A month ago I started learning on Duolingo (I know from some searching on this sub it’s potentially a good starting point but that’s it) and recently ordered a workbook (*3 in 1 Hiragana Workbook* by Lilas Lingvo) to try and work on my writing more as well.
For the most part everything’s the same but a couple of the characters appear a bit different. Also in the top right of the exercise for a character there’s a more stylized “complete” version of it where often a lot of lines will connect that don’t anywhere else. And in its exercises it shows a slight *swoosh* that Duolingo and online versions don’t, as if the pen is still drawing the *complete* version but lifting up a bit after finishing a line and coming down a bit before starting the next one.
I guess my main question is should I be worried about the *swooshes* (for lack of a better word) and are the differences in characters that I’m noticing because of different formats or something else?
5 comments
I think of it in the same way I think of the difference in some English characters. Like “a” can look sort of like a backwards 6, or it can look like a o with a little tail. I’ve seen people write it almost like a two as well becuse they do the one that looks like a backwards 6 but add a bigger tail to it… So to a none English speaker that could be confusing. There are many examples of this. It’s a good idea too pick up on the variants over time, but don’t worry about it too much right away. The variants that you see in those texts are similar enough if you understand the character. Make sure to focus on learning stroke orders though, as that can help you with picking up on what a character is ment to be even when it looks different. Learning how to write them the same way Japanese people would is best.
You should rely on samples, or at least a textbook-style typeface (教科書体, きょうかしょたい) as reference. It’s not a good idea to follow regular computer fonts (gothic, mincho)
Look up Japanese Calligrapher Takumi on YT. He has a playlist called Learn Japanese. He shows how to write beautifully with pencil, ballpoint, etc. No need to spend money on a brush pen, etc.
I don’t think there’s much to worry about? It’s like how we have multiple styles of lowercase a and g.
You can find practice sheets for free if you google a bit. They’ll have a “normal” handwritten font as an example, and empty practice fields (just like when you learned writing in elementary school).
This is an example: [http://japanese-lesson.com/resources/pdf/characters/hiragana_writing_practice_sheets.pdf](http://japanese-lesson.com/resources/pdf/characters/hiragana_writing_practice_sheets.pdf)
Edit: Another example with a slightly different font: [https://maikojapan.com/hiragana-writing-practice-sheets/](https://maikojapan.com/hiragana-writing-practice-sheets/)