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HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

The main aim of this book is to help students achieve competence in reading and writing kana, the phonetic symbols that are fundamental to written Japanese. The book starts with a section entitled “An Explanation of Kana”, which contains everything the student will need to know about the two kana systems of hiragana and katakana. Part I of the workbook section then systematically introduces each hiragana symbol, voiced form, and combination, and provides ample practice and review. Part II does the same for katakana, while Part III provides an overall review.

The “Explanation of Kana ” outlines the function and origin of kana, the difference between the two kana systems, the various sounds, the combinations, and the conventions of usage. It attempts to be detailed and thorough so that it can be used for reference at any stage. Though all the information about kana is grouped together in this one section for ease of reference, it is not expected that the student will read it all before starting on the practice pages. In fact, to do so might give the impression that kana are perhaps rather formidable, which is not really the case at all. (Just ask any Japanese child!) We recommend that the student start work on the hiragana practice pages after reading the first three subsections on the function, origin, and basic sounds of kana. After finishing practice of the forty-six basic hiragana symbols the student should go back to the “Explanation” and read the subsection on additional sounds, then work through the rest of the hiragana practice pages before moving on to the katakana practice. The final subsection, on other points to note, is mostly concerned with special katakana combinations and can be left until the appropriate point in the katakana practice pages, just prior to the final review. Students may modify this order, but we recommend finishing practice of one kana system before moving on to the next.

In the practice pages of Parts I and II each kana symbol is allotted half a page, permitting plenty of writing practice in the boxes given. We suggest working in pencil, rather than ink, as this will allow for erasing and repeated use. Stroke order and pronunciation information are also given for each symbol and audio pronunciation files are available on the Tuttle website (see page 6). In addition, for each symbol there is an illustration of its graphic evolution from its “parent” character (see “Explanation of Kana ”) and a reference number for that character as it occurs in A Guide to Remembering Japanese Characters (Tuttle, 1988). This may be of interest to readers wishing to continue their studies of written Japanese to an advanced level. (However, some of the original characters are no longer commonly used and therefore are not included in A Guide to Remembering Japanese Characters .)

After approximately every ten symbols there are “mini review” pages for further practice, this time using whole words. These are cumulative, containing symbols not only from the group just completed but from earlier groups. The mini reviews can be used purely for copying practice, or, by covering the cue kana on the left side of the page, as more challenging writing exercises. They can also be used as vocabulary exercises.

Part III, the Final Review, contains exercises, quizzes, and “do-it-yourself” charts. Unlike the reviews in the first two parts it combines the two kana systems, as is natural in Japanese texts. And for a more natural effect the boxes used earlier in the book to help achieve even spacing and proper stroke lengths are dispensed with in this final part.

The words appearing in the reviews have been carefully chosen in keeping with an additional aim of this book, which is to expose readers to key words related to Japanese society and culture. The prime criterion for selecting review words was their suitability for practicing the kana symbols, but we thought it would be helpful to students if in addition these words could, whenever possible, have particular relevance to Japanese culture. About half of the 450 or so vocabulary items in the book fall into this category. It is beyond the scope of the book to explain these in detail, but students who take the trouble to find out more about them will be rewarded with a broadened appreciation of Japan’s society and culture. In short, we intend that these words should be used as a sort of checklist for an exploration of Japan, rather than simply memorized as isolated vocabulary items.

Readers will occasionally encounter a semicolon between English equivalents given for a Japanese review word. This indicates that the Japanese word is a homophone, that is, a word having a different meaning but the same sound as another. Normally these homophones would be written with different characters, but when expressed in phonetic kana script or romanization such differentiation is not possible. The English words separated by a semicolon thus refer to different Japanese words sharing the same kana form. (Commas between English words simply indicate nuances of the same word.) It should also be noted that there is sometimes a subtle difference in intonation between “homophones,” which cannot be determined from the kana or romanization.

Finally, to assist readers with the correct pronunciation of the kana syllables, vocabulary words, and model sentences introduced in this book, a set of audio files recorded by a native Japanese speaker is available free of charge on the Tuttle website. For each page that is marked in the book with a headset symbol ( ), you will find the corresponding audio file at www.tuttlepublishing.com. Note that as hiragana and katakana syllables have the same pronunciation, audio files for individual syllable pronunciation are only included for the hiragana section of the book.