share some with you!
I first discovered @yogai888emi via this adorable story about falling asleep on the train…
I absolutely love kanji - Chinese characters that are also used in Japanese writing.
But calligraphy is not my strong point. My writing is good, but not particularly beautiful.
I have, however, recently become slightly obsessed with instagrammers who post Japanese calligraphy photos.
So I thought it might be fun to share some with you!
I first discovered @yogai888emi via this adorable story about falling asleep on the train.
↓ Look at those lovely clean lines. I immediately had serious handwriting envy.
If kanji's not your thing, you can find beautiful hiragana and katakana on her page too.
↓ ハナゲ (hanage) "nose hair"
There are videos, too, if you like watching calligraphy. I do - I find it super relaxing.
↓ 煮える (nieru) to boil, to be cooked. This one's from the height of summer!
You can find heaps more of her work at @yogai888emi's instagram page. I hope you enjoy exploring it as much as I do.
Just looking at calligraphy won't make your handwriting more beautiful though - unfortunately!
Read more in this series:
Amazing Japanese Calligraphers on Instagram (Part 1.5 bonus!) - Emi Yogai 恵美・曄涯
Amazing Japanese Calligraphers on Instagram (Part 2) - Mitsuru Nagata
Amazing Calligraphers on Instagram (Part 3) - Isawo Murayama
Amazing Calligraphers on Instagram (Part 4) - Uchiyama Kenichi
First published 25th Jan 2018; updated 30th Nov 2021
Why Does Everybody Forget Katakana?
I'll let you into a secret. I used to hate katakana.
Students of Japanese tend to start with its two phonetic alphabets. We start with hiragana, the loopy, flowing letters that make up all the sounds of Japanese.
Then we move on to katakana - all the same sounds, but in angular blocky font.
Hiragana seems fairly straightforward, I think. And when you start learning Japanese everything you read is written in hiragana, so by reading you constantly reinforce and remember.
Katakana? Not so much.
I'll let you into a secret. I used to hate katakana.
Students of Japanese tend to start with its two phonetic alphabets. We start with hiragana, the loopy, flowing letters that make up all the sounds of Japanese.
Then we move on to katakana - all the same sounds, but in angular blocky font.
Hiragana seems fairly straightforward, I think. And when you start learning Japanese everything you read is written in hiragana, so by reading you constantly reinforce and remember.
Katakana? Not so much.
The katakana "alphabet" is used extensively on signs in Japan - if you're looking for カラオケ (karaoke) or ラーメン (ramen noodles) you'll need katakana.
But if you're outside Japan, then beyond the letters in foreign names, you probably don't get a lot of exposure to katakana.
I think that's why a lot of beginning students really struggle to remember katakana.
Here are a couple of suggestions:
1) Use mnemonics
I learned katakana using mnemonics. For example, I still think katakana ウ (u) and ワ (wa) look super similar - I remember that ウ has a dash on the top, just like hiragana う (u) .
2) Practice, practice, practice
I'm not a huge fan of having you simply copy letters over and over again, but there is something to be said for "writing things out". By writing letters down, you activate muscle memory, which helps you remember. So get writing katakana!
3) Start learning kanji
It might feel like running before you can walk, but starting to read and write kanji (Chinese characters) before your katakana is completely perfect can be a good option.
Kanji textbooks have the Chinese readings of the characters in katakana, so learning kanji is also really good katakana practice.
And maybe, just maybe, you'll turn into a katakana lover?
Updated 23rd Oct 2020
How to Learn Hiragana and Katakana using Mnemonics
I finally got around to going through the mid-course feedback from my students and drawing up plans to incorporate some of what you asked for into the rest of the course. Several learners mentioned the importance of learning the kana early on.
Learning to read Japanese can be a daunting task. The Japanese language has three distinct "alphabets" (four if you count romaji!) and learning kanji is a task that takes years. You can learn the kana (hiragana and katakana) pretty quickly, though, if you use the most efficient way to memorise them - mnemonics.
Hi! This article was first published in April 2017. I updated it recently (April 2020) and fixed some broken links.
This week I finally got around to going through the mid-course feedback from my students and drawing up plans to incorporate some of what you asked for into the rest of the course.
Several learners mentioned the importance of learning the kana early on.
Learning to read Japanese can be a daunting task. The Japanese language has three distinct "alphabets" (four if you count romaji!) and learning kanji is a task that takes years.
You can learn the kana (hiragana and katakana) pretty quickly, though, if you use the most efficient way to memorise them - mnemonics.
Hiragana and Katakana are the "building blocks" of the Japanese written language. Students in my beginner Japanese classes mostly start with the romaji edition of 'Japanese For Busy People'*, because my priority is to get you speaking from day one, and to spend class time on speaking as much as possible. Reading and writing is mostly set as homework.
But if you want to learn to read Japanese, you definitely need to start by learning hiragana - the 46 characters that make up the first basic Japanese “alphabet”. But how to remember them?
The best, quickest, most fun method is to associate each character with a picture that it (clearly or vaguely) looks like, ideally also using the sound of the letter.
Hiragana and katakana are pretty simple, so associating each character with a picture is super easy.
Here's hiragana き (ki), which we can imagine is a picture of a KEY. My image of akey is an old-fashioned one. Yours might be modern and spiky. Or it might have wings on it and be flying about getting chased by Harry Potter on a broomstick.
The point is to think of a strong visual image that makes the picture of the key stick in your mind:
Of course, you need to learn to read words and sentences too. So as well as learning each letter, you need to practice writing and reading. This where the mnemonic really sinks in.
Memorisation doesn't help you remember. What helps you remember is active recall.
Let me give you an example.
You're reading a sentence and come across the word きのこ (kinoko, mushroom). You're staring at the letter き - "which one was that again?" and struggle a little bit to remember it.
Then you remember - aha! it's the KEY! This is ki.
This process of active recall - pushing a little bit to remember something - is the process that cements the mnemonic in your mind.
For me, one of the great thing about using mnemonics to remember the kana is that when I explain the system to learners, they often tell me that's what they're doing anyway, even if they don't have a name for what they're doing:
"Oh yes, that's how I remember む too - it's a funny cow's face! MOO"
"No, む is a man saying MO-ve!"
I've also found - luckily for me - it doesn't matter seem to matter if the actual picture is rubbish. (You don't even have to draw them, I just did this to help my students out and to share the idea).
What's important is that the picture in your head is super clear.
...and once you finish hiragana, you can do the whole thing again for katakana (the second basic Japanese alphabet):
You can find the whole set of hiragana and katakana mnemonics on instagram with the hashtag #stepupkana - please check it out and let me know what you think.
I'd love to hear what mnemonics you use to help remember the kana - let me know in the comments or add your story to the instagram posts for that character.
*Links with an asterisk * are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you, when you click through and buy the book. Thanks for your support!
First published April 2017
Updated 7th April 2020
Why Does The Japanese Language Have So Many Alphabets?
My students ask a lot of good questions. And one that sent us off on a bit of a tangent a few weeks ago was: “how old is Japanese writing?”
So, let’s take a whistle-stop tour of Japanese history with a very brief introduction to the Japanese writing system!
My students ask a lot of good questions. And one that sent us off on a bit of a tangent a few weeks ago was: “how old is Japanese writing?”
So, let’s take a whistle-stop tour of Japanese history with a very brief introduction to the Japanese writing system!
Until the 1st or 2nd century, Japan had no writing system. Then, sometime before 500AD, kanji - Chinese characters - made its way to Japan from China (probably via Korea).
These characters were originally used for their meaning only - they weren't used to write native Japanese words.
↓ And at that time, Japanese writing looked like this. Look, it looks like Chinese!
(Image Source - Nihon Shoki, Wikipedia)
But it was inconvenient not being able to write native Japanese words down, and so people began to use kanji to represent the phonetic sounds of Japanese words, not only the meaning. This is called manyougana and is the oldest native Japanese writing system.
For example, in manyougana the word asa (morning) was written 安佐 (that's a kanji for the “a” sound - 安 - and another for the “sa” sound - 佐). These characters indicate the sound of the word - “asa” - but not its meaning.
In modern Japanese we'd use 朝, the kanji that means "morning" for asa. This character shows its meaning AND its sound.
The problem was, manyougana used multiple kanji for each phonetic sound - over 900 characters for the 90 phonetic sounds in Japanese - so it was inefficient and time-consuming.
Gradually, people began to simplify kanji characters into simpler characters - that's where hiragana and katakana came from.
Katakana means "broken kana" or "fragmented characters". It was developed by monks in the 9th century who were annotating Chinese texts so that Japanese people could read them. So katakana was really an early form of shorthand.
Each katakana character comes from part of a kanji: for example, the top half of the kanji 呂 became katakana ロ (ro), and the left side of the kanji 加 became katakana カ (ka).
↓ Each katakana comes from part of a kanji.
(Source - Katakana origins, Wikipedia)
Women in Japan, on the other hand, wrote in cursive script, which was gradually simplified into hiragana. That's why hiragana looks all loopy and squiggly. Like katakana, hiragana characters don't have meaning - they just indicate sound.
↓ How kanji (top) evolved into manyougana (middle in red), and then hiragana (bottom).
(Source - Hiragana evolution, Wikipedia)
Because it was simpler than kanji, hiragana was accessible for women who didn't have the same education level as men. The 11th-century classic The Tale of Genji was written almost entirely in hiragana, because it was written by a female author for a female audience.
Modern Japanese writing uses all three of these “alphabets” - hiragana, katakana, and kanji - often all mixed up in the same sentence.
What would 12th-century people in Japan think of my students, 900 years later, learning hiragana as they take their first steps into the Japanese language?
First published 28th Oct 2016
Updated 27th Jan 2020
How Do I Know if a Group Language Class is For Me?
If you’re thinking about taking Japanese lessons, one of the first things you’ll have to decide is whether you want to join a group class, or take one-to-one lessons.
There are pros and cons to all methods of learning a language. Here, I’ll look at some of the key advantages of joining a group.
If you’re thinking about taking Japanese lessons, one of the first things you’ll have to decide is whether you want to join a group class, or take one-to-one lessons.
There are pros and cons to all methods of learning a language. Here, I’ll look at some of the key advantages of joining a group.
1) Meet other language learners
Classes give you access to a teacher, but a group class also provide you with an instant group of other people with the same interest as you.
You can speak in your target language together, go out for dinner and order in Japanese, and message each other asking "what was last week's homework again?"
(Just kidding - thanks to the course outline I'll provide you with, you'll always know what this week's homework is.)
In a group class, students can support and help each other. It's obvious to me that my lovely students gain a lot from each others' support!
2) Keep a regular schedule
To gain any skill, you need to practice regularly. The great thing about having class on a regular day is it forces you to practice. Unlike exclusive self-study where you'll always have an excuse to procrastinate, weekly classes require you to be prepared for every class so you can get the most out of it.
Practice makes perfect, after all.
3) It's your class
You might feel like the only way to get a class tailored to your needs is to take one-to-one lessons. But a good group class - especially one for a small group of students - should be tailored to the students in it as much as a private lesson would be.
That's why I ask my students to give me regular feedback (informally, and through anonymous questionnaires) about how class is going and where you want it to go next.
It's your class, not mine, and we can focus on what you want to focus on.
That doesn't mean I'm going to do the hard work for you. If you want to get good at Japanese, you'll need to find ways of practicing and exposing yourself to the language as much as possible outside of class too.
But a group class can provide the basis of your knowledge, a structure to work with, and a group of friendly faces to answer your questions.
It also gives you a great excuse to go to that great Japanese restaurant again with your classmates.
First published June 2016; updated 9th January 2020.
Even More Japanese Loanwords From Languages That Aren't English
Last time I talked about Japanese loanwords - words that Japanese has “borrowed” from other languages - which come from languages other than English.
But there are also some tricky loanwords that look and sound like they came from English - but they didn’t!
Last time I talked about Japanese loanwords - words that Japanese has “borrowed” from other languages - which come from languages other than English.
But there are also some tricky loanwords that look and sound like they came from English - but they didn’t!
Challenge time!
Don’t be fooled. These loanwords look and sound a bit like they came from English - but they didn’t! Can you guess what languages these loanwords come from?
(Hint: not English!)
Koohii コーヒー coffee
Zero ゼロ zero
Pompu ポンプ pump
Botan ボタン button
Koppu コップ cup
Sarada サラダ salad
Kokku コック cook
Scroll down for the answers…!
The Answers:
Did you guess what non-English languages these loanwords come from?
Koohii コーヒー coffee - Portuguese
Zero ゼロ zero - French
Pompu ポンプ pump - Dutch; Flemish
Botan ボタン button - Portuguese
Koppu コップ cup - Dutch; Flemish
Sarada サラダ salad - Portuguese
Kokku コック cook - Dutch; Flemish
Students often ask why there are so many Portuguese and Dutch loanwords in Japanese. Words from these two languages have been used as loanwords in Japanese since the 16th and 17th centuries, when both countries established trade with Japan.
So, just because that katakana word you’ve learned looks like English, doesn’t mean it came from English!
