{"id":4440,"date":"2020-10-01T17:23:26","date_gmt":"2020-10-01T08:23:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vhbloglive.wpengine.com\/?p=4440"},"modified":"2020-10-01T17:23:28","modified_gmt":"2020-10-01T08:23:28","slug":"helpful-kanji-and-kana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/japanese-apartment-life\/helpful-kanji-and-kana\/","title":{"rendered":"Helpful Kanji and Kana"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Navigating around\nJapan can be troublesome, and you may have trouble thinking of some basic\nthings you will need. Check out our article for helpful kanji and kana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Japan has been\ngrowing in popularity as a travel destination for many years. It has seen\ngrowing numbers every season and there are no signs of it slowing down,\npandemics aside. For many visitors, it will be the first time that they\nencounter Japanese writing and language. Going to Japan will show that in the\nmajor city areas there is a lot of English around the city. In the areas that\nsee the higher volume of tourism, there is more English available. This is not\nthe norm for the rest of the country and you may find yourself confused when\ntrying to get around your area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this article,\nwe will look at some basic and helpful kanji and kana that you will encounter\nin Japan. These will appear frequently and can help understand the menu, the\narea, and the buildings you will be in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Hiragana and Katakana<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The most\nimportant step to take is to learn Japans\u2019 created alphabets of hiragana and\nkatakana. Hiragana was created to accompany the Chinese kanji characters that\nthey use for writing. There are a total of 92 characters between the two. Each\nset of characters has its uses when used in writing and speaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hiragana is\nmainly used with kanji to create words and sentences in Japanese. They mimic\nall the kanji vocal soundings and are used in many instances to end sentences. They\nare also used as prepositions to be place holders for to, the, in, and others.\nThere are some words in the Japanese language that were created with hiragana\nand have no kanji spelling equivalent. You will see mixtures of hiragana and\nkatakana on billboards and posters at train stations and the street.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Katakana was\ncreated to represent borrowed words from other languages. Anything that does\nnot have a Japanese equivalent or is more popular to simply say it the native\nway, will be spelled using these characters. These are extremely useful since\nmany restaurants that serve dishes that come from other countries spell them in\nkatakana. The same applies to many buildings and services. By studying this\nalphabet, you can get a better understanding of how Japanese pronunciation od\nforeign words will sound. It will help train your ears to pick out those words\nin conversation and announcements. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The characters\nare not difficult to learn and should take about two weeks to memorize. If you\naren\u2019t planning to memorize them, you can buy books that have both sets of\ncharacters that you can use as a reference. Your smartphone is also an\nexcellent resource when learning languages. Learning these characters will also\nhelp when you are shopping for food or souvenirs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Food and Restaurants<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

First, we will\nlook at food and restaurants and what kanji or kana will be encountered most.\nThe bigger restaurant chains will have pictures in their menus but some still\nhave kanji and kana only.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u98df\u3079\u308b(ta-be-ru)- It means to eat. You will see the\nfirst kanji in most restaurants. They signify that there is food being served\nthere, or that is an all you can eat type of place (\u98df\u3079\u653e\u984c- ta-be-ho-u-dai).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u98f2\u3080(no-mu)-\nNomu means to drink. You will see the \u98f2 character\nto signify that there are drinks or that you are looking at the drink menu.\nThere is all you can drink places as well (\u98f2\u307f\u653e\u984c).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u30ab\u30ec\u30fc \u2013\nCurry and rice<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u30b9\u30fc\u30d7 \u2013 Soup<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u30cf\u30f3\u30d0\u30fc\u30ac\u30fc \u2013\nHamburger<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u30e9\u30fc\u30e1\u30f3 \u2013\nRamen<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u305d\u3070 \u2013 Soba\nnoodles are buckwheat noodles that you usually dip in a sauce before eating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u9903\u5b50(gi-yo-u-za)\n\u2013 Gyouza is grilled or pan-fried dumplings that are popular when drinking beer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are a few common terms that you will run into at most\nrestaurants. Keep your smartphone handy in case your server can\u2019t speak English<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Directions<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We will look at\nsome basic directional instructions to help when looking at maps or signs.\nThese can be used in buildings and other places as well. You don\u2019t have to\nmemorize the words but it helps to be familiar with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u5317(ki-ta)-\nNorth<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u5357(mi-na-mi)-South<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u6771(hi-ga-shi)-\nEast<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u897f(ni-shi)-\nWest<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u53e3(gu-chi)-\nThis is attached to the end of a direction to signify an entrance or an exit.\nKitaguchi for the north gate, exit, or entrance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are the basic points for you to follow or ask for when you\nare lost. If you are looking These basic words will assist you whenever you\nfind yourself in a pinch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Buildings<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Buildings share\nmany of the same kanji as train stations and other simple directional markers.\nThere are a few extra words and letters you may see at the registers or near\nthe exits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u5165\u308a\u53e3(i-ri-gu-ch)-\nEntrance or enter here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u51fa\u53e3(de-gu-chi)-\nExit or exit here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u30c1\u30a7\u30c3\u30af\u30a2\u30a6\u30c8- Check\nout<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u30b5\u30fc\u30d3\u30b9\u30ab\u30a6\u30f3\u30bf\u30fc \u2013 Service\ncounter<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u30bb\u30eb\u30d5\u30c1\u30a7\u30c3\u30af\u30a2\u30a6\u30c8- Self\ncheck out<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

These will help you when standing in line or looking for the\nexits. There are usually signs with footsteps on them to show where you should\nstand. Try to be polite when asking your questions so the workers can help you\nas fast as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are only a few words for you to look at before going to\nJapan. They won\u2019t make you fluent or conversational, but they will help lessen\nthe level of stress you may encounter when trying to do simple tasks there. Try\nto say the words slowly and clearly to get the best results from those who are\ntrying to help you. If you do that your trip will be more enjoyable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Navigating around Japan can be troublesome, and you may have trouble thinking of some basic things you will need. Check out our article for helpful kanji and kana. Japan has been growing in popularity as a travel destination for many years. It has seen growing numbers every season and there are no signs of it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4441,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4440","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-japanese-apartment-life"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4440","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4440"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4440\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4440"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4440"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4440"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}