Learn how to read and write katakana characters, タ, チ, ツ, テ, ト
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| みなさんこんにちは。(Mina-san, konnichiwa) |
| Hi everyone. I am Chihiro and welcome back to JapanesePod101.com’s Kantan kana series. In the last lesson, we learned the katakana characters サ(sa), シ(shi), ス(su), セ(se) and ソ(so). Does it feel like you just started learning Katakana? After this lesson, you will be done with twenty of them. Keep up the pace and don’t forget to review. |
| We will start with タ(ta). 1, 2, 3. This character is exactly like ク(ku) except for the final stroke. Here is セーター(sētā), “sweater” and タクシー(takushī), “taxi”. |
| Next up is チ(chi). 1, 2, 3. Be careful that you draw the first stroke with the slight angle. Here is コーチ(kōchi), “coach”. |
| Let’s take a look at ツ(tsu). 1, 2, 3. Okay I know what you are thinking. Remember シ(shi) from the last lesson. These two kana look almost exactly the same. In fact, a lot of people confuse these and it even trips up the advanced students. Let’s learn it right the first time. |
| With シ(shi), all three strokes went from left to right starting from the left edge but with ツ(tsu) all strokes go from top to bottom along the top. So when you are trying to figure out which character is which, just remember this. If you connect all the strokes with the line across the left side, it’s シ(shi) for side. If you connect them along the top, it’s ツ(tsu) for top. Here is スーツ(sūtsu), “suit” and ツアー(tsuā), “tour”. |
| Next is テ(te). 1, 2, 3. If you think of it as a television antenna テ(te) is pretty easy to remember. What do you think テキサス(tekisasu) is? It’s the American state Texas. |
| Today’s last katakana is ト(to). 1, 2. Here is テスト(tesuto), “test” and トースト(tōsuto), “toast”. |
| Now let’s have a short quiz. I will show you the word in katakana and you read it. Bonus points if you remember what it means. |
| タクシー(takushī), “taxi” |
| スーツ(sūtsu), “suit” |
| トースト(tōsuto), “toast” |
| Now it’s time for Chihiro’s tip. Were you able to tell that テキサス(Tekisasu) was Texas? If you want to talk about your own hometown in Japanese, you should transcribe it into katakana first. Los Angeles is ロサンゼルス(Rosanzerusu) and London is ロンドン(Rondon). Try to figure out how to say your hometown, state or country in katakana. Then find a Japanese map and look at how you pronounce different country names in Japanese. |
| 20 down, 26 to go. We will go past the halfway mark in the next video. So keep it up. |
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