Frank's Do-It-Yourself Kana Cards V

Home , Chi (kana), Fu (kana), Ha (kana), Hi (kana), Ki (kana), Me (kana)

Frank's do-it-yourself kana cards v. 1.0, 2000-08-07 Frank Stajano University of Cambridge and AT&T Laboratories Cambridge http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~fms27/ and http://www.uk.research.att.com/~fms/

This set of flash cards is meant to help you familiar cards and insist on the difficult part of き and さ with a separate stroke, become fluent in the use of the Japanese ones. unlike what happens in the fonts used in hiragana and katakana syllabaries. I made this document. I have followed the stroke it because I needed one myself and could The complete set consists of 10 double- counts of Henshall-Takagaki, even when not find it in the local bookshops (kanji sided sheets (20 printable pages) of 50 they seem weird for the shape of the char- cards were available, and I bought those; cards each, but you may choose to print acter as drawn on the card. but kana cards weren't); if it helps you too, smaller subsets as detailed below. Actu- so much the better. ally there are some blanks, so the total The easiest way to turn this document into number of cards is only 428 instead of 500. a set of cards is simply to print it (double The romanisation system chosen for these It would have been possible to fit them on sided of course!) and then cut each page cards is the Hepburn, which is the most 9 sheets instead of 10, but only by com- into cards with a ruler and a sharp blade. widely used one. The Hepburn system pletely ignoring the natural structure of However, ordinary 80 g/m2 laser printer tries to represent the Japanese pronuncia- the sets. This would have made it harder paper is a bit too thin for this purpose: the tion as faithfully as possible, and therefore for you to print subsets and for me to cards won't be very easy to handle (mix- appears inconsistent in places, especially avoid silly mistakes of the kind where the ing the deck will be the hardest part) and in the S (sa shi su se so) and T (ta chi tsu front and the back of a card no longer it will be easy inadvertently to see by te to) rows and derived combinations. The match. The essential core of the set is in transparency what is on the other side of a Kunrei system, the official romanisation the first two sheets, which show the hira- card as you hold it up. Using heavier pa- system recommended by the Japanese gana and katakana rendering of the basic per is usually difficult on most printers: government, is more uniform in its tran- 46 syllables. The next two sheets, again unless the print path is straight, the sheet scription of consonants (ta ti tu te to) and one each for hiragana and katakana, list will jam. Besides, when cutting manually, looks more logical, but produces spellings the voiced sound (dakuon) variants and it is unlikely that the cards will end up that do not immediately suggest the ap- the first part of the contracted sound being all of exactly the same size. I was propriate pronunciation (e.g. “Huzi” for (yōon) combinations. The fifth sheet, half lucky enough to be able to take advantage “Fuji”). The rarely used Nippon system is for hiragana and half for katakana, has the of the professional services of the print very similar to the Kunrei system and remaining yōon combinations. These first shop of the University of Cambridge even more regular. It is the only one of the five sheets are set in a serif font that imi- (thanks, Bruce!) and the results were out- three with a distinct romanisation for each tates the traditional “Ming”. The next five standing. If you can afford to do some- kana sign: じ and ぢ, for example, from sheets contain exactly the same characters, thing similar, it will be well worth it. To the Z and D rows, are respectively ren- in the same arrangement, but in a sans help with cutting, especially on a motor- dered as ji and ji in Hepburn, as zi and zi serif “Gothic” font. This modern font is ised guillotine, I have left a wide bottom in Kunrei, and as zi and di in Nippon. I perhaps less elegant, but it makes it a bit margin of about 3 cm. To allow for small have therefore added the Nippon version easier to distinguish the beginning and tolerances in positioning, I have not in brackets to all the cards where the Hep- end of individual strokes, as in the cases printed any cutting lines around the edges burn rōmaji was ambiguous. This ensures of ふ versus ふ, or む versus む. It is of of the cards; but the grid printed on the that, for each side of each card, what ap- course useful to learn to recognise both; back of this page may be used as a guide, pears on the other side is uniquely deter- fortunately, this is much easier than you since it corresponds exactly to the invisi- mined. might think. As an extra bonus, I have ble grid on the other sheets. added stroke order numbers to the Gothic Each card has a kana symbol or symbol versions (both hiragana and katakana) of A substantial amount of effort has gone combination on one side and the corre- the basic 46 syllables. The number appears into the production of these cards. I sponding rōmaji on the other side. The near the beginning of the corresponding hereby donate this work to the public obvious way to use the cards for practice stroke. Note that textbooks (and font de- domain, so feel free to use these cards in drills, or at least the one I use, is to draw signers) disagree on the stroke count of any way you like without any obligation cards at random and say (or write down) some characters: for example, Henshall- towards me. If you wish to print them out what should be on the other side. Thanks Takagaki1 lists そ as having three strokes, commercially and resell them in the hope to the disambiguation mentioned above while JFBP2 says it has only one; similarly, of making lots of money, good luck to you this can be done in either direction, from both of the above texts draw the bottom — it's fine by me. The original file is and kana to rōmaji and vice versa. Of course, if always will be freely available on the web you are just starting, you may limit your- as fms-kana.pdf (currently at the URLs self to the subset of kana you know; 1 K. Henshall, T. Takagaki, A guide to learning hira- above, but use a search engine if you find whereas, as you become more proficient, gana and katakana, Tuttle, 1990, 0-8048-1633-8. that my web pages have moved). you may wish to drop some of the more 2 AJALT, Japanese For Busy People I (revised ed.), Kodansha, 1994, 4-7700-1882-7.

1 Cutting guide

Here is an index to the con- tents of this document, which may be useful if you only wish to print a subset of the cards.

Pages 1-2

Introduction, reference cutting grid and index

Pages 7-8 Pages 9-10 Pages 11-12 Pages 3-4 Pages 5-6

Hiragana dakuon Katakana dakuon Remainder of hiragana Hiragana basic syllables Katakana basic syllables and first part of yōon and first part of yōon and katakana yōon (Ming-style typeface) (Ming-style typeface) (Ming-style typeface) (Ming-style typeface) (Ming-style typeface)

Pages 13-14 Pages 15-16 Pages 17-18 Pages 19-20 Pages 21-22

Hiragana basic syllables Katakana basic syllables Hiragana dakuon Katakana dakuon Remainder of hiragana with stroke order numbers with stroke order numbers and first part of yōon and first part of yōon and katakana yōon (Gothic-style typeface) (Gothic -style typeface) (Gothic -style typeface) (Gothic -style typeface) (Gothic -style typeface)

Frank’s Frank’s do-it-yourself kana cards do-it-yourself kana cards

http://www.uk.research http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/ .att.com/~fms/fms-kana.pdf ~fms27/fms-kana.pdf

2 あいうえお

かきくけこ

さしすせそ

たちつてと

なにぬねの

はひふへほ

まみむめも

やゆよ

らりるれろ

わんを

3 o (o) e u i a hiragana hiragana hiragana hiragana hiragana ko ke ku ki ka hiragana hiragana hiragana hiragana hiragana so se su shi sa hiragana hiragana hiragana hiragana hiragana to te tsu chi ta hiragana hiragana hiragana hiragana hiragana no ne nu ni na hiragana hiragana hiragana hiragana hiragana ho he fu hi ha hiragana hiragana hiragana hiragana hiragana mo me mu mi ma hiragana hiragana hiragana hiragana hiragana yo yu ya hiragana hiragana hiragana ro re ru ri ra hiragana hiragana hiragana hiragana hiragana o (wo) n wa hiragana hiragana hiragana

4 アイウエオ

カキクケコ

サシスセソ

タチツテト

ナニヌネノ

ハヒフヘホ

マミムメモ

ヤユヨ

ラリルレロ

ワンヲ

5 o (o) e u i a katakana katakana katakana katakana katakana ko ke ku ki ka katakana katakana katakana katakana katakana so se su shi sa katakana katakana katakana katakana katakana to te tsu chi ta katakana katakana katakana katakana katakana no ne nu ni na katakana katakana katakana katakana katakana ho he fu hi ha katakana katakana katakana katakana katakana mo me mu mi ma katakana katakana katakana katakana katakana yo yu ya katakana katakana katakana ro re ru ri ra katakana katakana katakana katakana katakana o (wo) n wa katakana katakana katakana

6 がぎぐげご

ざじずぜぞ

だぢづでど

ばびぶべぼ

ぱぴぷぺぽ

きゃきゅきょ

しゃしゅしょ

ちゃちゅちょ

にゃにゅにょ

ひゃひゅひょ

7 go ge gu gi ga hiragana hiragana hiragana hiragana hiragana zo ze zu (zu) ji (zi) za hiragana hiragana hiragana hiragana hiragana

do de zu (du) ji (di) da hiragana hiragana hiragana hiragana hiragana bo be bu bi ba hiragana hiragana hiragana hiragana hiragana po pe pu pi pa hiragana hiragana hiragana hiragana hiragana kyo kyu kya hiragana hiragana hiragana

sho shu sha hiragana hiragana hiragana

cho chu cha hiragana hiragana hiragana

nyo nyu nya hiragana hiragana hiragana

hyo hyu hya hiragana hiragana hiragana

8 ガギグゲゴ

ザジズゼゾ

ダヂヅデド

バビブベボ

パピプペポ

キャキュキョ

シャシュショ

チャチュチョ

ニャニュニョ

ヒャヒュヒョ

9 go ge gu gi ga katakana katakana katakana katakana katakana zo ze zu (zu) ji (zi) za katakana katakana katakana katakana katakana

do de zu (du) ji (di) da katakana katakana katakana katakana katakana bo be bu bi ba katakana katakana katakana katakana katakana po pe pu pi pa katakana katakana katakana katakana katakana kyo kyu kya katakana katakana katakana

sho shu sha katakana katakana katakana

cho chu cha katakana katakana katakana

nyo nyu nya katakana katakana katakana

hyo hyu hya katakana katakana katakana

10 みゃりゃぎゃじゃぢゃ

みゅりゅぎゅじゅぢゅ

みょりょぎょじょぢょ

びゃびゅびょ

ぴゃぴゅぴょ

ミャリャギャジャヂャ

ミュリュギュジュヂュ

ミョリョギョジョヂョ

ビャビュビョ

ピャピュピョ

11 ja (dya) ja (zya) gya rya mya hiragana hiragana hiragana hiragana hiragana ju (dyu) ju (zyu) gyu ryu myu hiragana hiragana hiragana hiragana hiragana

jo (dyo) jo (zyo) gyo ryo myo hiragana hiragana hiragana hiragana hiragana byo byu bya hiragana hiragana hiragana

pyo pyu pya hiragana hiragana hiragana ja (dya) ja (zya) gya rya mya katakana katakana katakana katakana katakana ju (dyu) ju (zyu) gyu ryu myu katakana katakana katakana katakana katakana jo (dyo) jo (zyo) gyo ryo myo katakana katakana katakana katakana katakana byo byu bya katakana katakana katakana

pyo pyu pya katakana katakana katakana

12 2 2 1 1 2 1 3 1 3 1 2 2

あいうえ3 お

3 1 3 2 1 3 1 1 2 1 2 2 かき4 くけこ

2 1 2 3 2 1 2 1 1 1 3 3 さしすせそ

2 2 1

1 1 1 1 2 3

た4 ちつてと

2 1 1 1 2 1 3 1 2 2 4 3 なにぬねの

1 3 1 1 4 1 2 2 2 4 3 1

はひ 3ふへほ

3 2 1 1 2 1 2 3 1 1 2 2 3 まみむめも

2 2 3 1 2 1

1 やゆよ

1 1 1 2 1 2 1 2 らりるれろ

1 1 2 1 2 3 わんを

13 o (o) e u i a hiragana hiragana hiragana hiragana hiragana ko ke ku ki ka hiragana hiragana hiragana hiragana hiragana so se su shi sa hiragana hiragana hiragana hiragana hiragana to te tsu chi ta hiragana hiragana hiragana hiragana hiragana no ne nu ni na hiragana hiragana hiragana hiragana hiragana ho he fu hi ha hiragana hiragana hiragana hiragana hiragana mo me mu mi ma hiragana hiragana hiragana hiragana hiragana yo yu ya hiragana hiragana hiragana ro re ru ri ra hiragana hiragana hiragana hiragana hiragana o (wo) n wa hiragana hiragana hiragana

14 1 1 2 1 3 1 1 2 2 2 2 3 アイウ 3エオ

2 3 1 1

1 1 1 2 2 3 2 カキクケコ2

3 1 2 2 2 1 1 1 2 2 1

サシ3 スセソ

1 1 1 2 3 2 1 1 3 2 2 2 3 3 タチツテト

2 1 1 1 1 2 1 2 3 4 2 ナニヌネノ

2 2 1 2 1 1 1 3 4 1 ハヒフヘホ

1 1 1 1 1 2 3 2 2 2 2 マミ3 ムメモ

2 1 1 1 2 ヤ 2 ユヨ3

2 1 2 1 2 1 1 1 2 ラリルレロ3

2 3 1 1 1 2

ワン2 ヲ

15 o (o) e u i a katakana katakana katakana katakana katakana ko ke ku ki ka katakana katakana katakana katakana katakana so se su shi sa katakana katakana katakana katakana katakana to te tsu chi ta katakana katakana katakana katakana katakana no ne nu ni na katakana katakana katakana katakana katakana ho he fu hi ha katakana katakana katakana katakana katakana mo me mu mi ma katakana katakana katakana katakana katakana yo yu ya katakana katakana katakana ro re ru ri ra katakana katakana katakana katakana katakana o (wo) n wa katakana katakana katakana

16 がぎぐげご