How I feel inside when I try to memorize lots of katakana words.
http://medicalschoolmd.com/images/anxiety_3.JPG
In this katakana analysis project, I tried to find uses for katakana other than loan words because these uses are the ones I'm most unfamiliar with. Here is what I found:
http://www.asianbite.com/JapanImages/Ayumi-Hamasaki-on-Magazine-Cover-2.jpg
From the cover of a Japanese magazine (not this one, regrettably):
フレンチガール
French girl
Certainly, this could have been partially written in hiragana and kanji as フランスの女の人 or something. I think that katakana was used in this case to emphasize the foreignness of this "French girl" and make it stand out on the page.
Here is the second use of katakana that I found:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31FRxUXBqaL._SL500_AA300_.jpg
From the tag of a Mameshiba toy:
クワハラ ベトナム カンパニー リミテッド
Kuwahara Bednam Company Ltd.
Again, this company name could have been partially written in hiragana or kanji because "Kuwahara" is a Japanese name, not a foreign name. But I think katakana was used here for continuity. It might look a little bit strange to have "Kuwahara" written in kanji and the rest of the company name written in katakana.
http://i.walmartimages.com/i/p/97/80/61/89/66/9780618966288_500X500.jpg
Each textbook explains katakana in a different way, but this is because katakana has many different uses.
The very basic uses of katakana are always foreign names and loan words. But some textbooks mention that katakana is also used for onomatopoeia. Fewer textbooks mention that katakana is also used for emphasis or for making things look cool.
The most likely reason for these differences in explanation is that different textbook authors may think that some uses of katakana are more important for beginning students like us to know. Personally, I'd like to learn as much about katakana usage as I can!
