Katakana Pokemon

[BulbaDee]

Hi everyone,

A Japanese teacher in my school saw a silly flash game that I made a few months ago and wondered if I could help him out with a new game to teach basic Japanese to 10 - 12 year olds this summer

The game will consist of five rounds, each round a new pokemon is shown on the screen. They will also be presented with a table of katakana characters and can listen to their pronunciation by hovering over the character. The aim of the game is to listen to the name of the pokemon (by clicking on the pokemon image) and select the correct katakana characters, in the right order to spell the name of the pokemon in Japanese.

Heres the problem... I dont speak Japanese so I need all the help I can get...

1) Could someone pick 10 pokemon characters that are easy to spell in Japanese by listening to their name? A bad example would be the pokemon “charmander”. His Japanese name is Hitokage(ヒトカゲ). They would never be able to get that.

2) Does anyone know a site that has all the katakana characters and has a sound associated to each of them?

If anyone could help me out I could be much appreciated. Thanks

 

[Captain Falcon]

I don't know of any sites, but I have a Japanese teacher, and she may be able to help.

Also, by any chance could this teacher you are talking about be Professor 'Brian' Lee of the University of North Carolina Asheville Campus?

 

[BulbaDee]

haha... no, not the same japanese teacher
but thank you Master Luxray, if you could help that would be great!!

I would ask my own teacher but he doesn't know how to operate a computer and doesn't know what Pokemon are. Soo.... yea

 

[topherg]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katakana ???

There's a table of Katakana there lol. I know it's not the most trusted source, but it looks right to me. I studied Japanese for a while, but that was 3 years ago.

 

[BulbaDee]

Thanks for the link... however I dont speak the language
Even with that chart I have no idea how to translate bulbasaur into katakana... thats what I really need help with.

 

[BulbaDee]

I just found this site - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Pokémon
Seen that Pokemon originally started in Japan, I thought that their names were the same in English and Jananese... apparently not.

Could someone use that list to pick 10 - 15 Pokemon that would work best and provide the katakana name for them?
eg: Caterpie and Butterfree share the same Japanese and English name so the children could easily type their name in katakana by listening to the pokemons name.

Thanks.

 

[Vhazhiphor]

I don't know a lot of japanese, but it's actually a lot easier to to write than you'd think. The symbols (at least Katakana and hiragana) each represent a syllable, so if they know the right character, by hearing "Hitokage" (pronounced something akin to "hee-toh-kah-geh", it's pretty easy to spell. Someone not familiar with the language might think, for example, that "hitokage" can be said several different ways (including high-toh-cage, I'm sure) but it's easier than you think.

You could probably just ask one of the japanese students to read the names for you. Or ask the teacher to choose a student to help you.

 

[Dawn~]

I don't know a lot of japanese, but it's actually a lot easier to to write than you'd think. The symbols (at least Katakana and hiragana) each represent a syllable, so if they know the right character, by hearing "Hitokage" (pronounced something akin to "hee-toh-kah-geh", it's pretty easy to spell. Someone not familiar with the language might think, for example, that "hitokage" can be said several different ways (including high-toh-cage, I'm sure) but it's easier than you think.

You could probably just ask one of the japanese students to read the names for you. Or ask the teacher to choose a student to help you.

What he said.

It'd be a lot easier than you think. Plus, I'm pretty sure Bulbapedia has the characters for the names, dosn't it?

ピカチュウ = Pikachu
ライチュウ = Raichu

Just check it there.

 

[Green Zubat]

OMG this woukd be a great idea I'd love to be able to help but I don't know any japanese, sorry I just wanted to show my support.

Also, someone really needs to teach your japanese teacher how to use a computer; that's a basic skill which becoming increasingly vital in today's world.

 

[Vhazhiphor]

What he said.

It'd be a lot easier than you think. Plus, I'm pretty sure Bulbapedia has the characters for the names, dosn't it?

ピカチュウ = Pikachu
ライチュウ = Raichu

Just check it there.

Yep, it does. Not to mention the very first thing they teach you when learning japanese (first thing on my CDs, anyway) is how to pronounce the syllables, so that shouldn't be a problem for anyone.

I wish I hadn't lost those CDs. =(

 

[Dawn~]

Yep, it does. Not to mention the very first thing they teach you when learning japanese (first thing on my CDs, anyway) is how to pronounce the syllables, so that shouldn't be a problem for anyone.

I wish I hadn't lost those CDs. =(

I still have mine. ;D

Needless to say, pronunciation is VERY easy. Very very very easy.

 

[Vhazhiphor]

I still have mine. ;D

Needless to say, pronunciation is VERY easy. Very very very easy.

Indeed. I remember my dad (who went to Japan several times while in the navy) explaining the basics to me. "There aren't any plurals or singulars, you just say the thing and how many of it there are."

The most memorable lesson, though, was the saying they used to say "you're welcome". "Don't touch the mustache" (doitashimashite I think it is). Good ol' dad.

 

[Dawn~]

Indeed. I remember my dad (who went to Japan several times while in the navy) explaining the basics to me. "There aren't any plurals or singulars, you just say the thing and how many of it there are."

The most memorable lesson, though, was the saying they used to say "you're welcome". "Don't touch the mustache" (doitashimashite I think it is). Good ol' dad.

LOL! Remembering dou itashimashite has never been a problem for me... but that's hilarious. xD;

Anyway, to keep on topic: Bulbapedia is an amazing reference. Type whatever Pokemon name you want into it and check their Pokedex. You'll find the characters you want already there. Just copy/paste 'em!

 

[BulbaDee]

Ohh wow, I had no idea that this community had such a rich wiki. Guess I can do the rest myself then. Thanks everyone

I'll put up the game when it's done...

 

[Yamato-san]

Could someone use that list to pick 10 - 15 Pokemon that would work best and provide the katakana name for them?
eg: Caterpie and Butterfree share the same Japanese and English name so the children could easily type their name in katakana by listening to the pokemons name.

Thanks.

except that Caterpie's name starts with a キャ "kya", so some people wouldn't immediately catch onto the fact that the first letter in its name is actually a キ "ki" (hell, just looking at the roman spelling for its name, some would be liable to assume it starts with a カ "ka"). BTW, how do you expect to deal with ヲ "wo" and ン "n"?

 

[Vhazhiphor]

except that Caterpie's name starts with a キャ "kya", so some people wouldn't immediately catch onto the fact that the first letter in its name is actually a キ "ki" (hell, just looking at the roman spelling for its name, some would be liable to assume it starts with a カ "ka"). BTW, how do you expect to deal with ヲ "wo" and ン "n"?

Increasing levels of difficulty, maybe? Or just putting in those symbols from the start? If they've been taught any japanese at all, they shouldn't have too many problems, though.

Also, they would hear it pronounced. They won't hear "ka" or "ki-a", they'd hear "kya". Can't be that hard.

The idea is that the game helps in teaching them how to write. Not does all of the work.

 

[Zekurom]

Even with that chart I have no idea how to translate bulbasaur into katakana... thats what I really need help with.

What you would do is to choose the sounds that most closely approximate the sound of the word in its native language.

For example, Bulbasaur would be transliterated as "ブルバソー" (Burubaso-) if strictly going by phonetics, even if its actual Japanese name is "フシギダネ" (Fushigidane).

 

[Yamato-san]

What you would do is to choose the sounds that most closely approximate the sound of the word in its native language.

For example, Bulbasaur would be transliterated as "ブルバソー" (Burubaso-) if strictly going by phonetics, even if its actual Japanese name is "フシギダネ" (Fushigidane).

according to pallete, its English name would transliterate as バルバゾァ (Barubazoa). I believe "Bulbasaur" also got a mention in Pokemon de English (according to what I recall from the TV-Tokyo website's Pokemon Encore page), though I forget if it had that same kana spelling.