They are both ‘ja’. I’m using the app kana to help me study katakana and hiragana but whenever it tells me to write out “ja” how do I know which one is the correct one? Is it the one with chi? Or the one with shi?
You’re never going to see ぢゃ in a real life word. It will always be じゃ
じゃ is the default, ぢゃ is an exception. When something that is normally spelled ちゃ becomes voiced, via rendaku, when it becomes part of a compound word. Like ぼんぢょう.
What others said, but also small point but they’re different sounds. じゃ is a fricative, similar to the “s” in measure. ぢゃ is an affricate, meaning it’s a combination of “d” and the same “s” sound mentioned before, as in the word “judge”
ETA: although tbf I do believe じゃ is often affricated especially in initial position.
あの、初めて日本語を習い始めた時、２年前でした。あの日から、１年後大学に入れましたので、あまり日本語が勉強できる時間もない、決意もないんです。基本、あまり決意がないというか、ただ疲れているし、１週間に二三時間しか勉強してしまいません。実は、もっと勉強したいのに、出来ないから不安になっちゃいます。 皆さんは、効率的な勉強のチップがあるでしょうか？誠にありがとうございます✨ by PoggerMaster69
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You’re never going to see ぢゃ in a real life word. It will always be じゃ
じゃ is the default, ぢゃ is an exception. When something that is normally spelled ちゃ becomes voiced, via rendaku, when it becomes part of a compound word. Like ぼんぢょう.
What others said, but also small point but they’re different sounds. じゃ is a fricative, similar to the “s” in measure. ぢゃ is an affricate, meaning it’s a combination of “d” and the same “s” sound mentioned before, as in the word “judge”
ETA: although tbf I do believe じゃ is often affricated especially in initial position.