[L1, G3] Using hiragana for foreign words

User Sutoh asked the following question about the Lesson 1, Grammar Note 3 lecture:

Sensei,
These pod casts are very helpful and easy to understand. Thanks so much.
I had a question on the Japanese translation of Georgia in this cast. Is it common to use the hirgana for an American word like that (in Japan)? Also, it looked like a katakana vowel sound extension was used too, is it common to intermix the two kana in one word (in Japan)?

My answer:

Good questions! Thank you!

I used hiragana here because the Lessons/podcasts are designed with the assumption that students know hiragana by the time they start Lesson 1, and katakana by the time they start Lesson 2. I therefore don’t want to use katakana in the Lesson 1 podcasts, but I did want to teach "Georgia"/"University of Georgia" quickly, as I use it frequently in my teaching.

Writing words in hiragana that would normally be written in katakana is done in Japan, most commonly in books for small children. Like most non-native learners, Japanese children learn the hiragana first, and the katakana after that, so you will often see books for kindergarten or younger children written entirely in hiragana, or with hiragana written next to katakana words to show the reading.

Even when that is done, however, extended vowels are still normally shown with the katakana extender, probably on the assumption that it’s an “instant learn” character—once you’ve seen it once, you aren’t likely to forget it. =)

Check out this image from one of my young son’s books:

The katakana extender can also be used to show that a syllable is being extended in its pronunciation, as opposed to as part of its “spelling”. In this image, the elephant is crying because he wants to go down the slide first, and the final vowel sound is being extended. “I want to go fiiiiiirst!”

Hiragana is also sometimes used for foreign words to make the word look more cute or feminine. For example, とらばーゆ is a popular magazine for women seeking work. The name comes from the French word "travailler" (I think—someone correct me if I'm wrong!)

Thank you for your questions! I am planning to make a podcast that touches on issues like this, so I will try to incorporate these questions into that.