Tutorial

I've always wanted to learn Japanese since it's a part of my life in one of my favorite hobbies, watching anime. I know Portuguese and English, and I have advanced Spanish, and I decided to pick up Japanese so I can make better use of my spare time and call myself a polyglot. However, one thing kept me from approaching the language for all these years: the alphabet barrier. How can I use it on my regular devices?

Hiragana is the go-to alphabet for beginners. It's a syllabic alphabet, which means you have a single character for each syllable. For example, "Ka", "Ki", "Ku", "Ke" and "Ko" are five characters each. There are 46 basic symbols to memorize, not mentioning their subtle but mandatory variations. Learning Japanese is quite an uphill battle, since you usually have to both memorize each symbol and learn how to draw it before you actually get to use them.

Then it hit me: what if I can skip learning how to draw them and just learn how to memorize/identify them as I go? This would make for a much less tedious process. I could learn how to draw it only after I've memorized it and already know some words and phrases. In fact, it should be much easier and more enjoyable to draw these symbols once I already know their meaning and I'm already building sentences.

Skipping the part where you learn how to draw the Hiragana alphabet is possible if you start learning japanese through your phone. All you have to do is download the Gboard keyboard, a keyboard app from Google, and add the Japanese language in the settings tab. Make sure you pick the keyboard version that displays the full Hiragana alphabet, which is the last template shown while you're adding it. Remember, you can hold SPACE or tap the World icon to change keyboard language easily.

Now that you have access to a great hiragana keyboard, all you have to do is get on ChatGPT and type the following prompt: Show me basic nouns in Japanese using the hiragana alphabet, followed by its version using the English alphabet, followed by its translation.

You're all set! Read everything, then write the Japanese word back to ChatGPT using your Hiragana keyboard. It's going to take you a while at first while you get used to the symbols. It's going to be like a memory game. You'll get the hang of it with some patience. Once you're done typing the words ChatGPT has shown you, send it. ChatGPT will tell you if you've typed it all correctly.

After you get everything right, use English to ask ChatGPT for some more basic nouns or verbs. Add basic sentences to the mix, asking it to only use words you've learned so far.

Right now, I'm exercising this way for ten minutes every day. Here's an example of what I can type: "あさにみずをのみました" Yay, go me! It means, "I drank water this morning." I'm such a polyglot already! Haha.

image: https://pixabay.com/pt/photos/palavras-carimbo-ordenadamente-955946/