How to write Zaire in katakana
Japanese writes foreign names in katakana, one of its two alphabets, by sound rather than by spelling. Zaire becomes ザイール, made of these parts:
| Katakana | Sound | Note |
|---|---|---|
| ザ | za | |
| イ | i | |
| ー | – | long vowel mark: hold the sound before it a little longer |
| ル | ru |
When you write a full name, Japanese puts a middle dot between the first and last name, for example ザイール・スミス for Zaire Smith.