Reading Practice

Katakana 2

Chapter 12 · Reading Practice

🌸 Reading Practice and Course Complete — 読んでみよう

The last chapter has no new characters. Instead, you will read: a short text, adverts and a café menu with prices, using everything from the two katakana courses and the three hiragana courses. Romaji is shown for everything, but try to read the Japanese first.

📄 A Short Text — 短い文章

Six sentences that mix katakana with the hiragana particles you know. Read the Japanese aloud before looking at the romaji and English.

#	Sentence	Romaji	English	Note
1	ジョンさんはエジンバラのかいしゃへいきます。	Jon-san wa Ejinbara no kaisha e ikimasu.	John goes to a company in Edinburgh.	は = wa; へ = e
2	ランチはサンドイッチとコーヒーです。	Ranchi wa sandoicchi to kōhī desu.	Lunch is a sandwich and coffee.	と = and
3	ディナーはレストランでステーキをたべます。	Dinā wa resutoran de sutēki o tabemasu.	For dinner he eats steak at a restaurant.	で = at; を = o
4	ビールをのみます。	Bīru o nomimasu.	He drinks beer.	を = o
5	あしたはバスでブダペストへいきます。	Ashita wa basu de Budapesuto e ikimasu.	Tomorrow he goes to Budapest by bus.	で = by; へ = e
6	ホテルのウェブサイトでチケットをチェックします。	Hoteru no webusaito de chiketto o chekku shimasu.	He checks the tickets on the hotel's website.	の = of; で = on

📣 Adverts — 広告

Short and punchy, with prices written in hiragana.

#	Advert	Romaji	English	Note
1	ランチセール！	Ranchi sēru!	Lunch sale!	an advert headline
2	ハンバーガーとポテトとジュースごひゃくえん	Hanbāgā to poteto to jūsu gohyakuen	Hamburger, fries and a drink: 500 yen	ごひゃくえん = 500 yen
3	ホットコーヒーひゃくごじゅうえん	Hotto kōhī hyakugojūen	Hot coffee: 150 yen	ひゃく + ごじゅう = 150

🍝 A Menu with Prices — メニュー

A small sample menu. The prices use the hundreds you learned in Hiragana 3. (Prices are invented for practice.)

#	Menu line	Romaji	English	Note
1	ピザ　ろっぴゃくえん	piza roppyakuen	Pizza, 600 yen	ろっぴゃく = 600
2	パスタ　はっぴゃくえん	pasuta happyakuen	Pasta, 800 yen	はっぴゃく = 800
3	サラダ　ごひゃくえん	sarada gohyakuen	Salad, 500 yen
4	ケーキ　さんびゃくえん	kēki sanbyakuen	Cake, 300 yen	さんびゃく = 300
5	ジュース　にひゃくえん	jūsu nihyakuen	Juice, 200 yen

Real Japanese Tip — Kanji Is the Next Step You can now read the two kana scripts completely, which is more than half of what a beginner needs. The third script, kanji, will appear next to them: えん (yen) is normally written 円, and エジンバラのかいしゃ would use 会社 for かいしゃ. The kanji courses will teach these a character at a time, and every kanji will fit into sentences that you can already read.

Review: Words from the Last Chapter エジンバラ (Edinburgh) · ハンガリー (Hungary) · スターバックス (Starbucks) · コンビニ (convenience store) · ハンバーガー (hamburger) · フィリップ (Philip).

✍️ Try It Yourself — れんしゅう

Say each answer out loud first, then click to check.

1. Read aloud and translate: ランチはサンドイッチとコーヒーです。

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Ranchi wa sandoicchi to kōhī desu: Lunch is a sandwich and coffee.

2. What is the price of the pasta on the menu?

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はっぴゃくえん (happyakuen): 800 yen.

3. What does the advert ランチセール！ mean?

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Lunch sale!

4. Read aloud: ブダペスト · エジンバラ · ハンガリー

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Budapesuto · Ejinbara · Hangarī

5. Which five kinds of katakana did this course add to Katakana 1?

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The voiced marks (゛゜), small ッ, the combined sounds (キャ …), the extended foreign sounds (ファ, ティ …), and real-life reading.

6. Write your full name in katakana, using the steps from Chapter 11, and read it aloud.

Show answer

Your own katakana name: check it against the four-step recipe.

🎓 Course Complete — おめでとう！

You now know all of katakana: the 46 basic characters from Katakana 1 plus everything in this course. Here is what the two courses gave you, and the journey through this one.

Course	What it taught	Characters
Katakana 1	the 46 basic characters, the long-vowel mark ー, real loanwords	ア … ン
Katakana 2	voiced and semi-voiced characters (゛゜), small ッ, combined sounds, extended foreign sounds, real-life reading	ガ … ヴ · ッ · キャ … リョ · ファ … ヴォ

Chapter	Topic	You can now…
1	ガギグゲゴ	You can now read the G row: ゲーム, ギター, ゴルフ.
2	ザジズゼゾ	You can now read the Z row: ジム, ゼロ, サイズ.
3	ダヂヅデド	You can now read the D row: ドア, デート, ダンス.
4	バビブベボ	You can now read the B row: ビール, バス, ボール.
5	パピプペポ	You can now read the P row: パン, ピアノ, スーパー.
6	ッ	You can now read the small ッ: ベッド, サッカー, チケット.
7	キャギャシャジャ	You can now read the first four combined rows: ジュース, シャツ.
8	チャニャ … リャ	You can now read all combined sounds: メニュー, ニュース.
9	ファフィフェフォウィウェウォ	You can now read F and W sounds: ファン, フォーク, ウェブ.
10	ティディシェジェチェヴ	You can now read T, D, SH, J, CH and V sounds: パーティー, チェック.
11	Real-life katakana	You can now read signs, menus, brands, places and write your name.
12	Reading practice	You can now read a text, an advert and a menu.

What Next? You can read all the kana. Next: Japanese Basic Conversation 1, where you start using the language (greetings, introductions, numbers, ordering food and more), and later the kanji courses.