More Katakana

But as you know, there are only a few more.

First Set

  1. Repeat First Step, from the previous page, on the new set of katakana symbols.

         gah  gee  goo geh  goh
          ガ　   ギ　   グ　 ゲ　   ゴ

               ga          gi           gu        ge         go

Second Set

  1. Repeat First Step, from the previous page, on this second set of katakana symbols. Notice that the second one is a "jee" sound and not a "zee" sound.

         zah  jee  zoo  zeh  zoh
         ザ　   ジ　  ズ　   ゼ　  ゾ

              za          ji          zu          ze         zo

Third Set

  1. Repeat First Step, from the previous page, on this third set of katakana symbols.

         bah  bee  boo  beh  boh
         バ    　ビ　   ブ　   ベ　  ボ

              ba          bi            bu         be         bo

Fourth Set

  1. Repeat First Step, from the previous page, on this fourth set of katakana symbols.

         pah  pee         peh  poh
         パ　     ピ　       　ペ  　ポ

              pa          pi                       pe         po

Fifth Set

  1. Repeat First Step, from the previous page, on this fifth set of katakana symbols.

         dah                deh   doh
         ダ　　         　　　　デ　    ド

              da                                    de           do

Practice Step

  1. Without looking, try writing the katakana symbol for as many of the five sets that you can.
  2. Check the above to see how you did.
  3. Keep trying until you get them all correct.

         ga          gi           gu        ge         go


         za          jii           zu        ze         zo


         ba          bi           bu        be         bo


         pa          pi                       pe         po


         da                                    de         do


First Set

  1. Repeat First Step, from the previous page, on the new set of katakana symbols.

    gah gee goo geh goh
    ガ　  ギ　  グ　  ゲ　  ゴ

    ga          gi        gu        ge         go

Second Set

  1. Repeat First Step, from the previous page, on this second set of katakana symbols. Notice that the second one is a "jee" sound and not a "zee" sound.

    zah jee zoo zeh zoh
    ザ　  ジ   ズ　 ゼ　  ゾ

    za          ji        zu       ze         zo

Third Set

  1. Repeat First Step, from the previous page, on this third set of katakana symbols.

    bah bee boo beh boh
    バ　  ビ　  ブ　  ベ　  ボ

    ba         bi         bu         be       bo

Fourth Set

  1. Repeat First Step, from the previous page, on this fourth set of katakana symbols.

    pah  pee    peh  poh
    パ　   ピ       ペ　  ポ

    pa             pi             pe         po

Fifth Set

  1. Repeat First Step, from the previous page, on this fifth set of katakana symbols.

    dah          deh   doh
    ダ　　      　　デ　    ド

    da                           de           do

Practice Step

  1. Without looking, try writing the katakana symbol for as many of the five sets that you can.
  2. Check the above to see how you did.
  3. Keep trying until you get them all correct.

ga          gi           gu        ge         go


za          jii           zu        ze         zo


ba          bi           bu        be         bo


pa          pi                       pe         po


da                                    de         do


Well done!
You should now have a good grasp of katakana.

You now have a good grasp of Japanese kana, which will be a great help in adding to your Japanese vocabulary. Kana refers to the two Japanese alphabets.

You will find that you will be using your knowledge of hiragana, far more than katakana.

For this reason, we will just practice reading some foreign words, written in katakana, rather than doing a Japanese conversation. You can if you want to though. The more practice, the better!

Try the below katakana

The below are all mostly English words, which are frequently used in day to day Japanese life. There is one word: "pan," which is French for "bread." The Japanese use this word all the time.

Try to write these words in katakana, before scrolling down to see how they are actually written.

Workaholic, Royalty,

Rear window, Ramen,

Niagara Falls, Nurse,

Guitar, Circuit, Circus,

Curtain, Gardening,

Cardigan, Cursor, Car,

Hair dryer, Hairstyle,

Pair, Bread, Broadband,

Flowchart, Brooch, Broken.


Now check to see how you did.


Workaholic         ワーカホリック

Royalty              ろイヤリティ

Rear window      リアウインドー

Ramen              ラーメン

Niagara Falls      ナイアガラフォールズ

Nurse                ナース

Guitar               ギター

Circuit               サーキット

Circus               サーカス

Curtain             カーテン

Gardening         ガーデニング

Cardigan           カーディガン

Cursor              カーソル

Car                   カー

Hair dryer         ヘアドライヤー

Hairstyle           ヘアスタイル

Pair                   ペア　

Bread　              パン

Broadband         ブロードバンド

Flowchart          フローチャート

Brooch              ブローチ

Broken             ブローケン

That hyphen(-) between katakana symbols signifies a long whatever comes before it. As in カー.

If it were written in hiragana it would be かあ

Try the below katakana

The below are all mostly English words, which are frequently used in day to day Japanese life. There is one word: "pan," which is French for "bread." The Japanese use this word all the time.

Try to write these words in katakana, before scrolling down to see how they are actually written.

Workaholic, Royalty,

Rear window, Ramen,

Niagara Falls, Nurse,

Guitar, Circuit, Circus,

Curtain, Gardening,

Cardigan, Cursor, Car,

Hair dryer, Hairstyle,

Pair, Bread, Broadband,

Flowchart, Brooch, Broken.


Now check to see how you did.


Workaholic ワーカホリック

Royalty ろイヤリティ

Rear window リアウインドー

Ramen  ラーメン

Niagara ナイアガラ

Falls  フォールズ

Nurse ナース

Guitar ギター

Circuit サーキット

Circus サーカス

Curtain カーテン

Gardening ガーデニング

Cardigan カーディガン

Cursor カーソル

Car カー

Hair dryer  ヘアドライヤー

Hairstyle ヘアスタイル

Pair  ペア　

Bread　 パン

Broadband ブロードバンド

Flowchart フローチャート

Brooch ブローチ

Broken ブローケン


That hyphen(-) between katakana symbols signifies a long whatever comes before it. As in カー.

If it were written in hiragana it would be かあ.

Very well done!
Now you know katakana and hiragana, plus some basic conversation patterns.

You are well set up to become excellent at Japanese.

Don't forget to come back to these pages periodically and practice the dialogues and kana. It would be a shame to forget what you have invested a lot of time and energy into.

Just a reminder: if you don't use it, you lose it!

In fact, as part of your continuing Japanese study program it would be  good idea, on a regular basis to:

  1. Restudy step 7 of the fourth romaji dialogue.
  2. Restudy the 15th step of the hiragana and katakana pages.


The next logical step would be to get used to reading Japanese as it is actually written, kanji and all. Click here when you are ready.