Many people encounter certain difficulties and frustrations when learning characters (漢字、kanji). It's not your fault that studying hieroglyphs has led you to a dead end. Of course, there are various tricks and techniques that help in increasing the efficiency of learning kanji, but almost no one knows about them. Most likely, you only know about hieroglyphs what your teachers tell you or what is written in your textbooks. But there's one problem: even if you learn kanji from native Japanese speakers, they also have little to no idea how to effectively teach you kanji. Most often, they use the same techniques that are used to teach children in Japanese schools. And these techniques, in fact, do not work when it comes to foreigners.
So we can conclude that the Japanese language learning industry as a whole is failing when it comes to learning characters. But there are also advantages: you can learn from your mistakes and, thanks to this, make your kanji learning more effective.
Mistake #1. You memorize the sequence of hieroglyph strokes
Of course, it is very important to know the correct sequence of strokes in kanji. But the problem is that often people focus on memorizing the sequence of strokes and learn all the kanji line by line. When the hieroglyph is simple, this sequence is easy to predict. Three traits? Just 3 steps to remember. Hooray! But when you think of kanji only from this point of view (that is, when you think of a kanji as just a series of lines), you continue to learn kanji in the wrong way.
This is why in most Japanese classes, when assigned homework involving characters, students automatically pay attention to how many strokes there are in a particular character. “I know a hieroglyph with 20 features! My knowledge is impressive!” - the man thinks. No, they are not impressive. If you think like that, it cannot be impressive. Perceiving a hieroglyph as a bunch of traits is ineffective. Kanji with 20 strokes = 20+ different steps you have to remember. If you think of kanji as individual strokes forming a whole, then you have already failed. Then how should you think about hieroglyphs?
Mistake #2. You don't learn the keys of your hieroglyphs
Yes, of course, you can remember and recognize a few keys here or there, such as the key “water” (a few small dashes above the hieroglyph). “If you see this sign,” the textbook states, “then most likely your hieroglyph is somehow connected with water.” For the most part, the keys to hieroglyphs in most schools, textbooks, etc. are passed over retroactively and do not focus on them. And this is a huge mistake. Most people only learn keys as a method of looking up kanji in a paper dictionary. But tell me honestly: when was the last time you used such a dictionary? Probably in the distant past. Thanks to smartphones.
Instead, keys should be viewed as the building blocks of hieroglyphs. Remember when we said that kanji shouldn't be thought of as a series of strokes? More complex hieroglyphs must combine a sequence of keys together. If you take the time to study 214 keys (this may seem like a lot, but in fact, learning the keys is a fairly quick process), you can learn a fairly complex character in just 3-4 steps. Think of the keys as the alphabet of your native language. Agree, you cannot read the word FAILURE without connecting the letters N-E-U-D-A-CH-A together. If you don't know these letters, you will simply write FAIL by trying to redraw the outlines of the letters, and you will have to do this 2000 times to remember the word. Not very convenient, is it? Learning keys is like learning the letters of the alphabet (though on a much larger scale). However, thanks to this, you will reduce the time and effort you spend on memorizing hieroglyphs by 300-800%.
If you want to learn how to memorize characters effectively, then sign up for a free course on how to effectively learn Japanese characters.
This hieroglyph is quite complex, but don’t be scared. If you simply memorize the sequence of strokes of a given kanji, then you will have 8 steps (since there are 8 strokes). Instead, let's look at the keys that make up a given hieroglyph. If you know all the keys (or at least the ones I recommend), then writing this kanji can be done in just 3 steps. This means you will spend 260% less effort. It turns out that you save time and precious space of your brain.
As you can see, all these keys can be connected together (like letters in a word) to form the hieroglyph we need. The first (止) forms the top of the kanji, the second (小) forms the bottom, and the third (ノ) underlines the resulting character. The best thing about all this is that you associate these clues with certain concepts in your mind, through which you can come to a certain history and understanding of the character, which will help you remember it better.
To summarize all of the above, we note: every person studying Japanese must learn the keys before moving on to studying hieroglyphs. If you don't do this, just like building a building without a foundation or learning a language without the alphabet, you won't be able to memorize kanji properly. If you also want to learn how to memorize hieroglyphs, then come to our course on effective memorization of hieroglyphs.
Mistake #3. You memorize instead of mastering knowledge
There are many good things to be said about repetition and rote learning. I think they are a necessary part of learning kanji, but everything should have its limits (and you can use whatever methods you need when it comes to kanji). The most common way that is used in Japanese courses is that teachers give you 10-20 kanji, you sit down with your kanji notebook and write the kanji over and over again. And of course the emphasis is on remembering the sequence of traits, right?
The problem is primarily in our brains. Our short-term memory is not capable of storing so much information. This means that when you move on to new hieroglyphs, most likely, one of the previous ones will already fly out of your head. Another problem is too much repetition, which causes our brains to simply go into autopilot. At this moment, you stop learning something new, but simply mechanically repeat the same movements. There are some great tips to solve this problem.
Solution A) First of all, stop thinking of hieroglyphs as a collection of features. Think of them as a collection of parts (keys). This will help you learn faster and more efficiently and put information into your long-term memory. When you write hieroglyphs, think about the individual keys you are writing and the order in which those keys follow each other to form the entire hieroglyph. The more often you do this, the faster you will be able to master kanji.
Solution B) Don't write kanji more than 3 times in a row. If you have several characters to practice, switch to new ones and return to the previous ones. Come up with some pattern or sequence. I would recommend something like this circuit. Each letter corresponds to a hieroglyph, and each time it shows when that hieroglyph should be written: A, A, A, B, B, B, A, B, C, C, C, A, B, C, D, D, D, A, B, C, D, E, E, E... and so on. This way you force your brain to actually think and process information, rather than sending it into autopilot after writing the same character for the 4th or 5th time.
Solution B) Use a mnemonic strategy when memorizing kanji. Mnemonics can help you learn certain things better. By establishing associative connections with certain things, as well as linking certain objects with existing information, mnemonics brings to work another type of memory, which really helps to memorize hieroglyphs more effectively. One of the easiest ways to use mnemonics is if you start making up “stories” for your characters. If you know the keys that make up kanji, then there is no task more elementary.
Let's return to the example presented above (歩). We can use three keys for our story, according to which we will later remember this hieroglyph. Below are the meanings of the keys that make up this kanji. You can use your meanings to create your story.
止 – a key that means “stop” 小 – a key that means “small” ノ – a key that means “slide”
It turns out that we can use these three concepts/words and link them together in a way that will help us remember the following information: “the kanji 歩 means “to walk”, “to step.” For example: “Stop! There is a small hill here. Let's go from here." This story will come to mind every time you see this hieroglyph.
You can go even further, and if you have already memorized the meaning of the kanji, you can use this strategy to remember how to read it. For the character 歩, the most common reading is ほ (ho). Now you can come up with another story that uses "ho". For example, “Santa is walking outside the window and says “Ho-ho-ho.” Because from the previous story, we already remember the meaning of the hieroglyph - to walk - then we can use it to create a story with which we will remember the reading. In addition, I would recommend learning popular words that use this hieroglyph, because... Many kanji have several different readings. Therefore, the best way to remember all the readings is to learn words in which this hieroglyph is read differently.
Mistake #4. You learn characters like Japanese schoolchildren (i.e. in the wrong order)
When Japanese students learn hieroglyphs, they move from simple meanings of the hieroglyph to more complex ones. Sometimes a simple kanji conveys a simple meaning, and sometimes it does not. Take a look at these hieroglyphs, for example. They are usually studied in high school. Those. This is a fairly high level of kanji. But, nevertheless, they are very simple to write: only two or three strokes each.
FIRST EIGHTY SCHOOL HIEROGLYPHS (KANJI)
No matter who, no matter how much and how they learn Japanese hieroglyphs, everyone wants to systematize knowledge, sort the hieroglyphs into shelves. System for classification - sea. We will try to rely on the system that has developed in the Japanese school - in each class, small and large Japs learn a certain number of hieroglyphs. Such a system will suit us quite well, because they certainly move from the simplest and/or most popular to the most complex and/or less popular.
The picture shows these same 80 Japanese characters. When you hover your mouse over any of them, the most characteristic on and kun readings and the meaning of the hieroglyph will appear. We look, look for a familiar “letter”, study it, and if we already know these hieroglyphs well, we simply test our knowledge.
80 kanji 1st grade | 80 (1) kanji 2nd grade | 80 (2) kanji 2nd grade
80 kanji 1st grade | 80 (1) kanji 2nd grade | 80 (2) kanji 2nd grade
Learn 100 kanji in an hour
Greetings, Friends! Igor Korotkov is with you. You are on the website Venasera.ru. Today we will talk about how you can memorize more than 70-100 of your first hieroglyphs in an hour and even make words from some of them!
Part 1
Part 2: 78 hieroglyphs
Part 3: 100 hieroglyphs
If you are familiar with our channel, then you know what equipment we will use today! Of course, this is our favorite mnemonic. But under no circumstances should you perceive mnemonics as a panacea technique that will magically solve everything for you. If everything is done correctly , then mnemonics will solve most of the memorization problems .
However , you definitely need to combine several options for learning a language at the same time, i.e., for example, both mnemonics and the method of spaced repetition with memory cards are applicable to hieroglyphs . For example, you can use this combination, it usually works well. Never try to simply memorize information , especially hieroglyphs. You will spend much more effort and time on simple cramming .
Again, I want to remind you, in order to better remember this or that hieroglyph, you need to come up with your own mnemonic images , but for an example (or if you can’t come up with anything), at first you can use these images, which will be given in this lesson.
Today we will analyze only hieroglyphs and their meanings, without readings.
We will practice hieroglyphs block by block ! After each completed block, I recommend once again remembering your image and checking whether you remembered correctly? And then combine all the blocks . You can print out blocks with hieroglyphs and make cards from them, practicing each block separately, and then secure them by connecting everything together.
Kanji blocks (part 1): https://bit.ly/1X9D5No
Kanji blocks (part 2): https://bit.ly/1lNIeiF
It is important to understand that the better you imagine a phrase with an image, the better you will be able to remember this hieroglyph . I will say that this works well for everyone , the question is how correctly you apply it. The image should be original, not standard! The weirder, more perverted or funnier the image, the better it will settle in your head . Over time, the images will disappear and only the kanji will remain. Just as in the video with Japanese alphabets (Hiragana and Katakana), I repeat that mnemonics are needed for a while so that the hieroglyph is stored in memory. After a few days of spaced repetition, the kanji should be remembered much faster than the image and soon the image itself will be forgotten.
Repeat cards with kanji for at least 5-6 days and then you will remember everything.
Let's start the mnemonic chain with the simplest hieroglyphs.
Block 1
人 – Looks like a person with legs.
大 – Big (let’s mentally imagine a “giant man” who waved his arms) or a giant who caught a big fish and brags about it.
大人 – If you put 2 hieroglyphs next to “Big” and “man”, then it will be “Adult”. Those. a big person is an “adult”.
太 – If the “Giant” has a dangling belly, he is “fat”.
犬 – If the Giant has something on his shoulder, then this “dog” is sitting on the giant’s shoulder.
天 – Let’s imagine a giant whose head reaches to the “sky.” This is the hieroglyph for "sky".
夫 – And if the giant’s head is above the heavens, then it means he is a “husband”, his head soars above the clouds with happiness.
入 – Imagine a 2.5 meter tall man who came to Japan. In order for a person to “enter” any door, he needs to bend down! Hieroglyph "to enter".
Block 2
口 – Mouth (similar to a mouth) or the syllable “RO” from katakana.
品 – 3 mouths are a “product”, you can remember as “3 mouths talk about a product” or just imagine that this is what boxes with goods that are loaded for shipment look like.
兄 – “Mouth on legs” – this is the older brother. Imagine how your older brother constantly runs after you and yells with his huge mouth. The big brother's mouth is as big as his head!
Along the way, as a bonus, we will remember several words made up of previously learned kanji.
人口 - If we put 2 characters “man” and “mouth” next to each other, then we can remember the word “population” by the phrase “how many human mouths live in Tokyo?”
入口 - If you put 2 hieroglyphs “enter” and “mouth” next to each other, it will be “entrance”. This is how signs with the word “entrance” are written.
日 – The kanji for “day” or “sun” is very similar to the sun.
白 – white (“white” ray of the sun) or can be remembered as “the white sun emits 1 white ray”
百 – Substitute one for “white” and you get “one hundred.” One white sun is equal to 100 primes. Or, if you turn the kanji horizontally, you can see the outline of the number 100, but it’s better to stick with the first option.
目 – Eye (looks like an eye).
自 – Yourself, your own. Imagine, you have only 1 eyelash near your eye , you are walking with a friend and he says to you: “Let me pull it out, you only have one anyway,” and you answer “No! I’ll pull it out myself !”
見 – If you add “legs” to the element “eye”, then the hieroglyph “look” will appear. Let’s imagine how a huge eye on legs runs around the apartment and “looks” intently at you!
Block 3
木 – The character looks like a tree. The trunk and branches are visible here.
林 – Two trees are a “grove”
森 – Three trees are a “forest”
Let's try to remember the hieroglyph “man”, do you remember what it looks like? 人
If a person is part of another character as a constituent element, then he will look like this if he stands on the left in the character イ and like this if he stands at the top “今”.
So, the next hieroglyph will consist of two elements that we went through earlier.
休 – A man “rests” under a tree, the hieroglyph for “rest.”
東 – If the sun peeks out from behind a tree, then it is “east”, because the sun rises earlier where? That's right, in the east! “The sun comes out of the east from behind a tree.”
本 – Tree with a serif at the bottom – “Book”. Let's imagine that a robot chainsaw cuts down a tree, and then takes the cut down tree to the production of “books”! The tree is the “source of books”!
I strongly advise against memorizing 2 different meanings of a word, but here we will deviate from the rule and remember 2 meanings at once by memorizing two sentences. You can also imagine that the root is the “source” of the tree.
体 – And if a person stands and uses sandpaper to saw a tree into books, then he will pump up his “body” faster than cutting it down. Imagine a groaning person whose whole body already hurts.
So, the land of the rising sun will be Nihon: “Sun” + “source” 日本 Japan
Block 4
田 – field, similar to a field.
川 – river (there are banks along the edges, and here the “river” flows), or can be remembered as “3 rivers”
州 – state, province: 3 states are separated by 3 rivers!
土 – earth: the character looks like a sprout that grows from the ground.
士 – if the upper horizontal line of the “earth” is longer than the lower one , then this is the hieroglyph “warrior”. We will remember this as “relative to the earth, the warrior is greater.” Imagine a warrior becoming larger than the globe.
火 – Hieroglyph “Fire”. Looks like a fire.
山 – Hieroglyph “Mountain” (looks like a mountain)
火山 – what do you think will happen if you put 2 hieroglyphs next to each other: “fire” and “mountain”? What is fire mountain? Right! This is a "volcano"!
出 – if it turns out that two mountains are on top of each other, then you can remember this as “another mountain comes out one mountain” (imagine how one mountain gives birth to another mountain and another mountain comes out of one mountain!) kanji “to come out”.
出口 – by analogy with the word “entrance”, we will remember “exit” by placing 2 hieroglyphs “exit” and “mouth” next to each other
The hieroglyphs up and down are very easy to recognize; they look like arrows 上 “up” and 下 “down” relative to the ground.
The hieroglyph 右 “right” and 左 “left” look like a swimmer who is faced with a difficult choice: if I swim to the right, he thinks, I’ll eat a big mouth, if I swim to the left, I’ll eat an elevator (it’s an elevator, because as you remember the katakana syllable E, we remembered how "elevator")!
手 – Kanji for hand, looks like a hand.
上手 – If you have done something “skillfully”, then you will always be shown a “thumbs up”, 2 hieroglyphs “up” and “hand” (i.e. finger up) - “skillful”
下手 – If you did something “ineptly”, then you will always be shown “thumbs down”, 2 hieroglyphs “down” and “hand” (i.e. finger down) - “inept”
右手 – Right hand.
左手 – Left hand.
Block 5
Now, let's run through the numbers:
1, 2, 3 - everything is clear with them - yes.
四 – you’ve probably all heard that the number 4 in eastern countries is associated with death, because there is a similarity in pronunciation. So this is a coffin and the legs of the dead man are sticking out of the coffin.
五 – try to draw the number 5 on the hieroglyph itself, it’s very similar, isn’t it? Especially if you round off the sharp ends.
六 – Six is like a 6 watt lamp.
七 – 7 is an inverted seven.
八 – similar to the katakana syllable HA and it is read as “Hachi” eight, easy to remember if you watched the previous video “how to remember katakana” and the video with counting.
九 – nine is somewhat similar to the English letter N, can be remembered as Nine – “nine”. Or it looks like the number 9.
十 – ten is very easy to remember – just a cross. If you need to come up with an image for it, then simply turn over the Roman ten. This is the most hackneyed example.
From the previous video we learned how to count to 99 in Japanese, and now we learned how to write to 100. Do you remember how we write 12, 34, 99? Great! Let's move on.
古 – if you see a tombstone made of the elements “10” and “mouth”, know that “10 “old” mouths are buried here”! Nobody knows where the bodies are.
早 – if you attach ten down to the “day” element, it will be “early, quickly”, remember that “the sun rises at 10 am, and this is “early”!
草 – we substitute the element grass to the hieroglyph “early” and we get the hieroglyph “grass”. The grass rises before everyone else!
西 – if a dead man’s legs come out of the coffin, it means the dead have risen and are going to Hollywood, i.e. to the west".
千 – thousand. Stick a line to the top of ten - it will be “thousand”
Block 6
力 – remember KA from katakana? The hieroglyph “strength” is very similar to it.
男 – If you put force into the field, it means “men” are working there. There will be a man!
女 – The character looks like a woman. Legs, apron, body.
安 – If you put a woman under a roof, the hieroglyph will be “Cheap, calm,” let’s remember this as “A woman under a roof is always calm.” First, remember one thing, you don’t need to try all the meanings at once, but if you are sure that you can remember both meanings, then you can try.
Block 7
子 – the child is easy to remember and so, the outlines of a child with a big head can be traced in it.
好 – a woman “loves” her child, the hieroglyph for “love, like”
学 – if the “child” has a “halo of knowledge” over his head (we will use this word for this element), then the child is “learning”.
字 – if instead of a halo the child has a “roof” over his head, then this is a “sign, symbol, hieroglyph.” A child under the roof writes down “hieroglyphs.”
By the way, the kanji word is written with exactly this hieroglyph かん字. We don’t know the hieroglyph Kan, but we just passed “Dzi”.
大学 – what do you think these 2 hieroglyphs mean when placed side by side? “Big Study” - This is a “university”!
If the lid has one line, then I imagine a house with a chimney, and if the lid has 3 lines, then this is an educational institution, because there are many pipes to heat a large room. Or you can remember that this is a halo of knowledge.
Block 8
門 is the hieroglyph for “gate”, here we see the same gate.
問 – if there is a “mouth” at the “gate”, then this is the hieroglyph for “ask”.
聞 – if there is an “ear” at the “gate”, then this is the hieroglyph for “listen”.
耳 – by the way, the hieroglyph ear looks like a real ear, if you look closely.
間 – if there is a “sun” at the “gate”, then there will be “gap, interval”. After all, “between” the gate and the sun there is a huge “interval/gap”!
Block 9
言 – imagine how your mouth makes different sounds! You can find similarities with the sound waves icon. If the mouth produces sound waves, it means it is “talking”! Kanji for "speak".
語 – language. “Five mouths speak different languages and not one language is understood”! Kanji for "language"! Imagine how everyone speaks some languages, and you are not the only one who does not understand, because you only know Rosia-go (Russian language), substituting the country for the hieroglyph “go” will be “such and such a language”. ロシア語 – Russian language, 日本語 – Japanese language, ドイツ語 – German language, etc.
中 – the middle is easy to remember without mnemonics.
虫 – if you draw a tail in the “middle”, then it will be an “insect”. It looks like a snake, or more precisely a cobra. You can remember how “a cobra fights a giant insect.”
仲 – If the element “person” is to the left of the middle, then it will be the kanji for “relationship with someone.” You can remember it as “the person is the middle of the relationship.”
Block 10
立 – Remember character 6? Now let’s look at a similar hieroglyph – “stand”, as you can see the kanji looks like a person standing on the ground. Not to be confused with 6, in 6k there is no earth, there is a lamp that shines, and here is “a man who stands on the ground.”
音 – If you put the “sun” element at the bottom, there will be “sound”! You can remember how “the loud sound is only during the day!”
暗 – And if you substitute another “sun” on the left to the “sound” on the left, then it will be “dark”, let’s remember this as “if the person standing is surrounded by 2 suns, then this is some kind of dark magic”
米 – Remember the kanji for tree? If you add 2 grains of rice to a tree, you get “rice”! After all, if you didn’t know “in Japan, trees produce rice”!
迷 – If rice goes along the road, it means it is “lost”! And this is the “road” element. Let's imagine rice walking along the road and crying, it got lost and is looking for its owner!
Block 11
車 – the kanji for “cart” is “car”. Look carefully, you can see that this is a car, there are 4 wheels and one seat in the middle. If you remember the Tetris car game that we all played as children? This is it.
重 – if you book the car and put a couple more wheels on it, then it will already be a “heavy” armored car!
動 – Here we see that the “strength” element has been added to the armored car on the right. To “move” the “armored car” you need to add “force”! Hieroglyph "to move, to move."
働 – if “an armored car is moved by force by a person, then this means that it is not the armored car that is “working”, but the person”!
To conclude the block, let's look at another word car, which consists of as many as 3 kanji that we went over earlier. 自動車 – pause and remember all 3 kanji. Yes, this is “self” “move” “machine” the word “car”.
This is a shortened version of how you can collect many hieroglyphs in a chain. Essentially, it’s like a construction set, you need to remember this or that element for yourself and simply assemble the construction set from parts, of which there are not so many, only 214 pieces.
That's all for today. If you have more colorful images and associations, please write them in the comments, because... it would help our community move forward.
If you liked the video, like it, tell your friends, subscribe to our channel and public in contact, Igor Korotkov was with you. See you!
Hieroglyphs in the Japanese school - list of kanji (kanji)
The first eighty hieroglyphs that Japanese children study in the first grade of a Japanese school on the site Japanese for the Soul ( Japanese language self-instruction manual ). A list of hieroglyphs that are studied in the first grade of a Japanese school. Japanese and Chinese characters for beginners . How to learn Japanese characters ( kanji , kanji )? We learn Japanese and Chinese characters independently , online , easily and simply. Hieroglyphs become simple, understandable and familiar. By looking through the characters and words presented on this page, consisting of kanji of the first grade of the Japanese school, you can confidently fix these Japanese-Chinese characters in memory, both their readings ononyomi, kunyomi, and their meanings and graphics. Japanese children learn hieroglyphs in Japanese school .
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Listen to the advice of sensei
When I arrived at school, a real discovery for me was that, it turns out, hieroglyphs are written in a certain sequence. I, being naive, thought that the most important thing was to draw this stick, then this line, add a hook - and that’s it! I had to teach myself to remember not only the reading of each sign, but also its outline. During the lesson, the sensei, while explaining kanji to us, always writes each hieroglyph on the board in a certain sequence, counting out loud: “One, two, three...”. It usually takes me 1-2 times to remember the order of the hieroglyph, after which I immediately write it down in my notebook and remember it. Then, during the writing test, I no longer have to remember the entire hieroglyph - surprisingly, I start writing one line first, and then the second, third, fourth pops up in my head - in the sequence that is characteristic of a certain character. Thus, more than once I sharply recalled the desired hieroglyph, even if at first it seemed to me that I did not remember it. So, the features of kanji style are not empty rules, but your irreplaceable assistants in your studies.
Bernabe Marc. Japanese in Mangaland
This book presents very simple words and phrases. In addition, you will learn words that are not usually considered “basic.” With the help of Japanese in Mangaland books, you can easily learn the basics of the Japanese language. The book shows stills from Japanese manga, which makes the material easier to understand.
This book is not a textbook, but rather an additional entertaining guide. All chapters of the book can be read in any order. The presented material shows all the nuances of speech. With Japanese in Mangala you will gain a better understanding of the language and the people who speak it.
Why do you need knowledge of Japanese?
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In addition, there are many cultural ideas that you need to know so as not to offend your interlocutor or look stupid. The Japanese have developed a style of honorific language called keigo, which includes many honorifics. The honorific system is extensive: the level of respectful, modest and polite speech. Their use is mandatory in many social situations, and especially extremely important in business. An experienced “keigo” user has a large stock of honorifics, from which one can choose the appropriate degree of respect for the person being addressed. A simple sentence is conveyed in more than 20 different ways, depending on the status of the speaker and, accordingly, who is being addressed.
The Japanese are leaders in various technological fields (fermentation processes, industrial robotics, semiconductor manufacturing, electronics, optical media, etc.) and great innovators, as evidenced by the fact that they occupy the top positions in the lists of patent applications in the world (every year Japanese inventors file 420,000 patent applications). If you work in technology, especially robotics, learning Japanese will be incredibly beneficial. You will be able to understand advanced Japanese technology.
Japanese culture is a global phenomenon. It has many unique and interesting aspects. On the one hand, Japanese culture is steeped in rich history and deep traditions dating back thousands of years; on the other hand, Japanese society is constantly in a state of rapid change and develops with new trends in fashion, technology, and expands the boundaries of what is possible and what is impossible. Currently, Japan stands out as one of the leading and most prominent countries in the world, thanks to its popular culture that has swept the entire world.
Cultural traditions are ingrained in the Japanese, regardless of their age. Traditions dictate how they react, interact, behave. This shows in the way they write, read, listen and speak. The younger generation may exhibit modern behavior, but still they follow the traditions taught to them by their elders. Word soul or kotodama in Japanese refers to the mystical powers that reside in words and names. The concept of kotodama suggests that sounds have a magical effect on objects, and ritual use affects the environment, body, mind and soul.
Japanese linguist Haruhiko Kindaichi believes that national character is reflected in language. There are several offensive words in the Japanese language, but the Japanese are too polite to use them in public. Kindaichi believes that local dialects play an important role in shaping a language, making it richer as they fill in gaps that a standard language cannot do.
Without a doubt, learning Japanese will make everyone a more interesting person, impressing others with their education.
Try
Try is an excellent language learning guide with easy-to-understand grammar explanations. Each section presents a dialogue with the grammatical structure being studied. This is followed by an explanation of grammar and exercises to consolidate the material. This textbook is used in the best language schools in Japan.
Advantages of the textbook:
- Simple explanation of grammatical structures;
- Availability of keys to tasks;
- Simultaneous training of two languages: English and Japanese;
- The format of the audio assignments corresponds to the Noryoku Shiken exam;
- Having all five levels (N5, N4, N3, N2, N1) to prepare for Noryoku Shiken.
Voordov A.M. Self-learning texts
This is the second textbook in the “Japanese for the Soul” series. Self-learning texts are different from the previous book. The book presents two stories: “Baska” and “Bug”. The great advantage of this book is that each person can choose their own method of learning Japanese using this book. You can read the Japanese version of the text and analyze the grammatical comments along the way. Or go to the end of the manual and study the hieroglyphs presented (each hieroglyph is given a kun and on reading, and individual words are also written out). Everyone decides for themselves which learning method to choose.
Get creative
Each person remembers information differently. The association method suits me. Moreover, the associations themselves can be very strange. For example, in the word 食堂 (“dining room”), I remember the sign 堂 as a person who stands in front of a table with dishes and thinks about what to eat for lunch, and in order to write the word 外国人 (“foreigner”) and remember the character 外, I just see this sign as two people who are different from each other - foreigners. Often my associations are completely incomprehensible to others, but who cares if they “work”!
To be continued…
Why you should learn Kanji
Of course, you don't need to learn kanji to speak Japanese fluently. You can learn Japanese simply by watching dramas. But we think it's important to learn kanji for the following reasons.
First, learning to speak any language means learning to read it. You can't say you know a language if you don't read it. This is taken for granted with languages such as Spanish or German, which use the same alphabet as English. But those learning languages like Arabic and Korean also need to take the time to learn to read. For Japanese language learners, this means that you will need to master the world of kanji.
Secondly, learning kanji helps you understand new words better. Kanji characters each have their own meaning, and if you know these meanings, it is easier to understand new words.
Finally, if you ever plan to live in Japan, learning kanji is essential for survival. You'll be surprised how few signs are in English, especially when you travel outside of major cities.
The main Japanese characters you need to know are 2136 kanji, the minimum required, so to speak.
Dekiru Nihongo
The peculiarity of this Japanese textbook is that the student can immediately apply the acquired knowledge in real life, in communicating with foreigners. The textbook for beginners to learn Japanese consists of 15 lessons. Each lesson has the following sections: speaking, listening, studying a specific topic, consolidating material and memorizing vocabulary. The tutorial will cover topics such as shopping, daily routine, my favorite pastimes, culture and customs, and much more.
Exercise yourself
As soon as we started learning hieroglyphs, I realized that school copybooks were not enough for me. I went to the stoyannik, bought an ordinary thick notebook and began to carry it in my bag. Got a free minute? I open my notebook and start writing kanji. I can study in class during recess, at home, in a cafe, and even on the train when I’m going for a walk.
I advise you to write not only hieroglyphs, but also words with them. For example, first I write the sign 会 in a line, and then I remember the words with it (会う - “to meet”, 会社 - “company”, etc.). This will make it easier to memorize kanji.
Use a large dictionary, book or online resource
Whenever you learn a new kanji, check it in your dictionary and see what words it means. This will help you understand the meaning and see how to use it. Most kanji teaching materials offer several common lexical meanings for each kanji. A free online resource for most Japanese learners is WWWJDIC by Jim Breen. Another great resource is Kanji Damage: a very practical and context-oriented online kanji book. Contains about 1700 kanji.
Japanese students learn kanji in a set order. There is a set of kanji for each grade, and so on from first year until the end of high school. There is a reason why the Japanese education system teaches kanji in this order, but it probably won't suit you as a foreigner. Some textbooks or schools use one approach, while others use a different approach. Don't limit yourself to one approach; just start somewhere and stick to your style.
Minna no nihongo
This is a fundamental textbook that should be on every Japanese student's shelf. This is the most understandable and accessible textbook. To successfully study the Minna no Nihongo textbook, you need to know katakana and hiragana.
Benefits of using the tutorial:
- The material in Minna no nihongo is presented in an accessible and interesting manner;
- A large number of illustrations;
- Only modern vocabulary is used (there are no tepu reko:da);
- After studying the material, you will be able to use the knowledge when communicating with the Japanese.
Studying grammar
Fact: Without knowing grammatical rules, learning Japanese is impossible. Without understanding the language structure, it will be difficult to understand how words and sentences are constructed in Japanese.
It may seem to a beginner that Japanese is a language where it is almost impossible to construct a whole sentence. Forget it. Despite the variety of sounds and syllables, constructing a speech in Japanese is not difficult.
- The subject is a part of speech that is not required for a sentence in Japanese. For the Japanese, the main meaning of a sentence is the predicate expressed by the verb. The action word must come at the end of the sentence.
- Gender does not apply to either nouns or verbs.
- Particles are another important component. Remember that the particle must match the word in front of it.
- Pronouns are used in dialogues or correspondence that require a formal tone. This part of speech is needed to indicate politeness.
