Katakana Practice Set

Kanji Learning Today: Workbook Katakana

Purpose This practice set is provided so that a student can review or begin to learn katakana. This syllabary is good to know for the many foreign words that have been adapted for use in the Japanese language, such as コンピューター (konpyuutaa, “computer”). It is also used for the formation of some new words and the representation of some company names. In this ever-evolving world, there will always be new words appearing in katakana. However, even though katakana is important, it is not as critical for the beginning learner as hiragana. Katakana is simply a mirror image of hiragana; it is implemented in specific situations to better identify words. The learner should master hiragana immediately and leave katakana for later. In the context of striving to attain good facility with the Japanese language, it can even be argued that kanji are more important for the beginner than katakana. This is because katakana is merely an alternate syllabary used for specific purposes. Nevertheless, many important words are presented in katakana, and the student should eventually learn it. Learning hiragana and katakana is also good preparation for using the Kanji Learning Today workbooks from Blue Sea Press and available at KanjiFind.com.

About Katakana Katakana has a one-to-one correspondence to the hiragana syllabary, and therefore it presents the Go-Juu On syllables. As with hiragana, 濁音 (dakuon) are used to represent slightly different consonant sounds. Using syllables that parallel the examples given in the introduction to the Hiragana Practice Set, the katakana ハ represents the basic sound ha, バ represents the related sound ba, and パ represents the sound pa. The glottal stop is represented by a small ッ, which is the same shape as the character ツ (tsu). An extended vowel sound, shown in hiragana by placing an adjacent vowel, such as with どうも (doumo, “thank you”), is shown with katakana by an extension line, called 棒線 (bousen), as with ドーム (doumu, “dome”).

Writing Katakana Refer to the Stroke Order Page for stroke sequence. The sequence and direction for drawing strokes is basically top-to-bottom and left-to-right. Write each katagana character one time during a practice session. Repeat practice sessions. In the Practice Pages, the hiragana equivalent is given in brackets for reference. The katakana characterヲ (corresponding to hiragana を ) is given although it is rarely used.

ア A (ah)［あ］

イ I (ee)［い］

ウ U (oo)［う］

エ E (eh)［え］

オ O (oh)［お］

カ Ka［か］

キ Ki［き］

ク Ku［く］

ケ Ke［け］

コ Ko［こ］

サ Sa［さ］

シ Shi［し］

ス Su［す］

セ Se［せ］

ソ So［そ］

タ Ta［た］

チ Chi［ち］

ツ Tsu［つ］

テ Te［て］

ト To［と］

ナ Na［な］

ニ Ni［に］

ヌ Nu［ぬ］

ネ Ne［ね］

ノ No［の］

ハ Ha［は］

ヒ Hi［ひ］

フ Fu［ふ］

ヘ He［へ］

ホ Ho［ほ］

マ Ma［ま］

ミ Mi［み］

ム Mu［む］

メ Me［め］

モ Mo［も］

ヤ Ya［や］

ユ Yu［ゆ］

ヨ Yo［よ］

ラ Ra［ら］

リ Ri［り］

ル Ru［る］

レ Re［れ］

ロ Ro［ろ］

ワ Wa［わ］

ヲ Wo［を］

ン Nn［ん］