Free Japanese katakana words guide

What's inside

• Sound rulesWhy vowels get added, L and R as one sound, V to B, TH to S or Z, long vowels with ー, the small ッ, -er endings, and the extra kana like ティ, ファ and ヴァ.
• False friendsWords that sound English but mean something else, like マンション, コンセント, ナイーブ and クレーム, and English made in Japan, like サラリーマン, ペットボトル and ドンマイ.
• ShorteningHow スマホ, パソコン, コンビニ, エアコン, リモコン, セクハラ and ポケモン were clipped from longer words, plus loanwords that became verbs, like ググる and サボる.
• 50 everyday wordsFood, tech, places, everyday things and anime words, including the ones that came from Portuguese, Dutch, German and French, like パン, ビール, アルバイト and ズボン.
• PracticeTwenty katakana words to read and guess, five of them tricky, your name in katakana, and how katakana shows up in anime subtitles.

How to use it

1. Learn the kana first. The hiragana and katakana chart covers every one.
2. Read page one out loud, one beat per kana, until the rules feel natural.
3. Cover the answers on the practice page, read each word and guess the English.
4. Watch an anime with Japanese subtitles in Kitsumi and spot the katakana words you can guess.

More free Japanese printables

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• Hiragana and katakana chartLearn to read first. Every hiragana and katakana, with a picture to remember it by.

Questions