In my Japanese experience so far, I've been acquainted with katakana. It is always relieving to me when I begin to study for a vocabulary quiz and I come across English loan words written in katakana because it means that I won't have to remember seemingly arbitrary combinations of syllables. However, I think that katakana also presents a unique challenge: mimicking English sounds or sound effects accurately in Japanese syllables as loan words or onomatopoeia. Remembering the right way to reproduce English sounds often frustrates me and saddens me.
How I feel inside when I try to memorize lots of katakana words.
http://medicalschoolmd.com/images/anxiety_3.JPG
The most common use of katakana is the use of katakana for foreign words that have entered the Japanese language: loan words. Some of these words are common, like パン for bread or コンピュータ for computer, and others are less commonly used, like ハイカラ for "high collar," slang for a person who is a little too obsessed with Western fashion. These uses of katakana, with the exception of the occasional one that is difficult to understand, are fairly straightforward: most are simply foreign words (from German, Portuguese, Korean, English, Chinese, etc.) or shortened combinations of foreign words.
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 phrase could have been partially written in hiragana and kanji as フランスの女の人 or something. But the editors of the magazine chose to print it in katakana. I think that katakana was used in this case to emphasize the foreignness of the magazine article and make it stand out on the page. It makes the article look a little bit more Western, which would be good and interesting if you are talking about a French girl.
Here is the second use of katakana that I found:
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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. Additionally, writing the company name in katakana may emphasize the internationality and progressiveness of this company. In this case, katakana was likely used for its connotation (foreignness) and its appearance/convenience (continuity of the company name).
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 that are always mentioned are 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 more Western.
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. Some uses of katakana, I imagine, can only be understood as a cultural phenomenon. To fully understand katakana, I think one would have to live in Japan and observe all the different, nuanced uses of katakana in books, magazines, advertisements, or in daily life. I'm sure that the authors of the textbooks expect us to alter our understandings of the uses of katakana as we come across new uses of katakana. Eventually, we students will have a good grasp of the many, many uses of katakana. Personally, I'd like to learn as much about katakana usage as I can, so I'm happy to be going to Japan soon, where I hope to observe all the uses of katakana I can!
