What Is It Called?: Reading Hiragana (t-) and Practice

Let's look at writing hiragana and then complete some practice activities.

Reading Hiragana: t-

In this module, we will begin to use hiragana beginning with s- (た、ち、つ、て、と). Notice the different sounds for ち and つ (chi instead of ti; tsu instead of tu)).

**Hiragana t-**
Hiragana	た	ち	つ	て	と
Roomaji	ta	chi	tsu	te	to

Interactive Activities

The directions for the activities below are written with the idea of you working with a partner. If you do not have a partner available, complete the practice on your own, completing both parts of the activity as well as you can.

Kore-wa nan-to iimasu-ka?

Do this activity with a kurasumeeto. Sit side-by-side with your partner with this page in front of you. Partner A points to one of the pictures on his/her own page and asks, “Kore-wa nihongo-de (OR: eigo-de) nan-to iimasu-ka?” Partner B answers in nihongo, supplying the target word in the designated language and using sore. Change roles after each picture. Look at the example.

A: Kore-wa eigo-de nan-to iimasu-ka? (pointing at the picture of a pencil)
B: Sore-wa eigo-de pencil-to iimasu.

Right to left: dictionary, TV, notebook, fax, pencil, computer, phone, paper, pen, eraser

Practice reading hiragana

With your partner checking you, read the hiragana and words below. Change roles and repeat.

**Reading Hiragana Practice**
Partner A	Partner B
た、と、ち、つ、た、て、ち	ta, to, chi, tsu, ta, te, chi
ち、と、て、つ、た、ち、て	chi, to, te, tsu, ta, chi, te
たかい、ちいさい、ついたち、とし	takai, chiisai, tsuitachi, toshi
おしごと、あつい、ちず、うち	oshigoto, atsui, chizu, uchi
うつくしい、いち、うそ、しち	utsukushii, ichi, uso, shichi
こたえ、ちかてつ、おいくつ	kotae, chikatetsu, oikutsu
おとこ、ぎせいご、したじき	otoko, giseigo, shitajiki

Write it in Japanese!

Write each of the following sentences in Romanized Japanese. After you finish all of the sentences, check your work by finding the identical sentences in previous lessons.

What is that?
This is a fax machine.
What is a shitajiki?
This is called a denwa in Japanese.
What is that called in English?
What is it called?
It is called a shitajiki.

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Lesson content based on material created by Georgia Public Broadcasting, 1996. All rights reserved. Used with permission.