It's just too bad, that nearly no one of the people living around me, will ever think of コ / こ as something with a meaning. Well,.. most of the people around here can't even understand english. But I think it was worth learning anyway. And if it was just to understand every article on this side.

However, the Japanese syllabaries (similar to alphabets) have a substantially smaller amount of sounds they can make compared to an alphabet system like the Roman alphabet, something it trades in return for losing the "how do I pronounce this word?" problems common in English, French, etc.

Since there is no "co" kana symbol, a Japanese writer wanting to put "co" into Japanese is forced to use コ or こ, the closest substitute.

That doesn't change the fact that the original intent was to write the letters "co", so some knowledge of the intended romanization is needed by the reader. As an example, everyone knows it's "Nico" and not "Niko", because it's shown all over the website.

It's important to remember that the Roman alphabet and Japanese syllabaries are completely different writing systems, and romanization systems are only approximations of what people "think" is closest to the original words.

In other words, it's safer and easier to think of コ / こ as コ / こ, and not ko / co.

I have no idea. I just started learning kana, like.. last year. But I don't really need it, so it's hard to keep those characters in mind.

And I startet really learning english about 2 years ago, so don't take me for a moron xD hm.. 2 years ago was also, when I started watching Anime on a regular basis. (With english Fansubs.) God did I feel helpless watching Evangelion three years ago...

Your last remark definitely made my day...

I only half joke about this. The women in my family, and others I know, may drive well enough, but often have trouble parking, regardless of if it's a pull-in spot or parallel parking. Can I get confirmation from other Asians since, from what I've seen on the street, it doesn't seem to be restricted to Japanese women?