Japanese, the Crazy Language – Hiragana Mnemonic
published in: Japanese Language
Japanese is a truly crazy language. I really think so. Not only it has two sets of alphabets – called Hiragana and Katakana. Each set of these has nearly 50 alphabets in them. It also boasts an incredible number of Kanji characters that are adopted from Chinese. Now there are 1,945 of these Kanji you have to lean in the school. To top it all, you should be able to at least read between three to four thousand of them to be called well-educated. Getting perplexed? Good. I am, and I was born, bred and have gone through the education system there and the whole damn language still doesn’t make sense.
For a low-down on it, Wikipedia has a very good summary of it – have a look at this page for it.
For those of you who are still interested in this worlds-most-perplexing-language, here’s a starter for you. How to recognise and read the most basic of Japanese alphabets that is Hiragana. Have fun!
/a/
An antenna is on top of the roof. あ as in “antenna.”
/i/
There are two eels. い as in “eels.”
/u/
Ooo! This is heavy. う as in “Ooo!”
/e/
I have to exercise. え as in “exercise.”
/o/
A golf ball is on the green. お as in “on.”
/ka/
A kite is flying in the sky. か as in “kite.”
/ki/
I have a key. き as in “key.”
/ku/
Here comes a cuckoo bird. く as in “cuckoo.”
/ke/
There’s a keg of beer. け as in “keg.”
/ko/
A core of an apple is hard to eat. こ as in “core.”
/sa/
I love sake! さ as in “sake.”
/si/ (pronounced as /shi/)
She has a ponytail. し as in “she.”
/su/
Sooey, sooey! す as in “sooey.”
/se/
This is Senor Lopez. せ as in “senor.”
/so/
Zig-zag sewing. そ as in “sewing.”
/ta/
“t” and “a”
make ta. た as in “ta.”
/ti/ (pronounced as /chi/)
She is a cheerleader. ち as in “cheerleader.”
/tu/ (pronounced as /tsu/)
Tsunami is a tidal wave. つ as in “tsunami.”
/te/
The dog has a wagging tail. て as in “tail.”
/to/
Ouch! A nail is in my toe. と as in “toe.”
/na/
A nun is kneeling in front of a cross. な as in
“nun.”
/ni/
I have a needle and thread. に as in “needle.”
/nu/
Noodles and chopsticks. ぬ as in “noodles.”
/ne/
I caught a big fish in the net. ね as in “net.”
/no/
This means NO! の as in “No.”
/ha/
I live in a house. は as in “house.”
/hi/
He is on the wall. ひ as in “he.”
/hu/
I climbed Mt. Fuji. ふ as in “Fuji.”
/he/
There is a haystack. へ as in “haystack.”
/ho/
A house becomes a home with a satellite. ほ as
in “home.”
/ma/
Mama loves music. ま as in “mama.”
/mi/
Who is 21? Me! み as in “me.”
/mu/
Moo-moo more milk? む as in “moo.”
/me/
Chopsticks and noodles without mess. め as in “mess.”
/mo/
The more worms, the more fish. も as in “more.”
/ya/
I am sailing on a yacht. や as in “yacht.”
/yu/
Make a U-turn as quickly as you can! ゆ as in “U-turn.”
/yo/
Yoga is hard! よ as in “yoga.”
/ra/
I love steamy ramen noodles. ら as in “ramen.”
/ri/
I’ll give you a ribbon. り as in “ribbon.”
/ru/
Look at my loop! る as in “loop.”
/re/
Let’s race! れ as in “race.”
/ro/
I’m a roper! ろ as in “roper.”
/wa/
Wow! A magic wand! わ as in “wand.”
/wo/ (pronounced as /o/)
Whoa! A cheerleader is on my toe! を as in “whoa.”
/nn/ (pronounced like /ng/)
This is in the end. ん as in “end.”
A bit of sneaky advertisement
Ha, some good ones but a little hard to remember, the Dr Moku system worked much better for me.