Sunday, June 23, 2019

Writing / Typing Japanese: Dotted letters and so on

I'll tell you how to type beyond usual Hiragana chart.

Japanese Hiragana and Katakana, if you add two dots  after those letters for example

かきくけこ
Ka Ki Ku Ke Ko

add " at the right above those letters, they becomes

がぎぐげご

it pronounces

Ga Gi Gu Ge Go

Same for さしすせそ becomes

ざじずぜぞ

Za Zi Zu Ze Zo

だぢづでど

Da Di Du De Do

ばびぶべぼ

Ba Bi Bu Be Bo

Then, if you put small circle at the right side above, they becomes

ぱぴぷぺぽ

Pa Pi Pu Pe Po


Next, if you put little や、ゆ、よ after certain letters, you will pronounce for example,

きゃ = kya
きゅ = kyu
きょ = kyo

Like when you type kyouto (Kyoto) きょうと =京都 in Kanji

you will see よ is little smaller.

Sha Shu Sho
しゃしゅしょ

Tya Tyu Tyo
ちゃちゅちょ

Nya Nyu Nyo
にゃにゅにょ

Hya Hyu Hyo
ひゃひゅひょ

Mya Myu Myo
みゃみゅみょ

Rya Ryu Ryo
りゃりゅりょ

Gya Gyu Gyo
ぎゃきゅぎょ

Ja Ju Jo
じゃじゅじょ

Bya Byu Byo
びゃびゅびょ

Pya Pyu Pyo
ぴゃぴゅぴょ


Monday, June 17, 2019

Writing / Type in Japanese on your computer

Hi,

I'll show you how to type (write) Japanese on your computer.

There are ways to type in using the alphabet.

before you start, you need to set up input enabled in Japanese, If you are using a mac, go to System Preferences from the Apple menu, click on the blue flag icon labeled Language & Region. Click on the button marked with a plus sign in the lower left to add a new language, then select Japanese from the menu and click the Add button. You also need to add the setting for the keyboard. go to the keyboard, input source, add Japanese.   I think it's similar for Windows users, please google "how to type Japanese on windows" and find out.


Lately, Japanese people use this type of keyboard on the smartphone. You tap the letter until you get the one you want on the row of, for example, if you want to input "う" you press "あ" three-time sinceうlocates at the third letter of a row of あ.

There are three kinds of letters in Japanese.

One is Hiragana, ひらがな

then,  Katakana カタカナ

the last one is Kanji, 漢字  Chinese characters have meaning in each one.

Let's start from Hiragana.

By the way, I made this Hiragana and Katakana chart sold at zazzle.com please visit the page, you can see the image and study or you can order a poster online!


change the setting to Hiragana. on the top right side, change the icon to hiragana usually says "あ" in Japanese. there is a shortcut on mac control and space, for windows, alt, and shift.



The first row is vowels, a i u e o

あいうえお

you'll notice the underline shows up, if you press the space key, it will give you the option to change to kanji, you need to press enter to make "あ" to confirm the letter.

when you add consonant, K it becomes Ka ki ku ke ko

かきくけこ

next line is S, Sa si su se so

さしすせそ

T Ta ti tu te to (it pronounces chi and tsu)

たちつてと

N Na ni nu ne no

なにぬねの

H Ha  hi hu he ho

はひふへほ

M Ma mi mu me mo



Y Ya        Yu       Yo

やゆよ

only have 3 on this row since the pronunciation is the same as vowel "i" and "e"

R Ra ri ru re ro

らりるれろ

 I think it's rather pronounced L There are no pronunciation represents L and R differences in Japanese. It's still hard for me to say in English. There's a simple reason why Japanese people can't pronounce R and L correctly. They don't exist in Japanese.

wa wo only two letters on this row.

わ を

n is the last word. Type twice then hit enter.





Tuesday, June 11, 2019

Japan trip - Shizuoka and Tokyo

I went to Japan to see my family in May.  

I left Japan 20 years ago. 

The price of the food is really affordable if you choose. For breakfast, I had rice, miso soup, salmon, and pickles set for only 500 yen or so, I bought a ticket at the machine and gave it to the lady who works by herself cooking, serving, clean up, doing everything! There were at least 8 customers including me. She was working hard. at 8:00 AM it was the peak time serving for guys before going to work. After everybody left, I told her, "You were doing all by yourself, what a hard worker you are!" 
I didn't take a picture of the food. Too bad.

On the other hand, expensive food like this one a cake for 780 yen 810 yen with tax exists. It was good though.


Potato cake (heavy and filled me up) 

I stayed at Shizuoka where Mt. Fuji is, and also my family. In Tokyo, I stayed at Shin Okubo (near Shinjuku). This area is a Korean town in Tokyo. I booked at booking.com the rate was 8500 yen a night. I met up with my brother to visit my dad and grandma at the graveyard. After that, I went to Yurakucho to see my friend. 

When I got off the station, I thought I was in Harajuku. There were tons of teenagers who love K-pop (Korean pop idol group) like BTS and Twice.

I took Shinkansen to go to Shizuoka. It takes only one hour. The day I got to Japan was raining hard. I couldn't see anything but on the way back to Tokyo, I could see Mt. Fuji very clear.


Mt. Fuji from Shinkansen.


The view of Shizuoka


Shizuoka Oden: Shizuoka's soul food.



The statue from Kita san Yaji san: Travelers who walked all over Japan in the Edo era. (Fiction)



Some Shrine near Shizuoka Station.



Japanese Korean Town in Tokyo Shinokubo


Shin Okubo is filled with young people but is hard to see in this picture.



Omoide (memory) yokocho at Shinjuku. I love a little street like this.




Boba at Shin Okubo. 


I had Takoyaki (Octopus ball) final snack before leaving Japan at Narita.



Gift for Dad