Hiragana and Katakana Preparation Dear Beginner students Welcome to open option Japanese Language courses. In order to ensure that the start of your study at SOAS goes as smoothly as possible, please note the following important matters. Previous knowledge of Japanese is not required. However, from Monday of Week 1 of your study, you will be using the hiragana script (not Romanization). Our Japanese lectors will of course be giving you guidance about using and writing Japanese scripts in Week 1, but you would benefit from familiarizing yourself with the script before coming to class. Please note that it is also beneficial even for those who have some previous knowledge of written Japanese to consolidate their knowledge about Japanese script writing before term commences. 1) You can learn about hiragana on the following websites:

http://www.omniglot.com/writing/japanese_hiragana.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiragana

2) You can also practice and learn how to read and write Hiragana using the appropriate models of Hiragana and on the following site and

take great care to follow the correct stroke order and stroke direction. Please don’t worry if your writing feels clumsy as we will run a script writing induction class after your arrival. But the more you can do now, the easier your start to the programme will be.

<Hiragana>

http://japanese-lesson.com/characters/hiragana/hiragana_writing.html

http://japanese-lesson.com/characters/hiragana/hiragana_writing.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiragana

<Katakana>

http://www.omniglot.com/writing/japanese_katakana.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katakana

http://japanese-lesson.com/characters/katakana/katakana_writing.html

・HIRAGANA/KATAKANA Memory Hint

The Japan Foundation, Japanese-Language Institute, Kansai developed this app to provide a fun way to study hiragana/katakana using mnemonic pictures.

http://www.jfkc.jp/en/news/2015/10/just-released-the-smart-phone-app-hiragana-katakana-memory-hint-english-version-indonesian-version.html

2) You should practice and learn how to read and write hiragana using the appropriate models of Hiragana. You might also enjoy exploring the many useful links for Japanese language study which you will find on the following website:

Online Nihongo: http://nihongo-e-na.com/eng/site/id349.html

It would be a good idea to reach the point where you can at least read and write the 46 hiragana symbols on the website of http://nihongo-e-na.com/eng/site/id349.html/ before you come to class. When you practice writing Hiragana, make sure to use the appropriate model of Hiragana and take great care to follow the correct stroke order and stroke direction. Rest assured that all of you will be invited to a script writing induction class in Week 1, so don’t worry too much even if you cannot reproduce hiragana very skilfully before you arrive. We simply advise that some preliminary preparation will help your early progression. If you have any questions specifically about this preliminary hiragana preparation, please e-mail Dr Seiko Harumi (sh96@soas.ac.uk), who is in charge of the Basic Japanese 1 course. We are looking forward to welcoming you to our Japanese Language courses.