ALL THE CHARACTERS YOU’RE GOING TO STUDY, WHATEVER NUMBER OF STROKES THEY’RE MADE OF, HAVE TO OCCUPY THE SAME SPACE ON THE PAGE. WE SAY THAT THEY ARE CONTAINED IN THE SAME “IMAGINARY” SQUARE. WE SAY “IMAGINARY” BECAUSE, MOST OF THE TIME, THE PAGES HAVE NO GRID PATTERN ACTUALLY SHOWING.
THE VARIOUS STROKES NEED, THEN, TO BE ENLARGED OR REDUCED ACCORDING TO THE COMPLEXITY OR SIMPLICITY OF THE CHARACTER YOU’RE GOING TO WRITE—IN ORDER TO OCCUPY THE SAME AREA.
START BY WRITING ON PAPER WITH A LARGE GRID PATTERN. AT THE END OF THIS BOOK, ON PAGE 128, YOU’LL FIND A GRID PATTERN THAT YOU CAN TRACE OR PHOTOCOPY. THEN AFTER A FEW DAYS OR WEEKS, YOU CAN START USING SMALLER SQUARES.
IN ORDER TO MEMORIZE HIRAGANA PERFECTLY, YOU WILL HAVE TO PRACTICE AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE. YOU WILL HAVE TO WRITE THE NEW CHARACTERS AND GO BACK TO STUDY THOSE ALREADY LEARNED. LIKE THE JAPANESE YOUNG PEOPLE, YOU’LL HAVE TO PRACTICE MEMORIZING THE CHARACTERS BY WRITING EACH ONE OVER AND OVER.
ARE YOU SURE IT’S THE FOX WHO’S MAGICAL, OR IS IT JAPANESE?
SO, OUR FIRST CHARACTER:
は IS PRONOUNCED HA. IT IS ALSO PRONOUNCED WA, BUT ONLY IN ONE SITUATION, AS WE’LL QUICKLY SEE. は IS MADE UP OF THREE STROKES, THAT YOU NEED TO LEARN IN ORDER… WHICH IS THE CASE FOR EVERY CHARACTER.
HA
HA…
WA-F, WA-F!
THE SECOND CHARACTER… に IS PRONOUNCED NI AND IS ALSO MADE UP OF THREE STROKES.
THE THIRD CHARACTER: を IS PRONOUNCED O. AND THIS ONE ALSO IS MADE UP OF THREE STROKES.
AGAIN! SO… ALL THREE HAVE THREE STROKES, THEN…
THIS ONE’S A LITTLE BIZARRE…
WHAT, YOU DON’T FIND THE OTHER TWO BIZARRE TOO?
SO THAT I FORGET WHAT YOU THOUGHT VERY LOUDLY AT THE TOP OF THIS PAGE. TRY.
UH… FOX SENSEI は (WA) YARD に (NI) TO BE.
VERY GOOD.
Emily and Téo go to school.
Emily and Téo は (wa) school に (ni) to go.
Nico bothers Emily.
Nico は (wa) Emily を (o) to bother.
Emily slaps Nico.
Emily は (wa) Nico を (o) to slap.
OK, LET’S LEARN A NEW CHARACTER… か IS PRONOUNCED KA AND IS ALSO COMPOSED OF THREE STROKES.
か IS A VERY CONVENIENT SOUND WHICH TRANSFORMS A SENTENCE INTO A QUESTION. IT’S USED LIKE A QUESTION MARK AT THE END OF THE SENTENCE BUT IT’S PRONOUNCED LIKE A SOUND.
Do Emily and Nico go to school?
Emily and Nico は (wa) school に (ni) to go か (ka).
Is Master Fox in the yard?
Fox sensei は (wa) yard に (ni) to be か (ka).
Has Emily slapped Nico?
Emily は (wa) Nico を (o) to have slapped か (ka).
HAVE FUN TALKING AMONG YOURSELVES—AND YOU, DEAR READER, LEARN TO SPEAK JAPANGLISH TO YOUR SIBLINGS, YOUR BUDDIES, AND SURPRISE YOUR PARENTS BY SPEAKING IT AT THE TABLE FOR EXAMPLE…
CHAPTER 2: Japanese