A Guide to Remembering Japanese Characters

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Sa librong "Dave Barry Does Japan" (デイブ・バリーが ”日本をする”) may ganitong passage:

Sometimes it seems as though the whole point of the Japanese writing system is to keep non-Japanese people from understanding what the hell is going on. The only Westerner I met in Japan who had actually learned to read Chinese/Japanese characters was Tom Reid, who works for the Wahington Post. He was always trying to explain it to me. He'd write down something that looked like this:

http://www.timog.com/gallery/files/5/kanji.gifThen he'd say, "OK, this character means 'library infested with vermin.' See, this line here" -- here he points to a line that appears identical to all the other lines -- "looks like a tree root, right? And the books are the root of knowledge, right? Get it? And this line" -- he points to another random line -- looks like the whisker of a rat, right? You see it, right? RIGHT?

I'd always say that, yes, I thought I saw it, although what I really thought was that Tom had spent too many hours studying rats' whiskers.

Kung may ganito din kayong feeling pag tumitingin sa mga kanji, baka kailangan ninyo nitong Guide to Remembering Japanese Characters (http://www.amazon.co.jp/exec/obidos/ASIN/0804820384/qid=1105778490/sr=1-5/ref=sr_1_10_5/249-9458749-5439514). O baka din hindi.

http://images-jp.amazon.com/images/P/0804820384.01.MZZZZZ ZZ.jpg

Ang alam ko may ganitong libro sa bahay dati, kaso may nanghiram at hindi na binalik. :) Nagandahan siguro. Personally, hindi ako nagagandahan dito sa librong ito: gray ang kulay ng cover at hindi maganda ang lay-out at typography. Kaya siguro hindi ko na rin kinuha.

Hindi rin ito "dictionary" kondi "guide". May explanation tungkol sa bawat kanji at sa pinakababa ay may mnemonic (guide para sa pagsaulo). Makikita kunyari na ang mnemonic para sa kanji ng "yasumu" ("rest") ay "Person rests against tree" (see attachment). Logical dahil ang kanji ng "yasumu" ay pinagsamang kanji ng "person" at "tree".

Sa kabilang dako naman, medyo nakakaduda ang usefulness ng mnemonic para sa "kin" ("metal", "money"): "Two gold nuggets under cover of earth." Ang palagay ko ay dapat lang i-memorize itong dalawang kanji (at yong iba pa) nang wala masyadong gimik.

Siguro dahil traditional style kasi ang tinuro sa amin na pag-aaral ng kanji kaya may duda ako sa value ng mnemonic. Ang lumang style ay meron kang papel na may squares at pupunuin (susulatan) mo ito ng kanji, habang binibigkas ang reading: "yasumu, yasumu, yasumu". tapos, may isa pang papel para naman sa combination ng kanji para sa ibang salita, habang binibigkas din ang reading: kunyari, 夏休み "natsu yasumi..."

May mga tao naman na nagsasabi na nadadalian silang mag-memorize ng kanji kung may mnemonic. Puwede rin yon. Pero kung nag-aaral ka ng kanji, puwede rin namang ikaw na mismo ang gumawa ng sarili mong mnemonic. Kunyari ang kanji ng "peaceful" ay "安". Puwede ka ngayong gumawa ng mnemonic: "Panatag ang loob mo kung nasa ilalim ng bubong ang babae." (Sexist ba ito? Wala akong magagawa, yun yong kanji, e). :rolleyes:

Ang iba-ibang tao ay may iba-ibang paraan para mas madali silang magsaulo ng mga bagay. Based sa aking experience, mas maganda pa rin ang traditional style ng pagsusulat habang sinasaulo ang kanji, kaya hindi ko maire-recommend ang librong ito. Isa pa, hindi nito puwedeng palitan ang isang magandang kanji dictionary na kagaya ng Kanji Learner's Dictionary (http://www.timog.com/forum/showthread.php?t=162 ). At dahil din sa hindi maganda ang pagkakagawa, hindi rin ito isang libro na gusto mo lang hawakan at basahin kung wala kang magawa.

Pros: May mnemonic na (baka) nakakatulong sa pagsaulo ng kanji.
Cons: Hindi maganda ang layout at typography.

[puting tainga]

Well, my experience tells me if you want to learn kanji, you should write it.
If you have kids attending Japanese schools, they have their text book of calligraphy （書写、書き方、お習字、書道 ）, and that's the way the Japanese (and the Chinese) learn how to write, not only correctly, but also beautifully.

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hello puting tainga, welcome to timog forum! we could always use a nihongo expert here in timog. don't forget to read the timog forum rules and guidelines (http://www.timog.com/forum/showthread.php?t=365 ), sabi nga ni nick.

[puting tainga]

Naintindihan ko ang sinabi mo.
Pasensiya ka na, bilang sagot sa book review, medyo iba ang sulat ko.

(Pati din ang sulat na ito)

And thanks for reminding in a polite way.
Please delete.

[reon]

hello puting tainga, no, really, we NEED nihongo experts in timog. :)

isa sa mga objectives ng timog ay para makapagbigay ng assistance sa ating kababayan na medyo nihongo-challenged. (kaya meron ding translations forum.)

pero okay yang reply mo, at least alam ko kung ano ang naisip mo sa post ko at ma-clarify nang mabuti ang ibig kong sabihin.

kaya, sabi ko nga "welcome sa timog at kailangan natin ng maraming nihongo experts dito". no other meanings. you look like someone who reads (and speaks) nihongo without effort and someone with that ability would be great to have around the forums.

i hope you hang around. :tiphat:

[puting tainga]

Well, thanks for your kind comment.
Yeah, I'll hang around.:D

Maybe I thought too much, looking for a hidden meaning. :confused:
And maybe that's because I speak with Japanese people so often.:p

As for the book you reviewed, A Guide to Remembering Japanese Characters, I found it good enough.
As for the mnemonics, it will surely help beginners to remember kanji.

But, in the end, you must instantaneously recognize every kanji.

It is like this:
You teach a Japanese that the word "kaarawan" means birthday, adding that the root word here is "araw", which means a day.
You know that, but you don't think of it when you heard the word "kaarawan"

Educated Japanese may know the mnemonics, but they don't think about them each time they come across a kanji.

Cons, I have to point out is that it only shows only one way of writing a kanji, in the style of of 楷書(かいしょ=kaisyo ).
But in daily usage educated Japanese use 行書(ぎょうしょ　gyous yo) style, which is faster to write. Some of the strokes are mixed together, you know you have seen them.

Good thing about Gyousyo is you can see the sequence of the strokes.（書き順　kakijyu n)
Since you must write many times to remember a kanji, it is better you know the correct way of which stoke is the first and which is the next one.

Most Japanese computers have 行書　fonts, preinstalled.
You may add fonts easily if you buy softwares for printing letters, such as　筆王(fudeou).
(Fonts are easy to copy, but basically it is illegal, so I won't recommend it here.);)

I hope everyone learns a lot of kanji and amaze the Japanese. (and the Chinese)

They will say,
へえー、すごいねえ、よく知っ ているね！
(he-e, sugoi ne, yoku shitteru ne!=oh great, you know well.)

[Stacie Fil]

HIP HIP, HURRAY !:)

[tfcfan]

:bowdown:
im impressed!!!