To be clear, I'm not complaining. This is a hurdle I expected and want to overcome. Assuming both of my readers haven't bailed yet, then maybe it's because they're heading down the same path I am.
I won't get into hiragana vs. katakana too much. They are the two syllabic writing systems in Japan (kanji is logographic). One is a cursive version of the other, every kana in the hiragana set has a counterpart in the katakana set. I often struggle with certain katakana, for example hiragana 'se' (せ) looks similar to katakana 'sa' (サ), hiragana 'i' (い ) vs. katakana 'ri' (リ). And the character sets get mingled in text depending on usage: katakana is often used for animals and foreign loan words e.g. pizza => ピザ
ピザを食べる
That's not really an issue, it's the handwritten characters that keep tripping me up. Handwriting doesn't just add individualistic style and foibles, but also inconsistency. Right now the one that keeps giving me pause is katakana 'me' (メ) and 'na' (ナ) which look different enough, UNTIL you handwrite and the author tends to rotate the ナ character.
I won't get into hiragana vs. katakana too much. They are the two syllabic writing systems in Japan (kanji is logographic). One is a cursive version of the other, every kana in the hiragana set has a counterpart in the katakana set. I often struggle with certain katakana, for example hiragana 'se' (せ) looks similar to katakana 'sa' (サ), hiragana 'i' (い ) vs. katakana 'ri' (リ). And the character sets get mingled in text depending on usage: katakana is often used for animals and foreign loan words e.g. pizza => ピザ
ピザを食べる
That's not really an issue, it's the handwritten characters that keep tripping me up. Handwriting doesn't just add individualistic style and foibles, but also inconsistency. Right now the one that keeps giving me pause is katakana 'me' (メ) and 'na' (ナ) which look different enough, UNTIL you handwrite and the author tends to rotate the ナ character.
If I can get a decent photo, the differences will be even less apparent since the handwritten tail on the ナ is less curved, but this gives you the idea.