KATAKANA
Katakana is one of three character sets in Japanese language. Others are Hiragana and Kanji. It is preferred to learn Katakana after learning Hiragana.
Katakana is used for writing foreign words and loan words (words which did not originate in Japan but are still used in Japanese are called "Loan Words". Most languages have some loan words).
For example of a foreign word, take 'デスノート' Which is read as 'DeSu NoーTo' the hyphen like sign(ー) is used to lengthen the vowel sound of the letter it was placed after. In this word 'デ' is read as 'de', 'ス' is read as 'su', 'ノ' is read as 'no' and 'ト' is read as 'to', together 'Desu No-to'.
For example of a loan word, take 'アルバイト', it is taken from maybe German. It is read as 'ARuBaITo', in which 'ア' is read as 'a', 'ル' is read as 'ru', 'バ' is read as 'ba', 'イ' is read as 'i' and 'ト' is read as 'to', together 'ARuBaITo'.
But in English it is written as 'Death Note' so Japanese people will adjust their pronunciation to sound as close as they can using their limited sounds.
Writing your name in Japanese
Japanese people write thier names in Kanji. But for GaIKoKuJiN or foreign people, Katakana characters are used because names not originating in Japan are also loan words or foreign words.
For example My name will be written in Katakana not in Hiragana or Kanji as タヒル. In this word 'タ' is read as 'ta', 'ヒ' is read as 'hi' and 'ル' is read as 'ru', together 'Tahiru'.
But my name is written in English as 'Tahir' so Japanese people wil shorten the 'u' sound of the character 'ル' like it isn't there. If you are a beginner, I advice you to check Japanese Pronunciation and Hiragana before learning Katakana.
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