Understanding the Japanese Writing System

Japanese writing uses not only one-but three different scripts! At the same time! Why? And how does this work? In this video you’ll get to familiarize yourself with kanji, hiragana and katakana, and learn how they interact with each other to create the unique synthesis of written Japanese. If you don't have any previous knowledge of Japanese writing, this is a good place to start!
Note that this video focuses on how the three scripts are used*, and how they relate to each other. It does *not present the various characters from each script, or explain how the scripts function on a deeper systematic level.
NOTES
• For answers to frequent comments, please see the pinned comment below.
ERRATA
• At 2:02, the characters ほ / ホ are incorrectly given as 'ha'. They really represent 'ho'. 'Ha' is represented by は / ハ.
• At 5:04, the kanji is wrong. The kanji for 'muda' is 無駄, and not 鮫 (which is the kanji for 'same', used previously).
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The study mentioned in the video is « Chikamatsu et al. 2000. A Japanese logographic character frequency list for cognitive science research. Behavior Research Methods, vol. 32 (3), pp. 482-500. »
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CHAPTERS
00:00 Introduction
00:40 Introducing the scripts
03:11 When are kanji used?
03:48 When are hiragana used?
04:22 When are katakana used?
05:17 Frequency of the different scripts
06:36 How it all goes together
10:51 Conclusion
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Пікірлер: 2 800

  • @AcademiaCervena
    @AcademiaCervena2 жыл бұрын

    *ANSWERS TO FREQUENT COMMENTS* (Concerning mistakes in the video, please see the Errata section in the video description above, where known errors are listed!) *Why do you pronounce "kanji" the way you do?* In short, I picked up a pronunciation of "kanji" that sounds unusual in the context of American English (AmE), which is the variety of English that I speak. Instead of CAN-ji (/ˈkændʒi/), AmE speakers would generally say KAHN-ji (/ˈkɑndʒi/). In British English (BrE), it is the other way around, and that’s where this issue stems from. As I’m not a native speaker of English, I checked the pronunciation in a dictionary before making this video, and it only said /ˈkændʒi/ (i.e. CAN-ji), and at that time it didn’t occur to me that this was a BrE pronunciation that would sound odd in AmE. If you’re interested, you can note the two pronunciations in the Cambridge English Dictionary, where the BrE voice says CAN-ji, and the AmE voice says KAHN-ji (the written IPA doesn’t match for AmE though). Link: dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/kanji For the record, I’m not trying to pronounce "kanji" as a Japanese word, but as an English word. Neither KAHN-ji or CAN-ji match the Japanese pronunciation, of course. (Comments regarding this question tend to be particularly hostile, which is why I feel it necessary to provide a lengthier explanation here.) *What are the remaining 16 % in the mentioned study of character use in print?* Mainly romaji (Latin characters), numbers and punctuation. *Why are は and を romanized as 'wa' and 'o' in the example sentences?* The topic and object particles - は 'wa' and を 'o' - have pronunciations that don’t match the kana used to write them (は and を are usually 'ha' and 'wo'). For this reason, it is customary to use the pronunciation rather than the kana as the basis for their romanization.

  • @IgneelS11

    @IgneelS11

    2 жыл бұрын

    so, how do japanese pronounce kanji?

  • @LelleKidd

    @LelleKidd

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@IgneelS11 The correct way.

  • @jumria_JN

    @jumria_JN

    2 жыл бұрын

    C iasa

  • @cecepsupriyadi6370

    @cecepsupriyadi6370

    2 жыл бұрын

    Kk

  • @cecepsupriyadi6370

    @cecepsupriyadi6370

    2 жыл бұрын

    Ccas

  • @shafe9866
    @shafe98663 жыл бұрын

    Me: Chinese is the most difficult language, I should learn Japanese instead. Kanji alphabet: Ok

  • @ss327827

    @ss327827

    3 жыл бұрын

    Kanji is Chinese. It's borrowed into the Japanese scripts

  • @nyenjime

    @nyenjime

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@ss327827 well that's the joke ;;;

  • @ss327827

    @ss327827

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@nyenjime right! I cannot believe I didn't get that they first time. I'll go kill myself now.

  • @eeeeeeee7774

    @eeeeeeee7774

    3 жыл бұрын

    my plan is to learn both. Japanese in high school and I'm going to make a career with Chinese. In theory

  • @virusj216

    @virusj216

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@eeeeeeee7774 It does make things easier that I'm a native Chinese speaker trying to make Japanese my third language...

  • @candysimss7192
    @candysimss71923 жыл бұрын

    Me: Are you able to learn all the characters and memorise them? Brain: の

  • @RandomPerson295

    @RandomPerson295

    3 жыл бұрын

    Ah yes, no And の means ‘of’ in Japanese in case you didn’t know

  • @zahraa4149

    @zahraa4149

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@RandomPerson295 it was a good joke and you just HAD to ruin it

  • @RandomPerson295

    @RandomPerson295

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@zahraa4149 ok sorry man

  • @Mike-td4uq

    @Mike-td4uq

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@zahraa4149 An overused not-funny-anymore joke

  • @zahraa4149

    @zahraa4149

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@Mike-td4uq literally don't care

  • @itsastikbotparty8149
    @itsastikbotparty81492 жыл бұрын

    Every time he said “kænji” a small part of my soul died

  • @fabian4798

    @fabian4798

    2 жыл бұрын

    Thank you!

  • @Yourmom-cx8fw

    @Yourmom-cx8fw

    2 жыл бұрын

    kænji

  • @petermueller69

    @petermueller69

    2 жыл бұрын

    look pinned comment

  • @lyingcat9022

    @lyingcat9022

    2 жыл бұрын

    Haha right?!? I’m mean not to judge to hard but I’m only starting to learn Japanese and know just a hand full of Hiragana and even I noticed the miss pronunciation on Kanji.

  • @lyingcat9022

    @lyingcat9022

    2 жыл бұрын

    Texan: Boy I can’t read non of that “Cangee” chicken scratch! Haha sorry no hate to my boy here :) or my Fam from the South… I just found it funny ;)

  • @okthen4912
    @okthen49123 жыл бұрын

    oh my god i could actually read the end of the video. i saw the kanji for "see" and "arigatōgozaimashita” so i predicted that it was "thank you for watching" based on the context. moments like these just well up a butterfly feeling in your chest where you get so excited and realize the progress you're making is not going to waste! if you're reading this, keep pushing.

  • @The_NSeven

    @The_NSeven

    2 жыл бұрын

    I know right!! I love moments like that too, it feels great

  • @unusue5982

    @unusue5982

    2 жыл бұрын

    Thank you, I'm trying to learn Japanese and this inspired me to keep pushing

  • @BabySonicGT

    @BabySonicGT

    2 жыл бұрын

    Nice

  • @karniferous

    @karniferous

    2 жыл бұрын

    okthen

  • @yamzuh

    @yamzuh

    2 жыл бұрын

    Same, I’ve been learning Spanish for maybe 3 years so moments like these make me feel so cool. I can read the basics now and piece together advanced readings, but conversations are still a struggle :’)

  • @nocando17
    @nocando174 жыл бұрын

    So thats where the name Pikachu came from. My life is complete now

  • @TrollerzTV

    @TrollerzTV

    4 жыл бұрын

    Ooooooooohhhhhhh

  • @paulhk2727

    @paulhk2727

    4 жыл бұрын

    What?

  • @paulhk2727

    @paulhk2727

    4 жыл бұрын

    Explain!

  • 4 жыл бұрын

    ピカチュウ (Katakana) ぴかちゅう (Hiragana) 光宙 (Kanji) Actually 光宙 is Kōchū but it is pronounced Pikachū

  • @herby1585

    @herby1585

    4 жыл бұрын

    Paul HK ピカピカ- pikapika (spark sound) チュウチュウ- chuchu (mouse noise) so ピカ+チュウ- pikachu (spark sound + mouse noise) and if you haven't noticed, pikachu is an electric mouse. hopefully you know understand.

  • @akkihole_
    @akkihole_4 жыл бұрын

    Time to learn kanji! me looking at the common kanji: のののののの

  • @opabeleza6902

    @opabeleza6902

    3 жыл бұрын

    No no no no no

  • @bakustop9606

    @bakustop9606

    3 жыл бұрын

    aw hecc nuu

  • @ceice2248

    @ceice2248

    3 жыл бұрын

    はい フェアデフィレ

  • @joex1084

    @joex1084

    3 жыл бұрын

    Try combining Remembering the Kanji with an Anki deck:)

  • @wanitooo

    @wanitooo

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@joex1084 can recommend. I'm about a thousand characters in and it's extremely satisfying to recognize a kanji out in the wild, especially when you know it's reading ahahaha

  • @twelved4983
    @twelved49833 жыл бұрын

    “Japanese children are expected to know these 1006 characters by high school.” Me thinking about learning Japanese but already in high school: *it’s like relearning the whole alphabet hundreds of times)

  • @user-kk8ui3xe3v

    @user-kk8ui3xe3v

    3 жыл бұрын

    Kanji is not that hard if you find out common point in kanji. for example, 金=gold , 銀=silver , 銅=copper , and 鉄=steel. These kanji mean metallic elements and they have 金 in them! and there’s more. 猪=boar 猫=cat 猿=monke 狩=hunting. They all mean animals and something related to them. and they have 犭 in them!

  • @tako-0

    @tako-0

    3 жыл бұрын

    actually as a japanese high school is wrong. you expect to learn these kanjis within elementary school...

  • @phantomsouls7788

    @phantomsouls7788

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@deadbones733 Yeah, in fact the some symbols that are used in multiple kanji the Japanese like to call “Kanji Radicals”, it really helps

  • @willdabilldawill9664

    @willdabilldawill9664

    2 жыл бұрын

    YEAH I HATE IT There’s so much 漢字マジでキッツイわ

  • @Dablooner

    @Dablooner

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@user-kk8ui3xe3v yea still don't make sense

  • @probablyhunter7469
    @probablyhunter74693 жыл бұрын

    As a student learning japanese, I promise it really isn't hard as it looks. Mastering katakana and hiragana can be done in a year or less, and kanji, with enough practice, also comes easily. If you want to learn, don't stop yourself because of the difficulty! After a while, it'll become like second nature.

  • @kingsoonkit9234

    @kingsoonkit9234

    2 жыл бұрын

    My mother tongue is Mandarin (Chinese), so memorizing both hiragana and katakana only took me 3 weeks

  • @nathanielsantos1706

    @nathanielsantos1706

    2 жыл бұрын

    Thanks, I've memorized hiragana and katakana but I'm really intimidated by kanji, this helps my confidence

  • @senior9030

    @senior9030

    2 жыл бұрын

    Well it also takes a while to get the grammar and vocabulary down as well.

  • @checkerrose1990

    @checkerrose1990

    2 жыл бұрын

    Kanji takes 10 years of education to learn, even then the average Japanese adult forget and don’t know a couple of them after school. KANJI DOES NOT COME EASILY

  • @toastedkiki

    @toastedkiki

    2 жыл бұрын

    I had to learn katakana in two days cos I had a Japanese exam and never learnt it all oops🤣

  • @ded8491
    @ded84914 жыл бұрын

    *full screen of tiny and many kanji pops up* Me: *gets jumpscared for no apparent reason*

  • @septimistic

    @septimistic

    3 жыл бұрын

    I thought I was the only one lol. These japanese urban legends arent doing any good for my brain. xD

  • @jackson5802

    @jackson5802

    3 жыл бұрын

    Lol you should see the American seven year olds in the immersion school I went to... All we could do was memorize and try to find patterns...

  • @yearzero7802

    @yearzero7802

    3 жыл бұрын

    Tryptaphobia?

  • @unknown.ben2006

    @unknown.ben2006

    3 жыл бұрын

    Me too XD

  • @mimii_chuu

    @mimii_chuu

    3 жыл бұрын

    hi kira

  • @deadspace2595
    @deadspace25953 жыл бұрын

    "Says Muda" Jojo fans: Whomst've has awaken the ancient one

  • @GentlemanQ

    @GentlemanQ

    3 жыл бұрын

    my reaction was "wryyyy!!!"

  • @user-dd9hg6xw3u

    @user-dd9hg6xw3u

    3 жыл бұрын

    無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄

  • @_simon.s_

    @_simon.s_

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@user-dd9hg6xw3u 無駄

  • @tovaeng4579

    @tovaeng4579

    3 жыл бұрын

    Whomst ???? Plingaplongdingdong? May sound nice too

  • @camipitt2430

    @camipitt2430

    3 жыл бұрын

    Jojo fans are everywhere my god.

  • @user-ux1lz7rr3r
    @user-ux1lz7rr3r2 жыл бұрын

    i'm a japanese.Even we Japanese, kanji is difficult. Don't worry that you can't remember kanji right away after learning it. We Japanese start studying kanji from the time of elementary school through compulsory education, and it takes about 9 years to acquire kanji that can be used by Japanese adults. The number is said to be 2000-4000 characters kanji. You can't study right away and talk in a year. If you learn slowly and enjoy speaking Japanese even a little, that is the best treasure.

  • @user-ux1lz7rr3r

    @user-ux1lz7rr3r

    2 жыл бұрын

    And the content of the poster is perfect. Thanks for the original post with a deep understanding. I hope I can speak English sooner and have a conversation with you. I used the translation function.

  • @FancyMinecraftMan102

    @FancyMinecraftMan102

    10 күн бұрын

    So true!

  • @weirdcatxd8742
    @weirdcatxd87422 жыл бұрын

    0:04 The Japanese text means: Languages ​​are always convenient, whether in Asia, America, Europe or anywhere in the world. Unfortunately, many people can't read Japanese. Because you can only read Latin letters. If this text is easy for you, it means you have good language skills. Please watch the video, write a comment, and share it with your friends if it's interesting!

  • @elchile336

    @elchile336

    Жыл бұрын

    Bruh I can read Latin, Cyrillic, Greek and a bit of Japanese Kana

  • @user-xr4wp3wj5m

    @user-xr4wp3wj5m

    10 ай бұрын

    @@elchile336🍪

  • @smuecke
    @smuecke7 жыл бұрын

    I loved the idea of putting Kanji into an English text to demonstrate how a Japanese text "feels" to a reader! Very good job on this video! ;)

  • @AcademiaCervena

    @AcademiaCervena

    7 жыл бұрын

    Thank you!

  • @bloogibloo9901

    @bloogibloo9901

    3 жыл бұрын

    kanji looks very similar to traditional chinese words edit: some words are identical

  • @ruty6099

    @ruty6099

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@bloogibloo9901 Japanese after all get their Kanji from Chinese why they look similar

  • @daniellemurnett2534

    @daniellemurnett2534

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@ruty6099 And even past that, the kana are simplified Kanji.

  • @victording5643

    @victording5643

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@ruty6099 buuut why don't they pronounce the same, gotta learn from scratch...

  • @heylookadistractionthingy1853
    @heylookadistractionthingy18534 жыл бұрын

    For anyone who's intimated to start learning Japanese writing. Don't be scared. It consists of three alphabets; Kanji, Hiragana and Katakana. If you learn Hiragana first, I think you'll find you start putting words together in no time. It's actually a lot easier than you thiiink~

  • @Shanaoh

    @Shanaoh

    4 жыл бұрын

    Learn it like a kid. Learn the vocabulary before writing. People give up too easily because they have a hard time reading things. Learn how to speak the language cause that's what's important.

  • @freezinganimenz7835

    @freezinganimenz7835

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@Shanaoh yep, thats how i learnt Japanese

  • @Zeckmon3

    @Zeckmon3

    4 жыл бұрын

    Time to read japanese children books. Gotta start somewhere simple.

  • @thomusroye5667

    @thomusroye5667

    4 жыл бұрын

    For some reson i started before knowing it was one of the most complicated in the world and for now its kinda a bit not really but still suprisingly easy to learn

  • @themitochondriaisthepowerh9177

    @themitochondriaisthepowerh9177

    4 жыл бұрын

    There's only three alphabets, they say. Yes, but the last is divided into 5 groups of increasing difficulty and size totalling to 3000. Also they have multiple pronunciations and meanings, so like, no. Let's not. As a side note, that's not the worst of it. Grammar's going to make you want to lobotomise yourself.

  • @austin39833
    @austin398332 жыл бұрын

    I could read the entire paragraph at the start. Moments like that have made all my efforts worth it. Been studying Kanji 1+ hours every day for 9months straight.

  • @nahir5684

    @nahir5684

    2 жыл бұрын

    Thats amazing 😭😭 im sooo behind kanji rn and im too intimidated to start again

  • @eperkaine

    @eperkaine

    2 жыл бұрын

    do you write them or only just learn how to read and understand them

  • @austin39833

    @austin39833

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@eperkaine I write them out. Writing has been critical to my understanding / memorization of them. The way I do it is I have a set of flashcards of each kanji I "know" and it randomly gives me a word say like "fog" and then I write 霧 from memory in my notebook. On average I write 100-150 daily. Currently have wrote 37,500 this year lol I have a couple notebooks filled with nothing but kanji...its tough, but worth it.

  • @kaori-himawari

    @kaori-himawari

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@austin39833 すごいね~(´∀`)🇯🇵✨ そんなに日本語を愛していただいて、なんかうれしいです~❤️🇯🇵ありがとう❤️ 日本語でコメントしましたが 大丈夫ですよね? 文字間の 「間」までわかれば 日本人。 すばらしいですよ😘

  • @emsi.j
    @emsi.j3 жыл бұрын

    I am trying to learn japanese (i'm a beginner) on duolingo. yes, i know, duolingo is not the best place to learn languages, i've heard lots of criticism about that. but i didn't want that to stop me from at least learning the basics. i can not afford anything more than that. this video really helped break down what always seems so incredibly and frighteningly complicated. Thanks!

  • @violethaye6987

    @violethaye6987

    3 жыл бұрын

    no place and no one place is the best to learn japanese, which is why for good and fast results it's best to use multiple platforms and tools to learn the language, but if you wanna just do duolingo for now then keep at it. Part of langauge learning is seeing what works and doesn't work for you. I used duolingo with wanikani, tofugu's guide to japanese, genki 1 and 2 and listening to music and watching anime. Gonna keep on adding.

  • @boredom4475

    @boredom4475

    2 жыл бұрын

    sorry but duolingo is just a exam or quiz like app to know what u have learned so u need another app for the actual learning it

  • @dabangbaba7579

    @dabangbaba7579

    2 жыл бұрын

    ಶುಭಶುಭೋದಯ ಐಸೊಹಥಧಹಥಧಬೊಭೊಓಹಭೊಡಢಢಠಂಫಷಟೆಔ। ಷಾ। ಹೌದಮಣಮಹೌದಾ

  • @hijeffhere
    @hijeffhere3 жыл бұрын

    If you think memorizing Kanji is hard, then wait until they start combining together.

  • @REAL_SKYFIRE

    @REAL_SKYFIRE

    2 жыл бұрын

    Everybody weebs till the kanji starts combining

  • @camchameleon4151

    @camchameleon4151

    2 жыл бұрын

    *whimpers in a mix of confusion, curiosity, and terror*

  • @notrocio

    @notrocio

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@REAL_SKYFIRE dont ever use the word weeb again

  • @Beetless

    @Beetless

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@notrocio why weeb good

  • @notrocio

    @notrocio

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@Beetless no its not 💀 so ur telling me wanting to be japanese when ur not is ok??,,

  • @tnuoccaeht
    @tnuoccaeht5 жыл бұрын

    You make me want to learn every language lol

  • @ralphserr6341

    @ralphserr6341

    4 жыл бұрын

    Do it. I challenge you. I know english, spanish, and about 33% french. I'm still learning french and getting into japanese at the same time. I know I can do it. And you can too.

  • @smiley5990

    @smiley5990

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@ralphserr6341 hm i speak english, indonesian, malay, korean (but still learning) and im learning french spanish japanese chinese. i know its hard to learn these at the same time but i'll try my best since learning languages is my hobby. well good luck for us who are learning foreign languages!!

  • @airahrah9875

    @airahrah9875

    4 жыл бұрын

    im actually learning japanese and korean at the same time since both of those languages have same sentence structures:D

  • @ghayathigt9793

    @ghayathigt9793

    3 жыл бұрын

    Im a starter these are what i learned my mother language is (Arabic) English Japanese French chinese Indonesian im still progressing but the 2 i know is arabic and english

  • @r011ing_thunder6

    @r011ing_thunder6

    3 жыл бұрын

    Ralph Serr how do you believe in yourself?

  • @TonyTones123
    @TonyTones1233 жыл бұрын

    I love the color coding for the examples portion! Great job on the video!

  • @azzasalah9341
    @azzasalah93413 жыл бұрын

    This is one of the most helpful, educational videos I have ever seen ! Such a good explanation please keep up the good work 👌🏼👌🏼

  • @pandora5410
    @pandora54104 жыл бұрын

    Its 3am...why am I learning Japanese

  • @draw2death421

    @draw2death421

    4 жыл бұрын

    For me 6.30 am

  • @Jaylio

    @Jaylio

    3 жыл бұрын

    Lmao it’s 4am idk why I’m here

  • @siena5019

    @siena5019

    3 жыл бұрын

    Try 8:35🙇‍♀️

  • @izairdgh

    @izairdgh

    3 жыл бұрын

    You lost the control of your life

  • @cyprianpirog

    @cyprianpirog

    3 жыл бұрын

    Lmao same

  • @dbzcollector9963
    @dbzcollector99634 жыл бұрын

    At first glance it looks complicated my head was spinning but after the quick explanation im starting to understand it a bit. This will make learning Japanese a bit a easier for me thank you 🙏🏻

  • @All-star_Giga_Gargantuar

    @All-star_Giga_Gargantuar

    3 жыл бұрын

    This guy is basically the equivalent of the Indian dude making tutorials. He makes everything easier to understand.

  • @sleepy_9850

    @sleepy_9850

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@All-star_Giga_Gargantuar exactly

  • @Dis_Dis

    @Dis_Dis

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@All-star_Giga_Gargantuar Maybe he is secretly Indian?

  • @chJohnJobs
    @chJohnJobs2 жыл бұрын

    This video really brightened my mood about learning Japanese, i havent been practicing in a long while and feel super rusty. yet i almost understood every single word in the video used before translation, which is a really great feeling and as a sort of bilingual, The way you explained most of this is amazing for native english speakers well done

  • @myapaul19
    @myapaul193 жыл бұрын

    Wow this video made something click in my brain and I feel I’m able to understand hiragana, katakana and kanji so much better now! Thank you for the amazing video!

  • @sqwertt8605
    @sqwertt86053 жыл бұрын

    “Japanese has one of the most complicated writing systems in the world one of the reasons for this is...” Is because there’s >40,000 characters?

  • @MatsubaAgeha

    @MatsubaAgeha

    3 жыл бұрын

    The video states that it's about 45+45+3000 scripts. (There are far more than 3000 kanjis, but that's about what you need.) Yes, the sheer number of kanjis makes written Japanese complicated, but that's not the only reason. (By the way, 3000 kanjis does not mean having to memorize 3000 random shapes. Kanjis are made of fundamental building blocks called "radicals".) 1. One kanji can have multiple ways of reading. (Multiple ON readings & multiple KUN readings + exceptional ways of reading) ON = Based on the original Chinese sound. KUN = Sound based on the meaning in Japanese. Parallel in English: The heart symbol can be read as "love" or "heart", depending on the context, as an "Enlgish Kanji". I say "heart" is the ON reading and "love" as the KUN reading. "She has a big ❤︎ (heart).", "I ❤︎ NY" (I love New York), "I'm ❤︎ing it!" (loving), "She ❤︎s him." (loves), "He ❤︎ed you." (loved). Note that ❤︎ as a verb is being conjugated using alphabets like the Japanese verbs that use kanji gets conjugated using hiraganas. 2. The same word can be written in hiragana, katakana, or kanji, and that could express difference in connotation and nuance. For example, HIROSHIMA: In kanji (広島), it's just the name of the city. In katakana (ヒロシマ), it is one of the cities that the atomic bombs were dropped. 3. Different meaning of the same native/indigenous word can be written using different kanjis. For example, ATSUI (hot). If something you touched is hot, then it's 熱い. If the weather is hot, it's 暑い. 4. "Anything goes" for names of people & places. You just have to learn how to read those kanjis case by case. (It's INSANE.) 5. The same kanji word can be read differently in different context and have completely unrelated meanings. For example: 心中 ①shinchuh=What a person is thinking and feeling inside his heart. ②shinjuh=Committing suicide with someone. 6. Jukuji-kun. KUN reading (native/indigenous way of reading) applied to kanji words. For example, 煙 (smoke) + 草 (grass) = TABAKO (tobacco, cigarette) (Those two kanjis do not have the sound TABAKO, but are collectively read as such.) 7. The Japanese can be playful with written Japanese and can be playful with their use of kanjis, which further complicates things. Those are off the top of my head; there could be more reasons.

  • @MatsubaAgeha

    @MatsubaAgeha

    3 жыл бұрын

    8. Oh, yeah. There is this thing called "substitute kanji". This means substituting a kanji with a more common one that has the same sound and almost the same or close enough meaning. This will reduce the number of kanjis that get used, but you might run into the original one, so that might confuse you from time to time. Japanese Wikipedia page on this. (Sorry, no English page.) ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%90%8C%E9%9F%B3%E3%81%AE%E6%BC%A2%E5%AD%97%E3%81%AB%E3%82%88%E3%82%8B%E6%9B%B8%E3%81%8D%E3%81%8B%E3%81%88

  • @dominicmorris9480

    @dominicmorris9480

    3 жыл бұрын

    That's like saying English is difficult because there is a whole dictionary full of words.

  • @machinegunpreacher2469

    @machinegunpreacher2469

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@dominicmorris9480 That's actually a very encouraging thought.

  • @dominicmorris9480

    @dominicmorris9480

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@machinegunpreacher2469 I hope it helps you overcome and doubts you may have had, if you had any.

  • @Yuki110rain
    @Yuki110rain3 жыл бұрын

    ahah I'm Russian so I'm practicing my English and learning Japanese at the same time during this video :D perfect

  • @necrostalker6317

    @necrostalker6317

    3 жыл бұрын

    I'm an english speaker learning Japanese and русский.

  • @whoareyou6211

    @whoareyou6211

    2 жыл бұрын

    I'm russian who lives in germany and speaks both if the languages + english, also learns french at school (except i still can't speak it fluently), is going to learn spanish next year at school and has started learning japanese with an app

  • @strawberrymilk3388

    @strawberrymilk3388

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@whoareyou6211 what app do you use for Japanese?

  • @whoareyou6211

    @whoareyou6211

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@strawberrymilk3388 i recommend renshuu

  • @santiagoandres7488

    @santiagoandres7488

    2 жыл бұрын

    Hahahaha! I'm Venezuelan and I'm learning japanese while I'm practicing english, cool!

  • @faribasameti9205
    @faribasameti92052 жыл бұрын

    dude this is quite the best thing i could find to kickstart learning my 4th language journey, thank you for this epic explanation.

  • @danielsummers5438
    @danielsummers54383 жыл бұрын

    Considering it’s the first video I’ve ever watched on Japanese writing, you explained it very well. Surprised how much more I understood off of a 10 min video. Awsome work, thanks

  • @petermueller69

    @petermueller69

    2 жыл бұрын

    same

  • @lethn2929
    @lethn29294 жыл бұрын

    This is how learning should be done, breaking it down properly into small parts rather than just going "This is how you do it" like a lot of useless tutorials, thanks! This has helped me break down the writing system to make it readable and actually read the characters rather than just see a mess of writing on the screen.

  • @elvis1489
    @elvis14894 жыл бұрын

    Dude, you friction rock. I was contemplating giving learning Japanese because it's so damn intricate. But at 7:12 you blew a massive crater in my thought process and suddenly I could understand how Kanji is used in a more concrete way (for an American to understand).

  • @eggsnbacon7122

    @eggsnbacon7122

    3 жыл бұрын

    I hope a year after your comment here your studies are still going strong.

  • @loaf7095

    @loaf7095

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@eggsnbacon7122 yes we better get an update

  • @SquooshyShark1000

    @SquooshyShark1000

    2 жыл бұрын

    i cant understand if that is negative or positive

  • @tygarner9142

    @tygarner9142

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@SquooshyShark1000 It’s positive. His mind got blown and he could understand everything a lot better because of it

  • @fartpooplover789
    @fartpooplover7892 жыл бұрын

    This was very informal. This will probably be my gate to finally learning Japanese. Thank you for the good work sir

  • @fearlessromeo4293
    @fearlessromeo42933 жыл бұрын

    Nobody could have explained it better than you did. Thank you. I watched other videos about this topic but they succeed perfectly to scare the hell out me.

  • @eclipse4995
    @eclipse49954 жыл бұрын

    6:40 I think Japanese people write "猫は青い魚を「見」ている。" for this. 見る(miru) : see, watch 観る(miru) : watch (contain a strong meaning to concentrate) We are not usually aware of how to use words like "see" or "watch", "hear" or "listen". So we mainly use the word "観る" when we watch a movie or musical, and basically we write "見る".

  • @opabeleza6902

    @opabeleza6902

    3 жыл бұрын

    Hmmm interesting

  • @eclipse4995

    @eclipse4995

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@opabeleza6902 Another interesting episode, English listening test in Japan was once called "ヒアリング(hearing)". EIKEN test, a famous English test in Japan changed to "リスニング(listening)" in 1994. (The kanji for "hear" is "聞く(kiku)", "listen" is "聴く(kiku)". "聴く" is used more often than "観る". For example, "I listen to music" in Japanese is "私は音楽を聴く(watashi wa ongaku wo kiku)")

  • @mzanniksan8655

    @mzanniksan8655

    3 жыл бұрын

    True. -Japanese

  • @lampboy926

    @lampboy926

    2 жыл бұрын

    Maybe the cat is watching a movie called "青い魚"

  • @smugfrog1041

    @smugfrog1041

    2 жыл бұрын

    imagining a cat watching a blue fish swimming around in a bowl, using this kanji seems proper to me

  • @casekocsk
    @casekocsk3 жыл бұрын

    I'm glad to hear that I only need to memorize about 500 kanji words to understand 80% of commonly used Japanese words... Memorizing 3,000 words (let alone 45,000) on language I don't often use is too daunting for me...

  • @paulhk2727

    @paulhk2727

    3 жыл бұрын

    Dude forget the 45000, most of those are exchangeable / archaic / used in such a specific context that you only need to learn them once you have to do with it

  • @omp199

    @omp199

    3 жыл бұрын

    Bad news, I'm afraid. It's not 500 "kanji words" that you have to memorise. It's 500 kanji characters. And just as a letter in English can occur in the written representations of many different English words, a single kanji character can occur in the written representations of many different Japanese words. Although people talk about "learning kanji", that phrase is really pretty meaningless. A kanji is not a word. You have to learn many thousands of words - things like "haha" and "okaasan", which both mean "mother" - and then learn how to write them, as well, which includes knowing which kanji are used in them, if any. As it happens, the word "haha" is written as 「母」, and the word "okaasan" is written as 「お母さん」. They both use the same kanji, but recognising that kanji and knowing that it is used for words that mean "mother" won't give you any clue that one of those words is "haha" and that the other is "okaasan". So you have to learn the words as well as the characters. And then on top of that, you have to learn why there is more than one word for "mother", and in what contexts each one is used, because you can make a terrible faux pas by using the wrong one in the wrong context!

  • @roopabrungi4958

    @roopabrungi4958

    2 жыл бұрын

    I'm thinking of relating it to English... You don't have to memorize the entire dictionary to learn English so I'm pretty it's the same way for Japanese or any other language in particular

  • @thathandsomedevil0828

    @thathandsomedevil0828

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@omp199 ok then, how does one even know that "haha" a Kun reading of that kanji character becomes "okaasan"? The sound of the kanji in the word becomes "ka", how does that happen? I also noticed the same with the kanji for father, for which the Kun reading is "chichi", but it then turns into the sound "tou" when in the word "otousan". How the heck and why does that happen?

  • @japaneserequired6314

    @japaneserequired6314

    2 жыл бұрын

    there are 2156 joyo kanji or there abouts. All news and educational material uses only these kanji. You need about 90% of them. Memorizing them is unnecessary though. recognizing them is sufficient for most.

  • @Schild3rmal3r
    @Schild3rmal3r3 жыл бұрын

    This video is great. I still don't know much about grammar in japanese but I really learned a lot from this. Thank you so much! Subbed!

  • @pakuro64
    @pakuro642 жыл бұрын

    KZread got me here randomly... LUCKY ME! This was one of the best writing videos I ever watched. Even though I knew the basics on how the writing system works, there was a lot of amazing insights during the video :0

  • @nainicool
    @nainicool4 жыл бұрын

    "The something is somethinging the something something"

  • @dr.mckenna7901

    @dr.mckenna7901

    3 жыл бұрын

    Basically that's how I read Japanese with a decent knowledge of hiragana and katakana and very little kanji.

  • @TerribleTonyShow

    @TerribleTonyShow

    3 жыл бұрын

    The *[REDACTED]* is *[REDACTED]* ing the *[REDACTED]* *[REDACTED]*

  • @vibx4892

    @vibx4892

    3 жыл бұрын

    My brain thought of something inappropriately when I heard that

  • @funnyvalentine7416

    @funnyvalentine7416

    2 жыл бұрын

    The is ing the

  • @jackson5802
    @jackson58023 жыл бұрын

    I learned Chinese for 6 years and was repeatedly told that I'd need to memorize at least 1500 characters to understand a newspaper. This seems somehow simpler....

  • @jaywwen

    @jaywwen

    2 жыл бұрын

    really? I was told that I only needed 500

  • @jesusismysavior7487

    @jesusismysavior7487

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@jaywwen I think for Japanese you need to know at least 500 characters, but for Chinese at least 1500 to be able to read newspaper.

  • @khshow9891

    @khshow9891

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@jesusismysavior7487 2000 to 3000 i think

  • @cherie..cherry

    @cherie..cherry

    Ай бұрын

    @@khshow9891yeah that sounds right bc (at least to my knowledge) Chinese characters aren’t really based on Syllables (like Hirogana/katakana) so you HAVE to know the meaning. We had to do so in my Chinese class.

  • @mickeyelric11
    @mickeyelric113 жыл бұрын

    Magnificent video. This really helped me a lot, even if I only have 4 days straight studying Japanese by myself. Thank yoU!

  • @cucginel1941
    @cucginel19413 жыл бұрын

    7:12 this is the best explanation for japanese scripts, THANK YOU!

  • @AcademiaCervena
    @AcademiaCervena7 жыл бұрын

    [This is a previously pinned comment. It was superseded by a new pinned comment in May 2022] *Errata & Addendum:* ‣ At 2:02, the characters ほ / ホ are incorrectly given as 'ha'. They really represent 'ho'. 'Ha' is represented by は / ハ. I'm very sorry for this mix-up. ‣ At 5:04, the kanji is wrong. The kanji for 'muda' is 無駄, and not 鮫. - A note on the pronunciation of the word . Since this term is well-established in English terminology, I pronounce it in English, rather than in Japanese. As an English loanword, this word can be pronounced either /ˈkændʒi/ (CAN-jee) or /ˈkɑndʒi/ (KAHN-jee). The former is more common in British English, and the latter in American English, with a lot of variation. This is similar to words like and , which can also be pronounced with either vowel in different varieties of English. I am obviously not a native speaker of English, and so before making this video, I looked the pronunciation up. The dictionary I used gave only /ˈkændʒi/, which is how I say it in this video. It has since been pointed out to me that this pronunciation is sociolinguistically uncommon in American English, which might make my pronunciation stand out to some.

  • @novvain495

    @novvain495

    5 жыл бұрын

    Why Can-jee and Kahn-jee? C and K make /k/ on both.... Also if someone does not know the IPA, the æ one is basically your normal a, while the second one is making a 'back a' basically put the tongue where you put it when making an 'oo' and then lower it and make an a sound.

  • @ren3050

    @ren3050

    4 жыл бұрын

    I realized that

  • @ebiweenotaweebie2067

    @ebiweenotaweebie2067

    4 жыл бұрын

    Academia Cervena muda muda muda muda muda muda muda!

  • @josephe4766

    @josephe4766

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@novvain495 no

  • @oleanderkazzy_

    @oleanderkazzy_

    4 жыл бұрын

    WHOAA THE KANJI FOR MUDA

  • @bingbongjoel6581
    @bingbongjoel65815 жыл бұрын

    7:12 Woah that's a great example! Makes it a lot clearer

  • @eresthon
    @eresthon3 жыл бұрын

    That was so informative and well made. Thank you so much!

  • @ankapatos
    @ankapatos3 жыл бұрын

    After watching tons of videos, this is the very first to make me undestand this strange japanese writting system. Using examples in english was brilliant and very effective..

  • @sally-annebrown1298
    @sally-annebrown12984 жыл бұрын

    I learnt Japanese at Scarborough State school, in Brisbane a very long time ago. I can count to 5, know hello and goodbye, but do not ask me to write it in the script. Very beautiful scripting by the way.

  • @freshcarrot2253

    @freshcarrot2253

    3 жыл бұрын

    That's crazy man,you should teach japanese

  • @ftm448

    @ftm448

    3 жыл бұрын

    You can lean from the app duolingo yぷ化nぇあrnf炉mwづおぃんほ

  • @GreatTasteMurder

    @GreatTasteMurder

    3 жыл бұрын

    I can count 1-10 You're amazing!

  • @ZaHandle

    @ZaHandle

    3 жыл бұрын

    i learn number from dio

  • @savannahwise7058

    @savannahwise7058

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@ftm448 is duolingo's japanese program actually useful? I have found that it wasn't very helpful when I tried to learn Russian for a friend a few years ago

  • @ricoco7891
    @ricoco78914 жыл бұрын

    This is by far the most helpful explanation of Japanese sentence structuring I've come across. Good job, and thank you so much

  • @vickyviz6299
    @vickyviz6299 Жыл бұрын

    tysm it helped me a lot. I always wanted to learn Japanese but it was so complicated that I didn't even have the motivation to keep going but ur video kinda helped me to gain more motivation. THANKS

  • @johnstephens1
    @johnstephens12 жыл бұрын

    Great video, as a total newcomer the Japanese writing was quite confusing at first glance, but this gave me a quite a good idea on how it works, a very unique and intriguing system indeed! Very helpful, thank you very much for making and sharing this.

  • @snivylink2119
    @snivylink21194 жыл бұрын

    7:32 same energy as "man door hand hook car door"

  • @sudonim7552

    @sudonim7552

    3 жыл бұрын

    ah yes 男門手針車門

  • @Ghost_with_Bow
    @Ghost_with_Bow4 жыл бұрын

    I always love coming back to this video to see how many character I recognize in the first segment. I still have no idea what it says, but to try and figure it out the more Japanese I learn

  • @utamatheus1998
    @utamatheus19982 жыл бұрын

    Great content! I'll show this video for my friends who has some interest in learning japanese!

  • @JoyinQuark
    @JoyinQuark2 жыл бұрын

    Wow...your explanation sounds very clear and simple... I am amazed 😳

  • @koshokreation
    @koshokreation4 жыл бұрын

    ありがとうございます!! This was very helpful ありがとう😊

  • @Ghost_with_Bow

    @Ghost_with_Bow

    4 жыл бұрын

    I feel so accomplished being able to read that

  • @qindilramadhan

    @qindilramadhan

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@Ghost_with_Bow you're not the only one👍

  • @SelcraigClimbs

    @SelcraigClimbs

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@joaquinbaluyot783 こんにちは*

  • @riverevans726

    @riverevans726

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@Ghost_with_Bow same haha

  • @mohdrameez4147

    @mohdrameez4147

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@Ghost_with_Bow how long did it take for you?

  • @GodofWar1515
    @GodofWar15156 жыл бұрын

    You've got a new subscriber. I knew that Kanji was used for Nouns but I never expected that they'd be used for verbs adjectives, etc. This was very educational. I hope you post more videos on this as I'm very interesting in language as a whole and I like comparing languages together which is what you did in this video. Good job.

  • @prinsxx
    @prinsxx Жыл бұрын

    This video is perfect. The explanation is amazing. Thank you!

  • @insertedgynamehere1648
    @insertedgynamehere16483 жыл бұрын

    You actually made this so much simpler thanks

  • @florianju5638
    @florianju56384 жыл бұрын

    Wow... Excellent overview with such a simple and yet so effective presentation. Awesome! Really cool!

  • @your_opponent
    @your_opponent7 жыл бұрын

    Perfect explanation! I have always been confused how to explain Japanese writing systems to non-Japanese people, you've just made me figure it out! Tack så mycket!

  • @TerribleTonyShow
    @TerribleTonyShow3 жыл бұрын

    This keeps popping into my recommendeds and I keep watching it whenever it pops up, idk why

  • @menosproblemos6993
    @menosproblemos69932 жыл бұрын

    Wow. Suddenly the blur of random lines are three more than distinct blurs. This helped me a LOT of understanding Japanese! Thank you!

  • @ysink
    @ysink3 жыл бұрын

    The step-by-step conversion was so good at explaining it!

  • @sakatasankai1392
    @sakatasankai13923 жыл бұрын

    This was one of the very best and one of the clearest videos I have watched on KZread. Thank you, sir, for taking the time and having the patience to create this video. You helped a lot of people. Thank you.

  • @poppohato1345
    @poppohato13452 жыл бұрын

    As a native Japanese speaker, my impression is that Japanese and English are so different in grammar and characters that it is very difficult to learn English. So I am sure that native English speakers also find Japanese very difficult, but I am very happy that they are interested in learning Japanese through anime and manga.

  • @elenanovak6272
    @elenanovak62723 жыл бұрын

    This is a very information packed video!!! Great video thank you!!!

  • @laze_amvs424
    @laze_amvs4243 жыл бұрын

    I find it suspicious how this shows up in my recommended after checking out a certain article this week about learning Japanese... Thanks though, I can only recognize about 15 kana and this put into perspective how I'll see all these syllabaries fit together.

  • @justarandomgamer6309
    @justarandomgamer63093 жыл бұрын

    I’m so glad I actually managed to read almost all of the text at the beginning, I just practice a bit more tho till I can read confidently

  • @CEngrAries
    @CEngrAries2 жыл бұрын

    Nice separation with 3 colors and Explanation! Good idea, Thank you!

  • @sg-te9pu
    @sg-te9pu2 жыл бұрын

    Waah this was easy to understand their writing system. Thankyou, much helpful!

  • @user-ei9tw3ct6y
    @user-ei9tw3ct6y4 жыл бұрын

    THIS IS SOOO COOOL!!!! Thank you very much!!! This is literally the best way to explain the language structure, i`ve seen!

  • @brian_barnett
    @brian_barnett4 жыл бұрын

    I love your approach! You aren't scared! You whooped that languages... And you are a good example of the fact that starting out we will all make mistakes, that's part of learning. Please don't stop! Encore!

  • @jadamensah
    @jadamensah2 жыл бұрын

    this video was really useful and easy to follow, thank you!!

  • @jdillon8360
    @jdillon83602 жыл бұрын

    An excellent explanation. Thank you so much.

  • @britanyborens7168
    @britanyborens71683 жыл бұрын

    I found this video incredibly informative and helpful! Thanks for the lesson!

  • @naimfaie
    @naimfaie3 жыл бұрын

    I been having a idea spinning in my brain to learn Japanese, and after this video I feel more confident to actually do it ✨

  • @69cheesyfries
    @69cheesyfries2 жыл бұрын

    this deserves more recognition!!

  • @waynewellsiii
    @waynewellsiiiАй бұрын

    I watched this video so long ago and it got me really interested in Japanese. I've been studying for 3 years now. Thank you for this wonderful video.

  • @mattedwards4533
    @mattedwards45333 жыл бұрын

    I am one of those people that have a hard time with foreign languages? I do speak some Japanese and have very little problem in conversing. Your video has been a tremendous help to me! Thanks!

  • @tylergoffinet1085
    @tylergoffinet10854 жыл бұрын

    Exactly what I was looking for. Thanks!

  • @thrashtoad6956
    @thrashtoad69563 жыл бұрын

    thank you so so so very much!!! This was incredibly helpful!

  • @curtpiazza1688
    @curtpiazza16882 жыл бұрын

    Excellent brief lesson!

  • @equinox-XVI
    @equinox-XVI3 жыл бұрын

    Taking Japanese right now and I've found this video to be super informative. I was already catching on that subjects and verbs were ordered different in Japanese but this really helps to explain it. Thank you! (Arigatou gozaimasu)

  • @domo1507
    @domo15074 жыл бұрын

    I just wanted to thank you for this very informative Video. For someone who just knew that japanese consists of 3 alphabets this video gave me a much better understanding of the language and answered most of my questions. Nice work. Appreciate it!

  • @hagen9027
    @hagen90275 ай бұрын

    thank you so much for this high quality vid!!

  • @Bright_SR
    @Bright_SR3 жыл бұрын

    Your dim text make that jigly optical illusion dude. So cool!

  • @grubber
    @grubber3 жыл бұрын

    This majorly helped with my understanding of the language. Thank you!

  • @pinkkmochi7093
    @pinkkmochi70934 жыл бұрын

    Thank you so much! Great start to learning Japanese. ❤️

  • @adrianokury
    @adrianokury2 жыл бұрын

    Nicely conceived and beautifully done!

  • @sagacious03
    @sagacious032 жыл бұрын

    Interesting video! Thanks for uploading!

  • @Shelby6370
    @Shelby63704 жыл бұрын

    Using kanji in English really helped me understand when to use kanji, thank you!

  • @kimshi2002
    @kimshi20024 жыл бұрын

    "Oh, maybe I'll try learning japanese!" I said, not knowing what the fuck I was getting myself into

  • @MahmoudSayed-hg8rb

    @MahmoudSayed-hg8rb

    3 жыл бұрын

    I'm 1 year late But yeah SAME

  • @cloudv2926

    @cloudv2926

    2 жыл бұрын

    Same i dont even have time time to play games

  • @immshep

    @immshep

    2 жыл бұрын

    Well it’s too late to turn back now, I’ve already turned in my school progression form and confirmed that I’m doing Japanese, time to go through the struggle for years

  • @aayushs.taehyung4631
    @aayushs.taehyung46312 жыл бұрын

    Perfect explanation. 完璧な説明😍😍

  • @VzDeath
    @VzDeath2 жыл бұрын

    Other than the mix up at 2:02 and the pronunciation of katakana and kanji, this video did very well at explaining the writing systems of japanese.

  • @JoaDrath
    @JoaDrath6 жыл бұрын

    Your videos are great and easy to understand for someone who has no prior knowledge of the language. Thank you.

  • @AcademiaCervena

    @AcademiaCervena

    6 жыл бұрын

    Thank you! I'm glad to hear it!

  • @daskut.
    @daskut.3 жыл бұрын

    This really helps to get the feeling of a Japanese text across

  • @ao_and_on
    @ao_and_on2 жыл бұрын

    日本人の私からしても、この動画は非常に興味深かったです。海外の方が日本語をどのように感じているのかがわかり、自分の視野が広がったような気がします。

  • @leo-rq2ei
    @leo-rq2ei2 жыл бұрын

    That answers a lot of questions I had thank you

  • @BeMystifiedSelfHelpTipsbyGaya
    @BeMystifiedSelfHelpTipsbyGaya3 жыл бұрын

    Kanji seems to be very similar to Chinese characters. This was a very coherent video. I understood it really quickly. Thank you so much for making this.

  • @leventerikli9173
    @leventerikli91734 жыл бұрын

    Awesome job you done , i was rly confuse before this and i was gonna learn hiragana first but i changed my mind to learn kanji first. All this f9r non translated mangas 😂

  • @yukirayuuii7801
    @yukirayuuii78012 жыл бұрын

    Tyyyy I learned many topics and lesson about Hiragana Katakana And kanji while I'm learning I'm also having fun Learning Japanese!