How to write in Japanese Katakana (Basics)

Before we begin, I suggest installing Japanese support first, to avoid seeing squares. --> http://blog.greggman.com/blog/japanese_input_on_windows_xp/

Okay. Let's begin.

First, this is the Katakana chart. --> http://www.easyjapanese.org/img/katakana_chart.jpg

RULES (will be updated as soon as I find more):

1. Names are written the way they sound, not the way they are spelled. Ignore doubles in spellings (depending on situation).
ex. Hazel --> ヘイゼル (heizeru), Hayley --> ヘイリー(heirii)

2. To spell words with DI/DIE or DY, use the デ(de) character. Same goes for TI/TIE and TY, but sometimes you can use チ(chi) which could also read as "ti". This is most commonly used in words ending in Y.
ex. Lady Gaga --> レディ・ガガ (redi gaga), Nathan --> ネイザン(neizan), Raffy --> ラッフィー(raffi)

3. Japanese doesn't have an L sound, so use the R sounds instead. It's the same thing.
ex. Lalay --> ラライ (rarai), Lizette --> リゼット（risetto)

4. Words ending in consonants (or sound ending in consonants) uses the consonant with U. Example, ending in L uses ル(ru), ending in S uses ス(su), etc. R however uses A, as in BEAR --> ベア(bea)
ex. Kristel --> クリステル(kurisuteru), Flores --> フロレス(furoresu), Noel --> ノエル(noeru)

5. Words with TH becomes Z or S sound.
ex. Theodore --> セオドア(seodoa), Keith --> キーズ（kiizu)

6. Words with long I sound such as HEAT becomes ヒート(hiito), wherein a prolonger dash is used after the ヒ(hi). Also mostly used with the ディ(di) and ティ(ti) characters.
ex. Teddy --> テッディー(teddii), Kelly --> ケリー(kerii)

7. R sounds become A in special conditions.
ex. Speaker --> スピーカー(supiikaa), Doctor --> ドクター(dokutaa)

8. Words ending in T and D sound have special transformations. They become ト(to),　ット(tto)　ド(do)　ッド(ddo) depeneding on the word.
ex. List -->リスト(risuto), Best -->ベスト(besuto), Text --> テクスト(tekusuto)

9. V sounds are transformed into B sounds. Although there are V sounds ヴァ　ヴィ　ヴ　ヴェ　ヴォ　(va vi vu ve vo), they are used rarely.
ex. Chavit --> チャビット(chabitto), David -->デビッド(debiddo)

10. For F sounds: ファ(fa)　フィ(fi)　フ(fu)　フェ(fe)　フォ(fo). フ(fu) can also be pronounced as HU.
ex. Fhil --> フィル(firu), Ferarri --> フェラッリー(ferarri)

11. The use of the mini ッ(tsu) is for double consonants and double sound (especially in -TION words).
ex. Lamination --> ラミネッション(raminesshon), Passion --> パッション(passhon)

12. Use the ン(n) for words ending and sounding in N. However, there are exceptions (for the soundings), such as ALBUM --> アルバム(arubamu), where the ending N becomes ム(mu) because M is used.
ex. Adam --> アダム(adamu), Len --> レン（ren)

13. TSU can be read as TU.
ex. Tulfo --> ツルフォ(tsurufo)

14. Use the character ・for separating spaced words.
ex. Shiela Lynn --> シーラ・リン(shiira rin)

IF YOU HAVE OTHER QUESTIONS OR VIOLENT REACTIONS, FEEL FREE TO COMMENT.

All content based on my self-studying, no copypastas.

(c) Kristel "Kazaki" Cuadra. For learning purposes only. =)

Hummm
I didn't understand well this one

Like, in which cases we use Katakana?

I'm totally newbie in this so I'm kinda shy to ask anything

Whoops, sorry about that.

Katakana is used for Foreign stuff like foreign words, terms, names, etc.
In short, they're for foreign proper nouns. And sometimes (a guide for Japanese) for pronouncing English words.

And Kowarero and Pepen?
They are both not-foreign words and Katakana is used for they

(Sorry for any newbie-ism)

Yeah, like kazaki03 said, katakana is mainly used for loan words, but katakana can also be used in other cases. Katakana can be used to add more emphasis to the word, to replace difficult kanji that the target audience may not be able to read, or for names.

I'm guessing Kowarero is spelled コワレロ for emphasis, and pepen is spelled ペペン because it is a name. Normally Japanese names are spelled with kanji and hiragana, but fictional characters and foreign names will often be spelled in katakana.

I forgot to mention that katakana is also used for onomatopoeias. If the word that represents something sounds like the thing it describes basically.

Does that help?

It helped a lot, thanks

Later I will search for the Japanese names of AT to see if I can read the Higarana.

I have been training it a lot lately XD

Also, I will search for more Lyrics, to see if I already memorized something :P

Katakana is also used for scientific names and to write the Chinese pronunciation of kanji (on-yomi).
I know katakana, but I hate it >.<

¬ Bru wrote:Katakana is also used for scientific names and to write the Chinese pronunciation of kanji (on-yomi).
I know katakana, but I hate it >.<

I would think katakana would be awesome. It basically tells you if a word is a loan word, and most loan words are from English. I'm learning other languages that do not have a different character set for loan words, and sometimes it is near impossible to tell that a word is a cognate if you have not seen the word before. ><

I hate katakana because I can't effing tell between tsu and shi, and so and n, not to mention to write them properly to distinguish between the two orz

LavenderYuki wrote:I hate katakana because I can't effing tell between tsu and shi, and so and n, not to mention to write them properly to distinguish between the two orz

There is a little trick for understand the difference: if we write "shi" in katakana we can see that the two "lines" are near the lower part of the kana, and combining all the points, we can obtain a kana very similar to the respective hiragana: シ -> し, in the same way, in the other kana, we can see that the "lines" are in the upper part of the kana, and we obtain the kana "tsu" if we combine all the points　ツ ->　つ.
And all of these have a different way of being written: "shi" an "n" from bottom to top, "tsu" and "so" from top to bottom.
I hope it is clear >.<

ツ is a guy looking to the ground

and シ is a guy looking to the sky

:Trollface:

I also have a confusion with so（ソ） and n（ン） when deciphering them.
But now I guess I get it a little bit, because of the upper quote.

kazaki03 wrote:I also have a confusion with so（ソ） and n（ン） when deciphering them.
But now I guess I get it a little bit, because of the upper quote.

My teacher taught me that the difference is on how you draw the strokes. For "shi" and "n", you draw the last stroke up ('to the sky'), while for "tsu" and "so" you draw the last stroke down ('to the ground').

Thanks freija-san!

You are welcome! Personally for me it helps a lot, so I hope it can help you too.