You know the weird feeling you get when you hear a song for the first time, and then you hear it 20 more times within the same day? Or you just read about a new car and then start seeing them everywhere. That kind of crap happens to me every single day because I'm learning Kanji. It can happen to you too!
While it kinda sucks having to relearn to read as an adult, it has also been incredibly rewarding lately. I study a few new words and BAM, I'm seeing them in books, in games, online, at work, freakin everywhere!...except TV because screw Japanese TV. I study it once and life takes over and helps me review it all day/every day.
All the Japanese I don't know is just lumped into that big category of 'crap I don't know', so when I do see a known kanji it just pops right out against the blur. Its like my Japanese is piecing itself together and coming into focus. And speaking of Kanji, the JLPT sign-up starts tomorrow. Everyone else should be getting on their kanji studying as well.
You know what also starts tomorrow? The end of the world according to Japanese news. Starting April first the sales tax is going up from 5% to 8%, and holy crap the idiots making a scene. It is like Y2K all over again, but dumber for some reason. I can almost get past all the crazy claims like "it's going to put (insert store or restaurant name here) out of business." The little things are what have really been eating at me .
Flocking to department stores to stock up on toilet paper for example. Seriously, holy shit people! It is, quite literally, not even worth my time to think about the sales tax increase for more than 2 seconds, and citizens are taking a separate driving trip to the store, paying about $6/gallon for gas, to save a few yen on toilet paper...What is wrong with this picture?? Everything, that is what.
So I guess what I'm trying to say is study your kanji for a rewarding experience in Japan, and don't freak the hell out over (literal) pennies.
Showing posts with label Kanji. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kanji. Show all posts
Monday, March 31, 2014
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Kanji 二番
After briefly discussing why studying Kanji (漢字) is not as bad as it seems, let me bring you back to reality with 3 typical problems you will more than likely encounter on your journey to literacy.
1. The 'I have no f&#%@* clue' problem
As kanji gets more complicated, it can become impossible to read. When you come across these indecipherable kanji, you are basically screwed. You can guess how they might sound based on the radicals, but you can never really be sure. Congratulations, you are an adult who can’t read
鬱 - I think this means 'retardedly complicated'...
2. The 'Dog+Small+Room = Dog House' problem
Problem number 1 was a worst case scenario. There are some instances where you come across compounds you have never seen before yet you might know exactly what the word means because you know the 2 or more Kanji the compound is comprised of. If you know the building blocks well enough you can guess the meaning and pronunciation. Like the example above, Inugoya (犬小屋 ) is made up of the Kanji for Dog, Small, and Room.
Or the first time I saw 住所 on a form. The first Kanji comes from 住む, to live. The second, 所, is tokoro, place. So a reasonable person would guess this is the place you live.
On the more difficult side, for Fire Alarm you have 火災報知器. From left to right the Kanji are Fire, Disaster, Report, Know, Device. Kind of sounds retarded when you put it in those terms.
This problem is kind of like knowing what a necrophiliac is and then having to guess what necrosis means. You know the elements, so you can make an educated guess. This is a unique problem because even though you know what the word means, you still can't say it.
3. The 'What’s the Kanji for 'I should know this?' problem
For most people, you learn to speak at a rate exponentially better than you learn to read, so much of Kanji studying is learning how to write words you already know. Similar to the situation above, sometimes you can almost guess what the compound will be before you even learn them. I think there is/was a game show in Japan based on a similar concept, where they give you the name of some difficult Kanji and you have to guess what the character is made up of based on the meaning. I'll post that if I ever find it.
For example, after learning what suugaku (数学) and kougaku (工学) mean, mathematics and engineering respectively, I could only assume that literature was bungaku (文学). You can pretty much put 学 after anything to make it the study of that thing.
Whats the kanji for water gate? Whats that? Water (水) and gate (門)? 水門...why didn't I think of that?
1. The 'I have no f&#%@* clue' problem
As kanji gets more complicated, it can become impossible to read. When you come across these indecipherable kanji, you are basically screwed. You can guess how they might sound based on the radicals, but you can never really be sure. Congratulations, you are an adult who can’t read
鬱 - I think this means 'retardedly complicated'...
2. The 'Dog+Small+Room = Dog House' problem
Problem number 1 was a worst case scenario. There are some instances where you come across compounds you have never seen before yet you might know exactly what the word means because you know the 2 or more Kanji the compound is comprised of. If you know the building blocks well enough you can guess the meaning and pronunciation. Like the example above, Inugoya (犬小屋 ) is made up of the Kanji for Dog, Small, and Room.
Or the first time I saw 住所 on a form. The first Kanji comes from 住む, to live. The second, 所, is tokoro, place. So a reasonable person would guess this is the place you live.
On the more difficult side, for Fire Alarm you have 火災報知器. From left to right the Kanji are Fire, Disaster, Report, Know, Device. Kind of sounds retarded when you put it in those terms.
This problem is kind of like knowing what a necrophiliac is and then having to guess what necrosis means. You know the elements, so you can make an educated guess. This is a unique problem because even though you know what the word means, you still can't say it.
3. The 'What’s the Kanji for 'I should know this?' problem
For most people, you learn to speak at a rate exponentially better than you learn to read, so much of Kanji studying is learning how to write words you already know. Similar to the situation above, sometimes you can almost guess what the compound will be before you even learn them. I think there is/was a game show in Japan based on a similar concept, where they give you the name of some difficult Kanji and you have to guess what the character is made up of based on the meaning. I'll post that if I ever find it.
For example, after learning what suugaku (数学) and kougaku (工学) mean, mathematics and engineering respectively, I could only assume that literature was bungaku (文学). You can pretty much put 学 after anything to make it the study of that thing.
Whats the kanji for water gate? Whats that? Water (水) and gate (門)? 水門...why didn't I think of that?
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
漢字
After all that ‘easy’ katakana stuff comes the real Challenge – Kanji. At first glance Kanji , Chinese characters, seem like a tough pill to swallow. They are actually not too terribly hard to learn…except there are more than 2000 in daily use…so good luck with that.
Most people just see a bunch of scribbles when they look at Kanji, but the characters are made up of some basic building blocks (basically the more difficult Kanji are made up of several simply kanji called radicals). You can even use these radicals to look up unknown kanji in the dictionary. I think this was done in an ancient time before you could write the kanji in a denshi jisho or just hold your cell phone over the character for a translation. So once you get familiar with the simpler building blocks, you can pick up new words really quickly. Then once you learn these words, you can combine them to make new words.
For example, ィ can represent a person, 木 stands for tree. Put them together, you got a man leaning on a tree, you get 休, vacation.
女 (woman) + crown = 安, easy. I didn’t say they all made perfect sense. Take that word easy and combine it with fun (楽) and death (死) and you get euthanasia (安楽死). Tell me with a straight face that doesn’t make sense.
Okay, in case all of those half-assed examples aren’t helping, do you at least see how the building blocks help? Instead of looking at the Kanji and seeing a bunch of lines, you only have to see 2 to 5 radicals in a specific order. So when you think about it, you don’t really have to memorize 2000 kanji, just 200 radicals and how to arrange them.
Japanese have problems with Kanji too, so don’t feel terrible about knowing a measly 100 or so Kanji. With the rising popularity of computers and keitai, many Japanese are forgetting how to write these characters out. Kind of like the need to spell correctly flies out the window once you discover spell check.
If you've learned nothing else remember this kanji, 外国人, because no matter how many kanji you know, this is all you'll be.
Most people just see a bunch of scribbles when they look at Kanji, but the characters are made up of some basic building blocks (basically the more difficult Kanji are made up of several simply kanji called radicals). You can even use these radicals to look up unknown kanji in the dictionary. I think this was done in an ancient time before you could write the kanji in a denshi jisho or just hold your cell phone over the character for a translation. So once you get familiar with the simpler building blocks, you can pick up new words really quickly. Then once you learn these words, you can combine them to make new words.
For example, ィ can represent a person, 木 stands for tree. Put them together, you got a man leaning on a tree, you get 休, vacation.
女 (woman) + crown = 安, easy. I didn’t say they all made perfect sense. Take that word easy and combine it with fun (楽) and death (死) and you get euthanasia (安楽死). Tell me with a straight face that doesn’t make sense.
Okay, in case all of those half-assed examples aren’t helping, do you at least see how the building blocks help? Instead of looking at the Kanji and seeing a bunch of lines, you only have to see 2 to 5 radicals in a specific order. So when you think about it, you don’t really have to memorize 2000 kanji, just 200 radicals and how to arrange them.
Japanese have problems with Kanji too, so don’t feel terrible about knowing a measly 100 or so Kanji. With the rising popularity of computers and keitai, many Japanese are forgetting how to write these characters out. Kind of like the need to spell correctly flies out the window once you discover spell check.
If you've learned nothing else remember this kanji, 外国人, because no matter how many kanji you know, this is all you'll be.
Monday, January 10, 2011
5 Most Common Japanese Words (you will absolutely hate using)
美味しい: Oishii (delicious) – this obviously had to make the list. You cannot go 5 seconds without hearing this damn word. If you want to man it up, you can say Umai – it has basically the same meaning. I’ve come to the conclusion that all Japanese are self conscious of their cooking, so whether you’re eating a nice prepared meal, or a shucream from a conbini, be sure to say this at least 37 times before finishing.
Oishii my ass...
痛い: Itai (ouch) – This is mostly for the women. Since all Japanese women are real women, they are light and dainty, and as such they need to convey this to everyone around them. One manner of doing this is to say itai when anything gets remotely close to touching you? Just trip over a bike? Itai! Just get hit by a wash cloth? Itai! Its so versatile!
そうですか: Sou desu ka (is that so) – In addition to being self conscious chefs, Japanese people are never sure you’re listening to them unless you interrupt their conversation as much as possible to let them know you aren’t sleeping. Conversations go something like this…
Kinou, Ken ni battari atta. - Sou desu ka?
Kare ha Kyoto ni… - Sou desu ka?
Nani .. - SOU DESU KA!
Nagarakugaragara (????) – When you get older in Japan, you can’t be bothered with silly things like enunciation so be sure to slur your words and barely open your mouth to make your speech indecipherable. But still act surprised when people say they can’t understand you.
heeeEEEEEEE? ( word? ) – When someone gives you new or surprising information use this word. Be sure to start soft and build to a dramatic finish. The longer you hold out the word, the more surprised you are.
All sarcasm aside, lets have a serious recap.
Oishii – it is expected that you say this about your food. Whether it sucks or not is irrelevant. You can try to eat your meal in peace or chime in with a little “mmm”, but sooner or later someone will ask Oishii? Trust me. Just say the word.
It's all oishii dammit!
Itai – I suppose the word has sort of morphed to become “woah” or “yikes” in addition to “ouch.” It is just a knee jerk response when someone gets touched by surprise. It doesn’t mean they are hurt, so don’t assume all Japanese are pansies. And when I say Japanese women are REAL women, I mean it. Guess who don't get the epidural when having babies. That's right, Japanese women.
Sou Desu Ka – I sometimes here it over used in conversations but it just means “uh huh”, “really”, “you don’t say”. You can also say it after someone asks you a question to buy you time to come up with an answer. It’s actually a quite useful phrase.
Insert mumbling here – I don’t know what it is about men getting older in Japan but it turns their Japanese into garbage. It seriously happens to EVERYONE. It is a common stereotype for the elderly in Japan, so don’t worry if you can’t understand some old dude. Even native Japanese can barely understand these fogeys.
heeeEEEEEEE – I say this sometimes to make fun of how others sound, but people take me seriously. That’s how ridiculous this word is. If you don’t like this word, sometimes an “uso!” (no way, you lie!) or a "maji?" is more appropriate.
Oishii my ass...痛い: Itai (ouch) – This is mostly for the women. Since all Japanese women are real women, they are light and dainty, and as such they need to convey this to everyone around them. One manner of doing this is to say itai when anything gets remotely close to touching you? Just trip over a bike? Itai! Just get hit by a wash cloth? Itai! Its so versatile!
そうですか: Sou desu ka (is that so) – In addition to being self conscious chefs, Japanese people are never sure you’re listening to them unless you interrupt their conversation as much as possible to let them know you aren’t sleeping. Conversations go something like this…
Kinou, Ken ni battari atta. - Sou desu ka?
Kare ha Kyoto ni… - Sou desu ka?
Nani .. - SOU DESU KA!
Nagarakugaragara (????) – When you get older in Japan, you can’t be bothered with silly things like enunciation so be sure to slur your words and barely open your mouth to make your speech indecipherable. But still act surprised when people say they can’t understand you.
heeeEEEEEEE? ( word? ) – When someone gives you new or surprising information use this word. Be sure to start soft and build to a dramatic finish. The longer you hold out the word, the more surprised you are.
All sarcasm aside, lets have a serious recap.
Oishii – it is expected that you say this about your food. Whether it sucks or not is irrelevant. You can try to eat your meal in peace or chime in with a little “mmm”, but sooner or later someone will ask Oishii? Trust me. Just say the word.
It's all oishii dammit!Sou Desu Ka – I sometimes here it over used in conversations but it just means “uh huh”, “really”, “you don’t say”. You can also say it after someone asks you a question to buy you time to come up with an answer. It’s actually a quite useful phrase.
Insert mumbling here – I don’t know what it is about men getting older in Japan but it turns their Japanese into garbage. It seriously happens to EVERYONE. It is a common stereotype for the elderly in Japan, so don’t worry if you can’t understand some old dude. Even native Japanese can barely understand these fogeys.
heeeEEEEEEE – I say this sometimes to make fun of how others sound, but people take me seriously. That’s how ridiculous this word is. If you don’t like this word, sometimes an “uso!” (no way, you lie!) or a "maji?" is more appropriate.
Monday, January 3, 2011
More Words
If you’ve had any experience at all with a foreign language you likely have that story where you asked for dog feces instead of Reese's Pieces. We’ve all been there. To help avoid this future mix up, I have put several pairs of similar words together so that you’ll be less likely to make these hilariously embarrassing mistakes.
In most cases, words that sound similar are so different in meaning that people can assume what you meant to say, but sometimes the words are similar enough to create problems. For example…
Byouin, Biyouin – Byouin (病院) is a hospital while Biyouin (美容院) is a beauty parlor. If you are suffering from alcohol poisoning but manage to get into a cab and ask to go to the Biyouin, you'll be one sexy looking corpse.
Suwaru, Sawaru – Suwaru (座る) is to sit while Sawaru (触る) means to touch. This little mix-up is based on actual events. A buddy of mine strolled up to nice lady on the train with an empty seat next to her. ‘Can I touch there’ he asked while pointing down…. SECURITY! Actually he was lucky, she just laughed it off.
Chizu, Chi-zu - Chizu (地図) is a map while Chi-zu (チーズ) is cheese. I'm not exactly sure how this could go bad, but it has potential to go horribly wrong.
Gamu, Gomu. Gamu (ガム) is gum while Gomu (ゴム) is rubber, or condom. I can see this playing out all too well. You are getting frisky with a young lady at a classy establishment like hotel fine. Its getting heavy so you look her in the eyes and ask ‘do I need gum?’.
'No, of course not' she says….BAM, you got herpes.
And a classic is Kanjou, and Kanchou. One means check, while the other means enema, or to poke your fingers into someone's ass. I say it's a classic because nobody uses that word for check anymore. I'll just let you guess which one is which the next time you're at a restaurant and want to leave...
In most cases, words that sound similar are so different in meaning that people can assume what you meant to say, but sometimes the words are similar enough to create problems. For example…
Byouin, Biyouin – Byouin (病院) is a hospital while Biyouin (美容院) is a beauty parlor. If you are suffering from alcohol poisoning but manage to get into a cab and ask to go to the Biyouin, you'll be one sexy looking corpse.
Suwaru, Sawaru – Suwaru (座る) is to sit while Sawaru (触る) means to touch. This little mix-up is based on actual events. A buddy of mine strolled up to nice lady on the train with an empty seat next to her. ‘Can I touch there’ he asked while pointing down…. SECURITY! Actually he was lucky, she just laughed it off.
Chizu, Chi-zu - Chizu (地図) is a map while Chi-zu (チーズ) is cheese. I'm not exactly sure how this could go bad, but it has potential to go horribly wrong.
Gamu, Gomu. Gamu (ガム) is gum while Gomu (ゴム) is rubber, or condom. I can see this playing out all too well. You are getting frisky with a young lady at a classy establishment like hotel fine. Its getting heavy so you look her in the eyes and ask ‘do I need gum?’.
'No, of course not' she says….BAM, you got herpes.
And a classic is Kanjou, and Kanchou. One means check, while the other means enema, or to poke your fingers into someone's ass. I say it's a classic because nobody uses that word for check anymore. I'll just let you guess which one is which the next time you're at a restaurant and want to leave...
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