#self study japanese

[mars-langblr]

Welcome to learning Japanese with a neurodivergent brain! Today we will be compulsively writing the same kanji character over-and-over until it looks exactly like the example in the textbook. Tomorrow we will be spending three straight hours studying until we are burnt out for the rest of the week.

#jk I am on a two month studying streak right now #I'm so proud of myself I've never had this much discipline #let's see how long this lasts #but yes I did spend the last hour trying to write every kanji character perfectly #japanese langblr #genki1 #self study japanese #learn japanese #language study #jlptn5 #langblr #japanese #learn kanji #kanji #adhd post #adhd mood #neurodivergence

[minimalist-language-learning]

やったー！I finished chapter 4 of 逆転裁判 1 - it was amazing!

There is one more chapter. I played Ace Attorney in German many many years ago but I still vaguely remember that this chapter was interesting.

I love this series so much! It was difficult at the beginning but now that I'm more used to the vocabulary and slang it's fine. I'm really happy that I can play it in Japanese. It's a dream come true!

(I bought and downloaded it for Nintendo Switch, btw. It's great that you can switch the game to different languages! ^__^ You can not only choose Japanese but also English, French, German, Korean and Chinese).

#languageblr #language learning #langblr #self study japanese #study japanese #learning japanese #japanese learning #visual novel #ace attorney #self study #language learner #逆転裁判

[ros3ybabe]

My Morning Routine 🎀

I have adopted a new morning routine because I didn't have one for honestly the last....4 months? Eeeeessshh, absolutely not good for me. I've had to tweak the routine this week, but I think I've got it down! I wake up between 5am and 6am, typically closer to 6am, but it depends on the days because Fridays, Saturdays, and some Sundays I have to leave my house by 7/7:30am. I typically have 2 hours for this routine which is perfect for me!

Current Morning Routine 💗

Wake up between 5am and 6am

Drink water, use the bathroom

Make my bed

Do a quick Yoga with Adriene morning yoga workout, then put yoga mat away

Write in my guided journal

Complete a morning journal prompt of choice in my other journal

Make an Iced Coffee (medium roast Coffee k cup , one sweet n low packet, splash of French vanilla creamer)

Read 1 Chapter OR 15/20 minutes (typically self help book but honestly any book is fine for me!)

Plan out some things for the day (planner, Google Calendar, brain dump list, review todo lists for day)

Shower/Wash face (depends on if I showered night before)

Do my morning skincare! (vitamin c serum, moisturizer, sunscreen, lip balm)

Get dressed for the day (either work clothes or normal outfit depending on what i have to do)

Pack my bag(s) for the day (again, depends on the class, and if I have work then I may take a 2nd bag)

Head out (if necessary, which it typically is, except for most Sundays!)

And that's my morning routine! I love it so much, it's been so nice waking up at a set time every day and has been forcing me to be more mindful of when I go to sleep and how much caffiene I am consuming. It's so nice to have a morning routine, and I am currently working on implementing a night routinebecause I thrive with routines!

til next time lovelies 🩷

#pink pilates girl #pink pilates princess #self care #self development #self love #wonyoungism #it girl #health & fitness #mental health #physical health #girly stuff #studyblr #study blog #langblr #spanish langblr #japanese langblr #that girl energy #becoming that girl #that girl #it girl self care #it girl energy #pink blog #pink academia #pilates aesthetic #pink aesthetic #college student #uni student aesthetic #university student #student life #green juice girl

[sonnelstudies]

lørdag, 18 marts 2023

studying phonetic writing for danish and exploring københavn!

min dansk er stadig ikke så god, men det er ved at blive lidt bedre

#danish language #dansk sprog #denmark #studyblr #study aesthetic #student #pretty notes #I'm also self studying botany in that first pic #I miss japanese

[zzzzzestforlife]

💪 that girl diaries // what doesn't kill you makes you tired 🙃

난 피곤해 와 답답해 하지만 이유는 진짜 몰라요. 내 에너지 그냥 갑자기 없어 그리고 한 것 안 싶어요. 난 계속 생각해, "그냥 시작해야" 근데 오늘 난 이미 다시 많이 여러 번 시작해. (i'm tired and frustrated, but i don't really know why. my energy has just run out and i don't want to do anything. i kept thinking "i just need to start," but i've restarted so many times already today.)

🥰🥰🥰 physiotherapy exercises + warmup + running — i was supposed to do arms and abs today but i've eaten more than usual as one does on days off, so i feel like i need to do cardio 😅

🦋 social hour

📚 read a chapter of Sophie's World

❤️ meditation but it's just laundry and stay by hoshi

✏️ sketching!! (human proportions are so hard and for what 🥴)

❤️ started Year Compass: The Year Ahead section (i already have my new year's resolutions, so i don't know why it's so hard for me to articulate the goals i want to commit to)

📝📝📝 Japanese, Korean, Chinese, lessons

❤️ some spring cleaning + healing poetry reading

🎧🎧 how to keep learning Chinese at an intermediate level + Chinese vlog

💌: 明天会更好。我做了很多的东西因为我想我会觉得更好，但是如果我很高兴，我也想做很多的东西。还是也许我可以只是做够了，对不对？ (tomorrow will be better. i did a lot of things because i think i will feel better, but if i'm happy, i also want to do many things. or maybe i can just do enough, right?)

bonus: ty @winryrockbellwannabe for the tag 😘

i find it so funny that my quiz results say i die and everyone saw it coming BUT WELL SHIT I SURE DIDN'T 😂

also this is possibly the realest picrew i've ever done, like this is legit how i look sitting at my desk "working" 😅

tagging some new moots for a fun break! ❤️ @panda-studiesmed @ilonar0 @perabera @roxysbbg @mortuarymorticia

#studyblr #langblr #chinese langblr #japanese langblr #korean langblr #study motivation #study inspiration #100 days of productivity #100 days of studying #100 days of self discipline #astudentslifebuoy #heydilli #health & fitness #self improvement #self care #self development #that girl #it girl #girlblogging #wonyoungism #pink pilates girl #pink pilates princess #self love #self empowerment #zesty's life #currently reading #currently listening to #currently watching #learning languages #becoming that girl

[expiationist]

────── 60 FOR 60 ──────

⠀⠀⠀₊˚𓂃ᡴꪫ⠀⠀⠀ follow 6 rules for 60 days

▎ ִ ⭒ ׂ ִ RULE 1 ;

60 oz of water daily ✩ ‧₊˚ ✩ ▎

▎ ִ ⭒ ׂ ִ RULE 2 ;

60 mins of exercise daily ✩ ‧₊˚ ✩ ▎

▎ ִ ⭒ ׂ ִ RULE 3 ;

no diet necessary, but no fast food! ✩ ‧₊˚ ✩ ▎

▎ ִ ⭒ ׂ ִ RULE 4 ;

read 10 pages of any book daily ✩ ‧₊˚ ✩ ▎

▎ ִ ⭒ ׂ ִ RULE 5 ;

60 mins of language study daily ✩ ‧₊˚ ✩ ▎

▎ ִ ⭒ ׂ ִ RULE 6 ;

finally, follow any money saving challenge! ✩ ‧₊˚ ✩ ▎

@expiationist: ive decided to create my own 60 day challenge inspired by project 50/75 hard! most of these goals are specific to things i want to accomplish in my own life, but i believe that anyone could benefit from it ! ive brought the challenge to tumblr in case anyone wants to join me !

also, all above images are from pinterest !

#60 for 60 #productivity challenge #studyblr #study blog #langblr #langblog #japanese langblr #japanese language #japanese #studyinspo #study motivation #study aesthetic #studyspo #studentblr #self care #self improvement #becoming that girl #that girl #self improvement challenge #challenge #productivity aesthetic #100 days of productivity

[shalomnihongo]

紹介 self introduction

Hello, my name is Shalom. This blog will be a record of my language learning journey, specifically Japanese. I am going to take the JLPT N4 exam this December. I hope that I will be able to find a good and supportive language community here, if you are a Japanese langblr/studyblr please comment!

はじめまして。

私の名前はシャロームです。日本語を勉強し始めて二年になりますが、15歳の時に歴史映画を観てからずっと日本語に興味を持っていました。今年の12月に日本語能力試験N4を受験します。

日本文学を読むのが好きで、一番好きな作家は川上未映子さんですが、太宰治さんや村上春樹さんも好きです。他の作家さんにおすすめしてください！ 

趣味はハイキングとランニングとピラティスと執筆と読書です。日本の写真を見るのが大好きで、いつか日本で撮りたいと思っています。音楽を聴くのが好きで、特に日本と韓国の音楽が好きです。

よろしく

#日本語 #japanese studyblr #japanese language #japanese langblr #日記 #ひとりごと #self introduction #study japanese #learn japanese #learning japanese #日本語の勉強 #日本語勉強 #language learning #studyblr #langblr #languageblr #language learning community #language community #Japanese learning #紹介して #紹介した #紹介 #japanese studies #勉強 #勉強する #jlpt #jlpt n4 #n4 #Japanese study #japanese studyspo

[bytebun]

hey don’t cry. 10 million blorbos from your shows, okay?

#commander cody #obi-wan kenobi #uh. i guess implied #codywan #star wars #bytebun draws #ok on twitter sometimes japanese artists i follow will caption their au posts with 'delusion for those who can accept anything' #(and then explain the au) (or at least that's what google translate tells me) #that's how i feel about this one. #can't imagine a universe where this guy would sit down to play mario cart w his bf's family after an obvious crying jag #but like maybe he watched legally blond or something & got rlly moved #abt the main character finding her own path with an identity separate from her partner without losing the core elements of her personality #and self-expression. and also winning at the law. you know? #au cody can have elle woods as his blorbo. #in my au where he's doing law things re: clone citizenship #but also fuck stylizing crying genuinely hard. idk if i can get stylistically simpler than the first pic & still convey the precise emotion #that i want. i'm cheating there with like some actual shading instead of hard lines... more studying required #it's like difficult to draw people crying bc/ it's one of those emotions that changes the whole shape of your face... the invert of a #beaming smile. the tears aren't the important part... that's why the 'stoic guy sheds single tear trope' is so funny #they're out there w their plastic immobile faces and a fake tear when the important part is all those scrunched up microexpressions #someone trying rlly hard not to cry has the deeper mouth corners & tense brow-eyelid combo & that wrinkle near the nostril #unfortunately all of these lines are also the only indication of old age in most anime lmao so its so so hard to figure out how to draw em #shld do some ch*insawman or g*lden kmy studies probably. those guys r pretty good at funny looking faces

[nihongoseito]

How do you stay motivated in self-study?

メッセージありがとうございます！ thank you for asking!

this is an interesting question for me because i've been self-studying for so long...almost 12 years at this point(?!?!). i decided to learn japanese for fun and for no other reason than because i wanted to (i'm a big proponent of "if it sucks, hit da bricks" lol). i was just a kid, so i had no idea at all how much time and effort it would entail, and sometimes i think that back then, if i had known at the time how much studying and studying and more studying it would take for me to become conversationally proficient, i wouldn't have even started. and i'm really, really glad i don't live in that world, where i never decided to self-study because i thought too far into the future and tried to quantify my studying.

so i guess that's my biggest piece of advice, even though it sounds counterintuitive: try not to plan where you're going next or any specific long-term goals, because if you're anything like me, you'll scare yourself off. if you focus just on what's right in front of you—today's kanji, your current textbook, etc.—then you'll have a much easier time remembering why you like japanese (or whatever target language you're working on!). that kind of viewpoint on learning a language makes it really clear that you are building a beautiful structure out of many discrete pieces, not just out of thin air or sheer linguistic osmosis. not only has that attitude kept me motivated, since making decisions as i go always keeps things fresh, but i also genuinely think it's helped me learn better and remember what i've studied.

also, don't be afraid to give up on something, a book or a grammar point or even a whole routine/study plan, and try something else instead. you can always come back to it later, and in my opinion there's no point trying to quantify or quantitatively evaluate your learning in that way. there's absolutely no shame in admitting something is too hard right now. plus, letting yourself feel confident in what you do know is a great boost to motivation—every single little piece is an accomplishment!

does any of that make sense?? this is how i've handled it anyway! ofc, the nature of self-study is that it's different for everyone, but hopefully the things i've said here resonate with some people :) みんな、頑張ってね！！

#thanks again for asking!! #langblr #studyblr #motivation #also with regard to japanese in particular: consider this tag an official plug for wanikani #if you can afford it it WORKS #especially if routine is a big part of your self-study #i also want to write a small disclaimer here that i grew up in a bilingual household and #became conversational in a third (non-japanese) language by high school #my experiences are NOT universal and the truth is that i am faster at acquiring language patterns than some other people #so if everything i've said here sounds crazy: it may very well be lol #(on the other hand japanese has been my only target language for five or six years now) (hence this blog!) #answered #sasha.txt

[mars-langblr]

If you’re anything like me, you’ve thought about the following:

I can’t call a stranger あなた, but I also can’t use their name since I don’t know them. How do I have a conversation with a stranger without using either of these?

I found this detailed reddit comment from an unknown user on a post with this very question. I couldn’t explain it better myself, so here is a screengrab of that comment. You’re welcome :)

#jlptn5 #japanese langblr #langblr #learn japanese #self study japanese #japanese language #japanese #language study #beginner japanese

[minimalist-language-learning]

I reached page 2000 of DEATH NOTE 完全収録版 !

#langblr #languageblr #language learning #study japanese #learning japanese #japanese language #japanese learning #self study japanese #self study #japanese manga #death note #デスノート #漫画 #日本語勉強中 #日本語勉強

[ros3ybabe]

Nine People I'd Like To know Better

@alby-noted tagged me so I figured why not!

Last Song I Listened To: Too Sweet by Hozier or Pink Venom by Blackpink, I don't necessarily remember

Currently Watching: My Demon, Avatar The Last Airbender (Live Action), and I want to start watching Shogun and a Spanish tv show soon!

Sweet/Savoury/Spicy?: Savory and Spicy!!! (my favorite indulgent meal is spicy cheesey ramen!)

Relationship Status: about to hit 2 years with my man that I've been long distance with for the last...8 months? I love my boyfriend <3;

Current Obsession: watching study/productivity youtube videos, specifically studyquill, The Bliss Bean, Study To Success, Mikayla Mags, Lindie Botes, etc (and also being efficiently productive)

No pressure to anyone I tag! much love 🩷

@mystudyrecords @study-diaries @tokidokitokyo @gretheresa @zzzzzestforlife @slavic-roots-western-mind @winryrockbellwannabe @wonyoungismind @alcnek

I tagged people I'm mutuals with since I don't really know anyone here (besides maybe my accountability buddy zesty!)

#pink pilates girl #pink pilates princess #self development #wonyoungism #it girl #college studyblr #studyblr community #studyblr #japanese studyblr #spanish langblr #langblr #japanese langblr #college studyspo #language study #study motivation #study notes #study tips #studying #studyspo #language studyblr #study aesthetic #study blog #study community #study mood #that girl #pink academia #pink aesthetic #university student #uniblr #uni student

[cheste7]

Day 3 (19/11/23)🌟

hey! today it was a good day and i was able to appreciate even the little things. i woke up early and i completed my skincare routine🧚‍♀️

i also:

did some housework🧹

called my family and talked to one of my little sisters who was making cookies👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

went grocery shopping🍎

went for a walk by the sea🌊

uni things

i didn't study infectious diseases today because I will dedicate the whole next week to it. also i'm so happy to do my internship in pediatrics and tomorrow i'll see the kids again and i'll discuss with the professor about my thesis there. i don't know if i'll be able to become a pediatrician in the future but at the momente it is my only source of motivation, maybe i can do it 🩺

Language things

MANDARIN CHINESE: i continued with my Superchinese app lesson. today I've learned some vocab about simple activities (书，看，电影，做) and the grammar 想 whic means want to. my writing is still bad but ill try to improve it 🇨🇳

KOREAN: the clip from the seventeen's blog in Budapest seems endless lol. jokes aside, i focused on the various forms of 것 같다 (present, past and future tenses) and I practiced them with my own example sentences. also I found out new usages of the verb 보��� to express past experiences and to recommend to try something. I also found out how to say i burned my tongue while i was tasting the food (literally what happened to me yesterday !!) 맛을 보다가 혀를 데었어요. I share my really disorganized notes but I like them in that way🇰🇷

i didn't practice any japanese today, i just played some game of shiritori and kanji quiz on the renshuu app 🇯🇵

now im going to shower and semi-dress up to go out with my friend, it was a good day!

song of the day

my love mine all mine - mitski (again)

i don't understand but I love you - seventeen

#studyblr #uni life #study motivation #self care #skincare #language blr #chinese langblr #korean langblr #japanese langblr #bts #seventeen #dokyeom #dk #lee seokmin

[zzzzzestforlife]

🎀 soft girl diaries: life is messy 🧼

still haven't decided if the cappuccino i had this morning was a mistake or a blessing 🤔

❤️ breathwork meditation

❤️ caught up with a friend

🧠 comparative cognition readings

📝 Japanese lesson + unit exam

❤️ i started a scrapbook!! i'm really happy with it so far ☺️

🧼 even more cleaning

🚗 i went to buy cough syrup, left with the cough syrup and an adorable stuffed bunny i'll have to show you guys some time, but for now i wanna keep him all to myself🐰hehe

💌: everyone around me is getting sick lately 🤧 atp, i wish i would just get sick too so i can be sure to get it over with before my exams 😅 stay safe out there, guys 🥺

bonus: thanks for tagging me in this get to know you game @winryrockbellwannabe 💕

🎶 moment's favorite — rock by seventeen because i am nothing if not predictable 😂

😍 current obsession — driving around and spending my adult money for practical and non-practical purposes 🙈

👠 style — like the bright-eyed bushy-tailed cdrama protagonist 张淼怡 OR i don't care sweater/hoodie/t-shirt + jeans combo, there is no in between

💖 celebrity crush — 🐻🍊

🍱 favorite meal — sashimi x tempura x galbi/bulgogi x udon noodle soup 😋

🏡 dream living — near the ocean 🌊

🤓 hobbies — bed-rotting x consuming (vlogs, variety shows, music, dramas, maybe a snack hehe), like technically other hobbies exist, but this is the only one i truly feel i enjoy atm 😭

💞: @getbreaded @wwitss @cheste7 @manasseh @phnxstudies and anyone else who finds themselves reading this ☺️ (i think tumblr put a limit to the number of people who can be tagged on a single post?? i really wanna get to know more of y'all but it won't let me tag youuu 😭)

#studyblr #study motivation #study inspiration #langblr #zesty's life #100 days of productivity #student life #astudentslifebuoy #heydilli #soft aesthetic #soft girl #that girl #it girl #dream girl #vanilla girl #pink aesthetic #pink moodboard #pink academia #academic validation #japanese langblr #psychblr #clean girl #clean girl aesthetic #self care #self love #lifeblr #daily routine #daily life #study space #study aesthetic

[glitchdecay]

Natsuki Is So Much More Than His Ditzy Behavior: Part 2

In June of Natsuki's route in Repeat LOVE, Natsuki explains why he applied to the idol program at Saotome Gakuen despite being lauded as a genius violinist — and later violist — in his childhood.

The dialogue text is pretty long, so it'll go under the cut.

Note: I transcribed the Japanese manually from the Switch port, but I'm only human. All translations are my own.

―Japanese―

【来栖　翔】:「おかえり〜。じゃねぇよ、この天然スケコマシ！まったく、お前は昔から……」 【来栖　翔】:「あ…………。悪い……昔のことは、あんまり言わない方がよかったか……」 昔？ 【四ノ宮那月】:「ん？……昔って？」 【来栖　翔】:「だから……ほら、あれだよ、小学校ん時のさ……ヴァイオリンのコンクール、控え室……一緒だったろ、俺と……」 【来栖　翔】:「お前、ぼけっとしてて、自分の出番も忘れてて、でも、ステージに立ったら、女子にキャーキャー言われてさ……」 【来栖　翔】:「それから……その……。すごかった……。俺なんか絶対勝てないかっこいい演奏だった……」 【四ノ宮那月】:「んーーーーー？おかしいですねぇ。記憶にありません。確かにヴァイオリンもやっていましたが」 【四ノ宮那月】:「翔ちゃんと出会っていたら絶対覚えていると思うのに……。うーーん」 【来栖　翔】:「てんめぇ、俺なんか、眼中にねぇってことかよっ」 【四ノ宮那月】:「そ、そうじゃなくて……ごめん。あの頃の記憶ってすごく曖昧で……。だから……、自分でもよくわからなくて」 【来栖　翔】:「お前がヴァイオリンやめて、ヴィオラをやり始めたって聞いた時もショックだったけど……」 【来栖　翔】:「でも、お前のヴィオラを聴いて、悔しいけど、感動した。だから、それでもいいかって思った」 【来栖　翔】:「それなのに……。なんで……。なんでそれすらやめちゃったんだよ」 【四ノ宮那月】:「それは……。それは……僕が弱いから……」 【来栖　翔】:「え…………？」 【四ノ宮那月】:「ヴィオラはとても奥深くて……。どれだけ頑張っても自分で納得のいく音は出せなくて」 【四ノ宮那月】:「でも……みんなは僕の中途半端な音を褒めてくれて。それで十分だって……」 【四ノ宮那月】:「僕がどんなに違うって言っても、誰もわかってくれなくて……。誰も僕のしたい音を教えてはくれなかった」 【四ノ宮那月】:「答えのない道をただひたすらに進むのかとそう……思ったら、すごく怖くなったんだ。その道は果てしなく長くて、遠い……」 【来栖　翔】:「……那月……」 【四ノ宮那月】:「ホントいうとね。今も怖いんだ。アイドルが歌うのを見て、すごく楽しそうで、僕もあんな風に音を楽しめたらって」 【四ノ宮那月】:「そう思って、この学校を受験したんだ。でも……。歌にも正解なんかない。自分で作っていくしかないってって気がついた」 【四ノ宮那月】:「でも……。でもね……。今、僕はひとりじゃないから」 【四ノ宮那月】:「あなたが……。そして翔ちゃんがいてくれる。誰かがそばにいて、一緒に悩んでくれる」 【四ノ宮那月】:「それがすごく嬉しくて。頑張ろうって……。頑張れるって思ったんだ。今度は答えを見つけられそうな気がするから」

―English―

Kurusu Syo: Don't "I'm back~" me, you airheaded Casanova! Jeez, you've always been like this. Syo: Ah...... Sorry. Maybe I shouldn't talk about the past. The past? Shinomiya Natsuki: Hm? The past? Syo: Like... You know, back when... we were in elementary school... At a violin competition. We were... in the same waiting room, you and me. Syo: You were spacing out and forgot your turn. But when you got on the stage, all the girls were screaming for you. Syo: And then... You... You were amazing. I thought I'd never win against your performance. Natsuki: Hmmmmmmm? That's weird. I don't remember. It's true I used to play the violin, though. Natsuki: But I'd totally remember if I met you back then. Bummer. Syo: So you didn't even pay attention to me, huh? Natsuki: That's— not what I meant... Sorry. My memories from back then were a blur... So... I don't really know myself. Syo: It was a shock to me when I found out you quit playing the violin and started playing the viola... Syo: But when I heard your viola, even though it was frustrating, I felt so moved by it. So I wondered if you were okay with that. Syo: But even then... Why... Why did you quit that too? Natsuki: That's... Because I'm weak... Syo: Huh......? Natsuki: There's so much to the viola... No matter how hard I worked, I couldn't play the way I wanted to. Natsuki: But... everyone praised my half-hearted playing. They said it was enough... Natsuki: No matter how much I said that wasn't it, no one understood me. No one could teach me how to play the way I wanted. Natsuki: When I... thought about continuing to devote myself to a path without a destination, I felt so scared. The path seems so long and endless... So far away... Syo: ... Natsuki... Natsuki: To tell the truth, I'm scared even now. When I saw idols singing and looking like they were having so much fun, I thought I could be like that too. Natsuki: That's what I thought, so I applied to this school. But... there's no right answer in this kind of music either. I've realized that I have to make it on my own. Natsuki: But... You know... I'm not alone anymore. Natsuki: 'Cause you're here... And Syo-chan, too. There's someone with me to think things through. Natsuki: It makes me so happy. When you say, "Let's do it together," I feel I can do it. Because this time, I can find the solution.

From the conversation, you can see kid!Natsuki felt lonely as a genius violinist, so he decided to move to the viola, but it didn't work either. It pained him to keep playing string instruments because things weren't working out for him.

#uta no prince sama #shinomiya natsuki #natsuki shinomiya #n plays utapri #my translations #utpr: repeat love #man i relate to him so bad #like i went from being the top student in my hs class and going on a full academic scholarship in a STEM program in college #and doing undergrad research to potentially go to a graduate program #but i quickly burned out in my junior year and was about to off myself coming into senior year #that was when i stumbled upon doing translation and self-studied japanese to N1 level #now i'm not sure if i'd go back into academia #but at least i'm in a happier place #and nacchan helped me get there in a way

[the-old-book-town]

I dedicate this post to @mejomonster because it would have never crossed my mind to research on my own if you hadn’t told me about hanzi radicals linking to the pronunciation! I didn't think there could be a logic given how many different readings a single kanji can have compared to its equivalent hanzi.

Well, I never did study kanji extensively, which explains why I never knew that some radicals are connected to the pronunciation in Japanese - it seems to be common knowledge among people who are more proficient in the language, but it's almost never mentioned in language learning materials, ostensibly, because people think it's not useful enough to teach.

They're called phonetic components. And they're not as useful as the hanzi equivalent, but they do exist. There are a few caveats in their usefulness: 1) it only applies to on readings, 2) it's not always clear which component is the phonetic one and which is the radical (radical here meaning the one the kanji is classified under in the dictionary), 3) only 67% of kanji have phonetic components, and 4) about 25% of those have irregular readings.

This online dictionary lists the meaning of each kanji and the phonetic component they're linked by.

This article provides a list and discusses this a bit, scroll down to the "Phonetic Compounds and Their Kanji".

This webpage describes some of the research behind the components and two people who put in a lot of work to compiling the list.

I feel stupid for never realizing there is a relationship between the reading and the component, because one kanji/radical I've seen a million times makes it super clear and I just thought it was...a coincidence? I guess??

For example:

The on reading of 義 is gi - alone it is the 'righteous duty' character. It is also part of the following kanji: 儀 as in 儀式 (gishiki, ceremony) and 犠 as in 犠牲 (gisei, sacrifice).

Kanji readings are still difficult, granted, but at least there is some logic to some of the on readings. I don't know if they share some of the same phonetic-component relations as their Chinese counterparts, they might not, or they might but again are more related to an older Chinese language and not so much Mandarin.

For example, 牙 is ga in Japanese but yá in Mandarin and ngaa4 in Cantonese.

For kun readings...there's no logic but only 37% of the dictionary is kun readings, and 53% are on readings, according to one of the articles? If that makes it better haha?

I personally find kun readings way easier to remember. In fact, most of the kanji I know, I identify by their kun readings. 川 is kawa first to me, and 山 is yama, not sen and san.

So, yes, might not be useful for a lot of people, but it's certainly interesting. And at least demystifies kanji a little bit, which is always nice. People, including myself, are always saying how hard kanji is to study, and it's definitely true, but it also becomes almost like a self-fulfilling prophecy at some point.

"It's so confusing, I'm never going to remember them all" and such. But that's why it's interesting to learn different tricks to learn them. It might not help some people, but for example, this makes more sense for me than using mnemonics or making up stories to remember kanji. Even if it only helps me learn a few dozen kanji, that's still more than I would have acquired otherwise (or, at least, not without another 10 years of seeing it over and over again until it finally clicks in my head).

#japanese self study