Konichiwa, or whatever you japanese ppl say. Before 2 or 3 hours i got the sudden urge to learn Japanese so i started with hiragana since it’s the easiest of the 3, ofc started by the alphabet using tofugu’s book. I never even tried to learn Japanese before but when i reached the so letter i said i would stop before going to the t category and take a quick test (other than the one in the book) and to my surprise it was different the test doesn’t name it shee like the book does. The test name’s it shi. And at the same time the writing is different for example ki is written in the book with a gap in the bottom but in the test it was a full circle.
I don’t have trust issues, BUT WHO SHOULD I FREAKING TRUST
7 comments
Both are right
shee = shi (it’s just a question of spelling, you might also find “si”)
ki: it’s a question of fonts, or printed and handwritten styles.
Wow. Um, okay…
Hiragana isn’t an alphabet, it is a syllabary. I suggest looking up romaji to see the proper ways you write Japanese pronunciation. But the book probably told you to say し as shee because an English speaker would make the correct sound by seeing that. The “i” in Japanese is pronounced as the “ee” in “see.”
You are probably seeing hiragana in slightly different fonts. Just goggle search resources on how to write them with stroke order and what not. Or following the guide to whatever book you have is fine. On the internet you will probably see Japanese characters have different variations.
In Japanese, there is a slightly different way to write certain kana vs typing them out, as the way an ink brush or pen flows is obviously different from readability on a screen or page. There are different ways to write ki, just as there are different ways to write ‘t’, or ‘r’ or ‘z’, or ‘a’. You simply learnt to roll with it. It’s the same in Japanese. Once you reach Kanji, you’ll be seeing strokes and line omissions and swirls in handwriting that would never be there in print. Getting used to it is what’s important.
If this is how easily you get confused you’re going to have a miserable time.
Tofugu isn’t wrong, they’re a good and trusted resource, the other thing you looked at isn’t wrong either. Different looks and fonts are going to be encountered in both kana and kanji, you’ll get used to them eventually.
Honestly though, I think learning kana without hearing (using a book) is a mistake, saying “shee” is probably helpful for someone who has zero experience in how to pronounce things, the romaji is “Shi”, but I’d recommend actually learning how to pronounce kana, watch a youtube video where the kana is pronounced clearly for you. Saying “Shee” or “Shi” in English is not going to cut it, you need to learn how to pronounce kana at least.
I’m not saying go crazy about your accent, as long as you know how Japanese sounds like, even if your mouth isn’t used to making it sound right, it’s fine, just know what is right. No one cares that you have an accent, I’m not going to tell you I sound great when I speak or read Japanese, when I say it in my head it sounds fine, because even if I can’t say it out loud well, I still know what it’s supposed to be.
*Also it would be nice if you installed a Japanese keyboard on your PC / phone, it was kind of tough to understand what you said.*
し is phonetically pronounced as “shee,” it’s written like that since the Japanese I is closer to an English long e sound. when romanized it’s written as shi
き and さ have separations at the bottom in a handwritten font. think about the letter “a,” and how it looks different on your computer or phone compared to how you and others write it on paper
Like others said, it’s a slight difference between hand written and typed font.
There are also different romaji systems you might encounter with slight differences as well. Differences like “shi/chi” vs “si/ti” when both systems are referring to the same kana し or ち. One system focuses more on matching the pronunciation, the other on following the consonant groupings in the kana keyboard.
I understand it’s very frustrating to hear conflicting information. However, I would firmly advise strengthening your frustration tolerance if you plan on continuing Japanese studies.