Learn how research-based learning will change how you memorise Katakana.
About Me: Hi! I’m Yuna. I am the owner of YK Education and Study with a Buddy, Japanese Online Program. I am a strong believer of passing on knowledge of evidence-based learning to help students achieve their dreams in the most effective way.
Katakana is, for most people, the second script that you will memorise after Hiragana. Many students say that Katakana is more difficult to memorise than Hiragana.
Katakana is used for foreign words and modern day Japanese people are using more and more Katakana words these days so it is important that you learn them. There are other ways that Katakana is used such as for sounds words, onomatopoeia, and animals. Some animals are written in Katakana because they are originally from a different country, not Japan.
So what are some strategies that you can use to memorise Katakana?
- Decide on your target learning goal and move on only once you have managed to achieve your learning goal for the day — for example, to memorise the first 5 letters.
Don’t overload the brain.
It is ineffective to practice all 46 characters everyday for 14 days.
46 characters so maybe split the learning over 5–14 days, depending on how good your memory is. - Use a Katakana learning app that uses spaced repetition and practice every morning and night for 10 minutes every session. Remember, science says that 10minutes twice a day, every day is better than 140 minutes once a week. Check out spaced repetition if you want to know the reasoning.
- Use Katakana mnemonics — pictures to match the sound and characters to help the brain memorise. The brain has something called schemas that help you link prior knowledge to new knowledge. Therefore, the brain will have an easier time remembering if it can match the character to a familiar picture/drawing/image. You can also make these yourself.
- Read Japanese menus like KFC and McDonalds because they use a lot of Katakana words! Search up McDonalds Japanese menu pdf and you’ll find a link.
- Consider multiple inputs. The brain memorises better if it gets to use all it’s senses. So, read it, write it, listen to it, smell it…jokes! You can’t smell Katakana but you can read, write, and listen. There are many Youtube videos on Katakana and you can also find writing sheets online.
If you need some recommendations, or you can’t find any Japanese menus, just send up a message or comment and we’ll help you out!
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If you are still having trouble memorising, let me know and maybe we can identify the problem :)
Have fun!
Keep learning!
See you soon!
If you are looking for a structured online program, we’re here for you.
Yuna
