Katakana
Katakana is one of the two kana syllabaries used in Japanese.
It is especially common for foreign words, sound effects, and visual emphasis.
Overview
Katakana has 46 basic symbols.
Like hiragana, each symbol usually represents one mora, a rhythmic unit of Japanese.
Visual style
Katakana characters are more angular and sharp-looking than hiragana.
This gives them a bold and modern visual impression.
Where it is used
Katakana is commonly used for foreign words, brand names, scientific terms, and sound effects.
It is also used for emphasis in Japanese, a bit like italics or capital letters in Latin writing.
Watch out
Some katakana characters are easy to confuse at first, such as シ and ツ or ソ and ン.
Practising them in pairs helps a lot.