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Not really. At least in the states, handwriting is dropped probly since invention of typewritter. We're asked to "print" on forms, not to "write". So we don't really use either version of "a" Sensei mentioned, but a smaller size of "A". Breaks do help us writing faster, for moving the pen tip in the air is faster than on the paper. But that advantage is gone on typewritters or computers. I used to think that once Japan is completely computerized, they would drop the breaks. That didn't happen ; ) I don't know if its a good thing or a bad thing, but I do notice Chinese schools only teach the print font, no more handwriting. After all, its already hard enough, why should we learn to read one font and write in another font? We can use the spared time to learn another language!
I just started learning Japanese and have been using two different apps (since one does a good job with teaching how to write it, the other does a better job of testing your recognition of symbols) and was very confused by Ki having an inconsistency. You did a fantastic job of explaining this in a simple and clear way. You are a fantastic teacher. Thank you!
When I started learning hiragana, I used to write さ and き in the handwritten form, but later switched to the Mincho form, because I felt like the undetached curve was easier to write while writing fast. Even though my sensei told me it was ok for me to write it that way, I got very nervous about which font to write during my mid term and final exams and whether I'd be marked down for writing the Mincho form (because another sensei would be checking our papers and I wasn't sure if the preference varied from person to person.) I ended up writing the Mincho form though, because I was used to it, and thankfully it didn't really matter. I even scored the highest in both the exams, so I doubt that any marks were deducted for the font. I wish I had come across this video earlier, so that I'd know that both forms are acceptable by the native Japanese and that personal preference doesn't really matter. It would've saved me a lot of anxiety. Also, we were taught to write ふ, な and む differently from what you taught in the video, and now I'm confused again 😕
@@Rachel-wb2vv it's hard to describe them verbally, but we were originally taught to write them using straight lines instead of curved ones (あ was also a letter that was taught to us to be written that way), and our then-sensei taught us to write the downward stroke of む like that of よ... later on, another sensei (who is a native Japanese as opposed to the original sensei who wasn't) told me I was writing the む wrong. Apparently, the way we were taught to write those characters is the same way that very small children are sometimes taught to write them, when they're learning to write for the first time. But since I learnt Japanese as an adult, I started writing them the normal way after a while.
Yeah, I've been watching her videos for the same reason. Duolingo is a great tool for the most part (plus it's free), but the writing you have to learn elsewhere.
I am so relieved and so encouraged to see all of the different hand writings from your students. I was worrying that if my hiragana didn't look exactly as I had been learning it, that it would be wrong. Obviously I'm still going to try and make it look as neat and close to examples as possible, but I'm glad there is some room for "style". ^^'
Thank you so much for posting this video. I started learning hiragana yesterday, and the two different styles of 「き」 had me scratching my head wondering what that slight variation was about. I'm happy that it's just a different font and not something more complicated.
i assume the mincho font was created because it was easier to print. it connects lines so that the printer would be able to create the character in less strokes, eventually becoming a font. thats my theory anyway
No. IMHO the mincho is used for calligraphy, hence you don't need to pull your brush up in the air, instead just moving forward to the next stroke. Creating a beautiful font, isn't it?
@Simone Villostas he meant about printers back then not the digital ones of today, but he is still wrong. Printers don't do strokes, they were more like stamps, stamping the paper and printing that way
thank you for this! i took a semester of japanese in college several years ago, and i was taught the mincho way of writing it. so when i started trying to teach myself japanese again recently, i was baffled as to why it looked different that i remembered! your video was the first that popped up when i googled it, and the 'a' explanation was a really good way to help me understand the difference between the two writing styles!
I'm a college instructor too and we always make sure students follow the handwritten versions of Hiragana. I wonder why your sensei taught you the mincho style... Anyway, I'm glad the lesson was helpful to clear the confusion.
Tqsm @YukoSensei! I just started learning Japanese through Duolingo. I came across the 'ki' handwriting and was initially very confused, after watching your video I finally understand. Thanks again!
Literally been learning recently and was confused thanks to this videos I understand now. The way you taught made it so easy to understand. I will use this channel for now on to help me learn. Also thanks keep up the work
This was quite eye-opening. It's been so long since I studied hiragana and katakana in high school that I may need to 're-learn' them. Or at least, try to learn them from another teacher. I likely developed bad/lazy habits.
The alphabet "g" also have its printed form (in some fonts) different from its handwritten form, but it's less common now. That font of "g" looks like 2 circles linked with a curly line.
Thank you. I'm new to learning the language and thank God I found your video early on to re-learn how to write the these letters as I got confused by the app in my phone that listed the two versions of the letters in different places and with no explanation on why they differ.
Thank you so much for sharing your time expertise with us and providing so much downloadable free material for beginners like my self. much appreciated.
I love your videos yuko sensei 😄 I am trying to learn Japanese and that's how I found your profile. You are a wonderful teacher and I am excited watch more of your videos and learn what you have to teach. Thank you so much for sharing this knowledge!❤️
Thank you so much. Haha, I was studying Hiragana on Duolingo, and in the practical exercise part where you had to write the characters with the mouse, there was a "report a problem" button on which I always clicked. And this because some characters were different in other parts of the exercises. I thought they had a bug, I understand more, thanks again
Another example of "It was used like that" but in fact media and most things you see use another version. But you still have to learn something only because it is in textbooks but rarely used that way.
I apologize for not having a Japanese Hiragana font on my keyboard. All of my comments below are in reference to Hiragana and not Katakana. Thank you so much for this video. I am self studying Japanese and have constantly been confused by the two ways that I constantly see 'ka' and 'ri' (as in Rio especially). I can now see that it is somewhat official. Again thank you for being there. Post Script: Till recently I had thought that Nippon as Ni-p-po-n was being snobbish / stupid / .... But, recently I saw that it was actually the correct way. It is four beats. May you and yours stay well and prosper. Terry
I use one app to help me write in hiragana and katakana because I’m too scared to write in kanji and another app to help me write actual words thank you for helping me Because Sa and Ki and za were getting me really confused! My learning so far あいうえお かきくけこ がぎぐげご さしす ざじ
The English “a” the way you write is cursive writing. The others you showed are different fonts in type settings, which are closer to hand printing. We have 2 basic styles of handwriting in English.
As a Chinese person, I always thought that the connected one was 行書 and the not connected one was 楷書, and since I usually handwrite in 行書 whilst writing Chinese, I wrote them connected all the time......
thank you for your work and time. i was afraid that i will have to change my false hand writing. well of course, I'll try to change some of my characters but I'm relieved now.
I think we have a similar legacy with English’s lower-case G. In many fonts it looks absolutely bizarre, not at all like people normally write it, but it has still continued in written material.
I see your point here. In russian you can have variants even for printed letters. We are taaught in school to write certain way, but as your handwriting develops during life one just writes whichever way comfortable (also applied to writing in connected or disconnected manner). No one cares as long as it's readible, neither refers to it as write or wrong way to write. personally I randomly mix printed-style letters with "handwritten" ones.
I started writing the mincho and later turned to the hand written ki and sa, I keep changing as I go, I was terribly slow at first, now I'm getting a bit faster but still make mistakes if I go fast.
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English letter "a" is a great analogy
Agreed. As a native English speaker, I hardly think about the different versions even though I recognize them all the same.
Not really. At least in the states, handwriting is dropped probly since invention of typewritter. We're asked to "print" on forms, not to "write". So we don't really use either version of "a" Sensei mentioned, but a smaller size of "A".
Breaks do help us writing faster, for moving the pen tip in the air is faster than on the paper. But that advantage is gone on typewritters or computers. I used to think that once Japan is completely computerized, they would drop the breaks. That didn't happen ; ) I don't know if its a good thing or a bad thing, but I do notice Chinese schools only teach the print font, no more handwriting. After all, its already hard enough, why should we learn to read one font and write in another font? We can use the spared time to learn another language!
@@jollion I don't know anyone who writes lower cased "a" as a smaller version of "A". 😰
I write "a" different than these two possibilities and still no one ever ask what is this letter.
@@michalgeppert5373 Yeah, I write it like this "α"
I just started learning Japanese and have been using two different apps (since one does a good job with teaching how to write it, the other does a better job of testing your recognition of symbols) and was very confused by Ki having an inconsistency. You did a fantastic job of explaining this in a simple and clear way. You are a fantastic teacher. Thank you!
What are those apps??
Can you tell me?
I'm using Duolingo btw
@@piyush_d4501 Hiragana Sensei for memory and recognition. I have another app on my iPad. I’ll reply to this with the correct app when I have it.
@@Ronin_Noir yup I love that app also using katakana Sensei currently
Hi! Pls tell us the names of both the apps~
This comment is 2 years old, and I'm now curious to how your japanese journey is now?
Here I am worrying about how crappy my handwriting is but when I saw those handwriting samples I felt kinda relieved.
When I started learning hiragana, I used to write さ and き in the handwritten form, but later switched to the Mincho form, because I felt like the undetached curve was easier to write while writing fast. Even though my sensei told me it was ok for me to write it that way, I got very nervous about which font to write during my mid term and final exams and whether I'd be marked down for writing the Mincho form (because another sensei would be checking our papers and I wasn't sure if the preference varied from person to person.) I ended up writing the Mincho form though, because I was used to it, and thankfully it didn't really matter. I even scored the highest in both the exams, so I doubt that any marks were deducted for the font. I wish I had come across this video earlier, so that I'd know that both forms are acceptable by the native Japanese and that personal preference doesn't really matter. It would've saved me a lot of anxiety.
Also, we were taught to write ふ, な and む differently from what you taught in the video, and now I'm confused again 😕
hi! Could I ask how different the letters u mentioned were written as? I'm curious to see the different forms
@@Rachel-wb2vv it's hard to describe them verbally, but we were originally taught to write them using straight lines instead of curved ones (あ was also a letter that was taught to us to be written that way), and our then-sensei taught us to write the downward stroke of む like that of よ... later on, another sensei (who is a native Japanese as opposed to the original sensei who wasn't) told me I was writing the む wrong. Apparently, the way we were taught to write those characters is the same way that very small children are sometimes taught to write them, when they're learning to write for the first time. But since I learnt Japanese as an adult, I started writing them the normal way after a while.
agree
I too liking the mincho style since it has more context, and is easier to identify.
Just learn mincho and kyokasho form just in case😅
I was writing it wrong because duolingo doesn’t teach you how to write it
Be careful not to challenge the Owl
yeah i came here just because of that
Yeah, I've been watching her videos for the same reason. Duolingo is a great tool for the most part (plus it's free), but the writing you have to learn elsewhere.
@@sammig.8286 yea fr
O you are also learning in Duolingo app nice I am also 🥰
I am so relieved and so encouraged to see all of the different hand writings from your students.
I was worrying that if my hiragana didn't look exactly as I had been learning it, that it would be wrong. Obviously I'm still going to try and make it look as neat and close to examples as possible, but I'm glad there is some room for "style". ^^'
same
ditto
Yes, that's great, i was thinking the same too.
love the pacing of this video. not too fast or slow. perfect.
pacing/composition might be fine, but I opted to listen at 1,5x speed 😅anyway, good vid👍
Thank you so much for posting this video. I started learning hiragana yesterday, and the two different styles of 「き」 had me scratching my head wondering what that slight variation was about. I'm happy that it's just a different font and not something more complicated.
i assume the mincho font was created because it was easier to print. it connects lines so that the printer would be able to create the character in less strokes, eventually becoming a font. thats my theory anyway
that's my thinking as well
No. IMHO the mincho is used for calligraphy, hence you don't need to pull your brush up in the air, instead just moving forward to the next stroke. Creating a beautiful font, isn't it?
Unlikely, printers don't write with strokes
@Simone Villostas he meant about printers back then not the digital ones of today, but he is still wrong. Printers don't do strokes, they were more like stamps, stamping the paper and printing that way
THANK YOU! I WAS CONFUSED WHEN I PURCHASED BOOKS BECAUSE IT WAS DIFFERENT FROM THE APP WHERE I STARTED STUDYING KANA! KEEP IT UP! VERY HELPFUL!💚💚💚
When you write the letter a it looks like greek α
yes, i never noticed the Greek A is just a less fancy 'a'
actually greek alpha has a different stroke than handwritten a, you can't see it in this font but it is elsewhere.
thank you for this! i took a semester of japanese in college several years ago, and i was taught the mincho way of writing it. so when i started trying to teach myself japanese again recently, i was baffled as to why it looked different that i remembered! your video was the first that popped up when i googled it, and the 'a' explanation was a really good way to help me understand the difference between the two writing styles!
I'm a college instructor too and we always make sure students follow the handwritten versions of Hiragana. I wonder why your sensei taught you the mincho style... Anyway, I'm glad the lesson was helpful to clear the confusion.
I'm always confused about this. Arigatou gozaimashita for the video :D
@@hlvxj bro shut the fuck up
@@iyonnn9387 😭😭why so aggressive
@@hlvxj no they meant to write it like that.
As a Person Learning Japanese from a Friend in the Chiba Prefecture, this was very Helpful.
i like writing the き edition because that’s what my ipad says is “ki” on my japanese keyboard
I like the seperated version cause it looks like a face
きboard haha
it really helps when u show how ur students/ beginners start writing.. so we know the direction we should go for our handwriting. good job!
Tqsm @YukoSensei! I just started learning Japanese through Duolingo. I came across the 'ki' handwriting and was initially very confused, after watching your video I finally understand. Thanks again!
I'm so glad I found this video because I was writingさ and き in mincho for weeks now and I've developed a habit.
here's what I get on my phone: き、さ。
Very neat to know the difference since I've had this conversation a few times. ありがとう！
Your voice when you say 'I don't know' at 2:21 and 2:30 sounds so soothing
Ikr
Thanks. This was great as I can now visually write the character with more confidence
Same!!! I was thinking I was going to have to train my brain to something new! I’m glad both are acceptable
thank you SO much!
Hi my son and i enjoyed watching this while having breakfast today. thank youuuuuuu
I can't begin to explain how helpful this was. This helped me so much. Thank you!!!
I’m glad I watched this video before starting my stroke practice
this was quite helpful! since i’m a beginner I’ll try to get used to the katakana version!
り is different? Wow, I never knew
I thought that was katakana リ and Hiragana り
@@someguy1865katakana and hiragana り looks almost identical when hand written
For the Google keyboard, Kyokasho font is the one being used already (ki = き; sa = さ). Maybe this helps people practice writing sa like that :)
with the exception of the り though!
It still looks very much like a font
ありがとう!
Literally been learning recently and was confused thanks to this videos I understand now. The way you taught made it so easy to understand. I will use this channel for now on to help me learn. Also thanks keep up the work
Thank you so much for this! I've been wondering this since I started learning and I thought they were two different characters at first.
教え方が上手い！良いアイデアをありがとう。
This was quite eye-opening. It's been so long since I studied hiragana and katakana in high school that I may need to 're-learn' them. Or at least, try to learn them from another teacher. I likely developed bad/lazy habits.
ありがとうございます、先生
Omg I was able to read this sentence 🎉
@@Leahsfilms same i'm proud of myself 😄
Thank you for answering this question. I now know which to learn to write as a priority.
this was so useful, you're a great teacher
あリがとございます for video.. It was reall help ful 😊😊
It was so great to review the correct way to write the hiragana kanas, thank you very much.
I have kyokasho version on my keyboard! き! Interesting
Ini dia penjelasan yang gw cariiii
The alphabet "g" also have its printed form (in some fonts) different from its handwritten form, but it's less common now.
That font of "g" looks like 2 circles linked with a curly line.
i really like the kyokasho version because it helps me differentiate between ki and sa
Thank you. I'm new to learning the language and thank God I found your video early on to re-learn how to write the these letters as I got confused by the app in my phone that listed the two versions of the letters in different places and with no explanation on why they differ.
You removed a lot to me .
I was think about that
Thank you teacher
These are my questions, thanks for your explanation.
Thank you so much for sharing your time expertise with us and providing so much downloadable free material for beginners like my self. much appreciated.
thanks for this! i kept testing myself and thinking i got sa and ki wrong, this helped me alot :)
Thank you, I’ve been wondering about that for a long time and I just got the idea from someone ❤
I love your videos yuko sensei 😄 I am trying to learn Japanese and that's how I found your profile. You are a wonderful teacher and I am excited watch more of your videos and learn what you have to teach. Thank you so much for sharing this knowledge!❤️
Thanks, Very Illustrative
I'm quite glad that I only learned to write き and さ in mincho style (unintentionally), I thought I had learned it wrong lol
7:39 I did that😂
When I read the title I was confused because it reads ki & sa-
Thank you for this wonderful video 😁😁😁😁😁😁
Wow 😯 at I thought my hiragana writing wasn’t good. Guess I was doing better than average😭 I feel inspired now
This was really informative, thank you!
thank you! this video is really helpful for me:)
Thank you so much. Haha, I was studying Hiragana on Duolingo, and in the practical exercise part where you had to write the characters with the mouse, there was a "report a problem" button on which I always clicked. And this because some characters were different in other parts of the exercises. I thought they had a bug, I understand more, thanks again
Amazing video ! Really helpful !
Another example of "It was used like that" but in fact media and most things you see use another version. But you still have to learn something only because it is in textbooks but rarely used that way.
Pretty well explained ❤
Thanks for clearing this up, the Nintendo switch’s hiragana uses the kyokasho font and i was super confused!
"ri" is another one that had me very confused for a while in Japanese. Also "g" in English has a different variation.
thank you ❤❤❤
I apologize for not having a Japanese Hiragana font on my keyboard. All of my comments below are in reference to Hiragana and not Katakana.
Thank you so much for this video. I am self studying Japanese and have constantly been confused by the two ways that I constantly see 'ka' and 'ri' (as in Rio especially). I can now see that it is somewhat official. Again thank you for being there.
Post Script: Till recently I had thought that Nippon as Ni-p-po-n was being snobbish / stupid / .... But, recently I saw that it was actually the correct way. It is four beats.
May you and yours stay well and prosper.
Terry
I use one app to help me write in hiragana and katakana because I’m too scared to write in kanji and another app to help me write actual words thank you for helping me Because Sa and Ki and za were getting me really confused!
My learning so far
あいうえお かきくけこ がぎぐげご さしす ざじ
thank you Yuko!
Thank you so much for the video!
OMG thanks. I don't know that explanation for is is so simple XD
Very helpful video, thank you!!
I used the print front for り in Hiragana and regular form リ in Katakana
Thanks for the video. Really helped me a lot. 😊
Thank you for the knowledge sensei
The English “a” the way you write is cursive writing. The others you showed are different fonts in type settings, which are closer to hand printing. We have 2 basic styles of handwriting in English.
excellent material thank you so much
I naturally write in kyokasho. I think it looks more natural. When I try to write in mincho form it doesn't turn out well.
ありがとうございます。❤
This helped so much thank you!!
As a Chinese person, I always thought that the connected one was 行書 and the not connected one was 楷書, and since I usually handwrite in 行書 whilst writing Chinese, I wrote them connected all the time......
Arogato Gozaimazu! This is a big baby step for my journey in learning Japanese. This really helped me out! I’ve subscribed!
Really Thanks!!
Thanks Yuka sensei for this
My mind has now been cleared thank you 🙂
ありがとうございました！
Oh so it’s like that. I always thought that the micho one is like Japan’s cursive or paint brush version of the character.
ユコ先生ありがとうございます。 I found myself guilty of adding the small curl at the end of な！ I will be sure to stop this 😅
Thank you sooooo much thank you
I didn't know what is the difference between them and this wasn't clear for me this video is really useful :-)
ありがとうございます,ゆこせんせい thank you so much Yuko sensei
thank you for your work and time. i was afraid that i will have to change my false hand writing. well of course, I'll try to change some of my characters but I'm relieved now.
ありがとうございます。
I never knew that! Well, I can say that I use the Kyokasho font all the time but I thought it was wrong.
I think we have a similar legacy with English’s lower-case G. In many fonts it looks absolutely bizarre, not at all like people normally write it, but it has still continued in written material.
Let's not even get into English cursive! Especially the 'r's that just look like a loop :/
@@niamh9947Russian cursive:
Thank you so much
I see your point here. In russian you can have variants even for printed letters. We are taaught in school to write certain way, but as your handwriting develops during life one just writes whichever way comfortable (also applied to writing in connected or disconnected manner). No one cares as long as it's readible, neither refers to it as write or wrong way to write. personally I randomly mix printed-style letters with "handwritten" ones.
ty for this !
I started writing the mincho and later turned to the hand written ki and sa, I keep changing as I go, I was terribly slow at first, now I'm getting a bit faster but still make mistakes if I go fast.
I got kyokasho in phone, mincho in laptop
This was super useful!!
thank you so much 🥰
日本人のゆうこ先生が英語を喋りながら日本人の俺に日本語を教えてくれるという高度な教育が今行われています。ありがとうございます。初めて知りました。