Katakana カタカナ

1. Katakanaカタカナ Guidelines on how to create katakana words accurately

2. When is Katakana used? Katakana represents • borrowed words from foreign languages (mostly English but also Dutch, French, German, Portuguese, and some Chinese) • onomatopoeic words eg. meiow, twinkle, knock knock, トントン

3. Why is ‘Japanese English’ so different? Japanese has a much simpler sound system than English. Borrowed words need to be adjusted to suit the Japanese sound system. The result is ‘Japanese English’. Many words sound completely different to the original borrowed English word. Example: table = テーブル　（teeburu）

4. Consonants In English words can have up to 3 consonants in a row. ie. stream. But, in Japanese all consonants are followed by a vowel (except for ‘n’). Change English words into Katakana by adding a vowel after consonants: • Consonants ‘t’ or ‘d’ add ‘o’ = to, do • Consonant ‘k’ add ‘u’ or ‘i’ = ki, ku • All other single consonants add ‘u’.= ru, su, bu,mu etc. Example: class = クラス　(kurasu)

5. Practice - Consonants How would you read these words? ジムガス Can you write this word in katakana? cake (keeki)

6. ANSWERS How would you read these words? ジムガス jimu (gym) gasu (gas) Can you write this word in katakana? ケーキ cake (keeki)

7. Long vowel sounds Some English vowels sound longer. ie. live vs leave Long vowel sounds are changed into Katakana by adding the symbol “ー”. Example: cheese = チーズ　(chiizu)

8. Practice – Long vowel sounds How would you read these words? ゲーム　アイスクリーム Can you write this word in katakana? coffee (koohii)

9. ANSWERS How would you read these words? ゲームアイスクリーム geemu (game) aisukuriimu (icecream) Can you write this word in katakana? コーヒー coffee (koohii)

10. Vowel + R A vowel followed by ‘r’ (ie. er, ir, or) is written as a long vowel sound in Katakana. The vowel before the ‘r’ is lengthened by adding the symbol “ー”. Example: girlfriend = ガールフレンド　 (gaarufurendo)

11. Practice – Vowel + R How would you read these words? アパート　サーカス Can you write this word in katakana? course (koosu)

12. ANSWERS How would you read these words? アパート　サーカス apaato (apartment) saakasu (circus) Can you write this word in katakana? コース course (koosu)

13. Hard consonant sounds When an English syllable ends with a hard sounding consonant (p, b, t, d, k, g, s, sh) these are changed into Katakana by adding a small ‘ッ (tsu) before the hard consonant. Example: truck = トラック　(torakku) (Remember the small tsu creates a pause before the next sound.)

14. Practice – Hard consonant sounds How would you read these words? エッグ　ベッド Can you write this word in katakana? bag (baggu)

15. ANSWERS How would you read these words? エッグ　ベッド eggu (egg) beddo (bed) Can you write this word in katakana? バッグ bag (baggu)

16. J in Katakana The ‘j’ sound, when it doesn’t have a vowel sound after it, changes to ‘シ ji’. Example: orange = 　オレンジ　(orenji)

17. Practice – J in Katakana How would you read these words? チャレンジ　　ジョージ Can you write this word in katakana? orangejuice (orenjijuusu)

18. ANSWERS How would you read these words? チャレンジ　　ジョージ charenji (challenge) jooji (George) Can you write this word in katakana? オレンジジュース orangejuice

19. F in Katakana F by itself or followed by a ‘u’ sound is represented by ‘フfu’. F followed by other vowels are written with ‘フ　fu’ and small ァa　ィi　ェe　ォo ie. fa ファ　fi　フィ　fe フェ　fo フォ Example: family = ファミリー　(famirii)

20. Practice – F in Katakana How would you read these words? フィルム　　フェリー Can you write this word in katakana? France (furansu)

21. ANSWERS How would you read these words? フィルム　　フェリー firumu (film) ferii (ferry) Can you write this word in katakana? フランス France (furansu)

22. W in Katakana The ‘w’ sound in Japanese can occur with ‘a’ and written in katakana as ‘ワ wa’. For all other vowels after the ‘w’ sound changes the ‘w’ to ‘ウ u’ followed by and small ィi　ェe　ォo ie. wi　ウィ　we ウェ　wo ウォ Example: water = 　ウォーター (uootaa)

23. Practice – W in Katakana How would you read these words? ウエーター　ウィーク Can you write this word in katakana? whiskey (uisukii)

24. ANSWERS How would you read these words? ウエーター　　ウィーク ueetaa (waiter) uiiku (week) Can you write this word in katakana? ウィスキー whiskey (uisukii)

25. L and R in Katakana L and R are written as ‘r’ in Katakana. Example: milk = 　ミルク　(miruku)

26. Practice – L and R in Katakana How would you read these words? ベルト　コーラ Can you write this word in katakana? rule (ruuru)

27. ANSWERS How would you read these words? ベルト　　コーラ beruto koora Can you write this word in katakana? ルール rule (ruuru)

28. Ti, Di, Tu in Katakana The ‘ti’ sound changes to ‘ティ’(typed texi) (or traditionally ‘チ chi’) The ‘di’ sound changes to ‘ディ’(typed dexi) (or traditionally ‘ジ ji’) The ‘tu’ sound changes to ‘ツ tsu’ or ‘チュ chu’ Example: party = 　パーティー　(paatii) radio = 　ラジオ　(rajio)

29. Practice – Ti, Di and Tu How would you read these words? ティシュティー Can you write this word in katakana? candy (kyandii)

30. ANSWERS How would you read these words? ティシュティー tishu (tissue) tii (tea) Can you write this word in katakana? キャンディー candy (kyandii)

31. Th in Katakana The ‘th’ sound usually changes to ‘s’ (soft ‘th’) or ‘z’ (hard ‘th’) sound (sometimes it changes to just a ‘t’ sound) Example: leather 　レザー　(rezaa)

32. Practice – Th in Katakana How would you read this word? マザーシアター Can you write this word in katakana? The beatles (za biitoruzu)

33. ANSWERS How would you read these words? マザーシアター mazaa (mother)shiataa (theatre) Can you write this word in katakana? ザ・ビートルズ The beatles (za biitoruzu)

34. V in Katakana The ‘v’ sound usually changes to ‘b’. (recently katakana ‘u’ with a tenten ‘ヴ vu’ is used) Example: valentine’s day = バレンタインデー(barentaindee)

35. Practice – V in Katakana How would you read this word? ビデオゲーム Can you write this word in katakana?

36. ANSWERS How would you read these words? ビデオゲーム bideogeemu (video game) Can you write this word in katakana? ベジャテリアン vegetarian (bejaterian)

37. Ye in Katakana The ‘y’ sound in Japanese only occurs with ‘a, u, o’. There is no ‘ye’ sound so this is changed into katakana by writing it as ‘イエ ie’. Example: yellow = イェロー (ieroo)

38. Practice – Ye in Katakana How would you read this word? イヤー Can you write this word in katakana? Yale (ieru)

39. ANSWERS How would you read this word? イヤー iyaa (year) Can you write this word in katakana? イエル Yale (ieru)