Ch 4 Kanji Poster 大学校先生

Chapter 4 Kanji Poster

大学校先生 


This week in class we began learning our first kanji. It's an exciting landmark. When I first attempted to learn Japanese 15 years ago, I found out the following:

1) You'll have to learn three syllabaries: Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji.

2) There are 48 characters in both the Hiragana and Katakana.

3) They suspect there are 40,000+ Kanji, although only around ~2,000 are commonly used in Japanese today.

I learned the Hiragana before I burned out and couldn't continue. Granted, it was a long time ago and there wasn't quite the wealth of ready-at-hand resources that there are today. I learned one syllabary, but had no way to use what I had learned. And what next? Then I would have to start learning the Kanji? 

Imagine if I had known that each Kanji can have (at least) two ways of pronouncing it!

So it feels like a landmark today to learn my first Kanji, because it shows I've come further than ever before in my Japanese studies. Sure, there are a lot to learn... but I try not to focus so much on that anymore. After all, I'm learning Japanese for my own enrichment and enjoyment. I am doing it for myself, to give myself a gift. So by that logic, the more there is to learn, the more treats I get to give myself over time. This isn't a race. There are no winners or losers here. It's just me and my own pursuit. Every Kanji I learn, every new word of vocab, every cultural tidbit that I take in--every one is a win. 

And I mean, honestly, look at this shit: these are ancient fucking RUNES! Kanji was first brought to Japan from China around the 5th Century. That's the year 500 AD, people! These characters are over 1500 years old! Do you know what else was poppin' on Earth in the 5th Century?

  • The horse collar was invented in China
  • The metal horseshoe was invented
  • Old English was being used
  • Rome was sacked
Learning Kanji is, in all honesty, a Blast from the Past. And that's cool!

Comments

  1. AnonymousMay 5, 2022 at 5:35 PM

    Looking at kanji as runes is SO brilliant! The multiple pronunciations of kanji is daunting to say the least, but you have a fantastic strategy. Patience with yourself will take you so far.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wolf JCCCMay 15, 2022 at 2:27 PM

    The strategy you have is awesome!!! I never thought about it that way. I think we do have to give ourselves some patience as this is all new to us. I believe many want to learn everything fast, but you're not really going to learn a language in a speed run.

    ReplyDelete

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