Katakana Review

PART ONE - ADDING THE "TEN TEN"

How to make the 'ten-ten' letters. A 'ten-ten' is like a double- quote (") It changes the sound of the letter to a harder sound. You can ONLY 'ten-ten' the 'K' row, the 'S' row, the 'T' row and the 'H' row. (look at the chart to the right - the red ones are the ones with slightly difficult pronunciation)

Now look at the chart below. You will see that

• the 'K' row becomes 'G' (still the same good ole カ ka only with a ten-ten ; notice it is a harder sound)

• the 'S' row becomes 'Z' (again harder sound)

• the 'T' row becomes 'D'

• the 'H' row becomes 'B' or 'P' ('B' is with a ten-ten (ex. バ ba) and 'P' is with a circle (ex. パ pa))

NOTE: Actually if you allow it to sink in, the sound changes seem quite logical. You will get used to it quickly

PART TWO - LAST - Some finishing touches

• There are only 5 vowel sounds
• All other characters (except ン n ) are made of a consonant sound and one of the 5 vowel sounds.
• The not-so-logical-pronunciation letters are チ chi , ツ tsu , and フ fu . BE CAREFUL
• The R letters are pronounced somewhere between the R and L sounds of English - Click here for more
• ンn cannot be used to start a word
• A small ツ tsu causes a slight pause or break between syllables. For example in English we say a slight pause after "boo k " in "boo K C lub"
• You cannot 'ten-ten' vowels
• Combinations are formed using only ヤ ya, ユ yu, and ヨ yo 'helpers' and the i column (ki, shi, chi, ni, hi, mi, ri)