掲示板 Forums - I need help with Katakana
Top > 日本語を勉強しましょう / Let's study Japanese! > Anything About Japanese
I just started Katakana after mastering Hiragana, and it’s totally messing me up.
Some if them look similar in good ways, but others look like characters from Hiragana, but isn’t the same sound.
You just need practice thats all. They are done that way only. 
You're not the only one, don't worry, it's normal. Just take your time and slow down if it start to become overwhelming.
Also, you don't need to start with renshuu quizz if you don't want to. Renshuu quizz is not "level 1". The real "level 1" is the sheet that you can found in ressources -> worksheet
That's how japanese learn kana (and even kanji). And they do it dozens or even hundred of times. And that's important for multiple reasons.
First, it's not a "challenge". You have the solution in front of you, you just look at it and copy it. That's it.
People often say that you should "enjoy" learning japanese. Well, here is a simple way: Instead of taking renshuu's quizz first with the "I should be able to remember those kana today" -> "I wasn't able to remember them... only 60% of correct" mindset, try the "Let's try to write the kana prettely today without any pressure" mindset.
It's a small change but it's also everything. Instead of associating your daily japanese routine "disapointing" feeling everyday, associate your daily routine with "let's have some fun today". You may feel like it's too slow but simply because it's fun, you're memorizing things faster and more durably. It's like 101 of neurology. Also when you feel "bad" each day about your "performance", you're brain will try to demotivate you too. Everyday. Because for your brain, the only output is "bad", so you should just stop.
Another advantage to do that is for later. Japanese read incredibly fast on average. Like seriously, on average, they read faster than English native speak would read an english sentence outloud.
And even without talking about all of that, just keep in mind that japanese are far slower than 99% of the foreigner learning japanese (well, except the one who give up). Like, I don't have any data for kana but for the kanji, they spend one whole year learning 80 kanji. I never a foreigner learning kanji that slow. Everyone try to learn faster. And even without, I'm pretty sure you've been faster than a "normal" japanese for the hiragana. That should be your bottom line, not other foreigner's speed of learning (which often come with problem that they will have to correct later anyway). It's really worth it to take your time at the beginning. Because that will speed up your journey later.
And also, you are you. Don't compare yourself to other, if some people want to boast that they were able to learn the kana in one day, good for them, feel free to ignore them. Just go at your pace and when you start to feel overwhelmed, when it's not fun, just slow down (block words, kanji or grammar later too, renshuu will remember everything anyway). The more you take your time and have fun at the beginning, the faster you will learn later.
It takes time and practice I haven’t mastered katakana myself
just don’t give up!
Use the usage notes! 
There are so many mnemonics here to help you memorize them. 
Check them out!! 
My practical hints for you. Linking katakana with your own language characters, or make a linkage between katakana and its hiragana partner. Have fun! 
"し & シ" pair, you start the stroke for し verticaly downward ⬇️ and then the 'tail' 45 degrees↗️ up . Now, you start シ with the upper dot and then the 2nd dot below, just like draw a vertical line from top to bottom, the "tail" becomes the "mouth" 45 degrees up.
"つ & ツ" pair, you can figure it out the stroke starts horizontally ➡️ and then point 45 degrees ↙️ down. So you know ツ, you start the 1st dot and then the 2nd one on its right, the "mouth" should be point 45 degrees down.
Out of the three, there is a third one so many people worry about. 💀
カタカナ learning a new alphabet is hard don't worry there's only 3 in Japanese
Out of the three, there is a third one so many people worry about. 💀
漢字 ？
カタカナ learning a new alphabet is hard don't worry there's only 3 in Japanese
Out of the three, there is a third one so many people worry about. 💀
漢字 ？
はい
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