09.07.07
Japanese writing system.
Japanese writing system contains of 3 types of characters: Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji.
Hiragana (ひらがな）- the most basic type, consisting of 47 characters, and is mainly used for function words, (at, in, on.. ) , original Japanese words and inflection enders (negatives, tense)
Katana (カタカナ） - Is used mainly for foreign imported words. That’s English, Portugese, French and so on. There also 47 of them. I call it the Japanese way of Japane-fying their word.. Once imported, though the meanings are retained, the pronunciation takes on a new life.
Kanji （かんじ） - These are imported words from China thousands of years ago. It’s like vocabulary, it never stops growing. Usually Japanese names are written in this form. You also find it mixed in with Hiragana. It is said that in order to read the newspaper, you need to master about 2500 Kanji.. ouch.. right now I am at like 30. Hopefully, this time next year, I know about 100 more. がんばります