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Studying Japanese Language/Literature/History

Kawaikochan
Victoria wrote: KANJI SCARES ME!!!

lol. the only kanji i know are 山= yama= mountain,　私= watashi=me or i or myself　and　嵐=arashi=storm (but i'm sure yall knew the last one) :p


I'm surprised you don't know 大野 (Oono) hehe.
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Kawaikochan
Siri wrote: yeah kanji is definitely intimidating. i can recognize mountain fire and rain but don't remember the japanese word, i know hito, ichi, ni, san, and i think thats about it lol

i'll definitely practice writing them too once i'm pretty confident with katakana. i've noticed with my hiragana writing practice when i look at more recent notes versus older ones there's been some improvement in my writing.
the few kanji i have tried to write i found it so hard to get the spacing and proportions right. lots of people seem to stress about stroke order but i find it more difficult to not have half the character squashed because i ran out of space after i made the other half too big lol


I totally agree about spacing. That's one of the things that I think makes my first writing of a kanji look childish. All squished to the side or the bottom lol. As you learn more, parts are repeated so the spacing becomes less of an issue. Another thing that I have to pay close attention to when I write is intersections between lines. When they obviously cross, that's not a problem, but sometimes they only cross just a little and so I had to make sure i was extending the right line. There's a whole school of art centered around writing kanji properly, so I'm sure we won't be perfect, but practice sure helps :)
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boutux
Ilyass Latrach wrote: I'm surprised you don't know 大野 (Oono) hehe.


　大　is the only symbol i recognise from ohno's name but i'm not sure of the meaning. i do use it to tell his name apart from the other members. i also know 二 =ni=2. and i use it to identify nino's name. 二宮　i recognise the 2nd symbol cuz i see it in his name but i don't know the meaning either. the other members i can't tell their names apart to save my life cuz they look the same to me.

i won't say i know a kanji just cuz i recognise it. the point of kanji is to apply meaning to a word right? so doesn't mean if u don't know the meaning u don't know the word? i recognise 大from another word. daijoubu is written in kanji as 大丈夫. the 1st symbol in daijoubu is also the 1st symbol in ohno's name. what does that mean?
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Kawaikochan
Ohno's name means big（大） field（野）. 野菜 （vegetable) uses 野 too. 丈夫　means healthy. 丈　and 夫 have their own meanings, but they don't obviously make sense as "healthy" when put together. I'm sure there's some story behind it, but I just memorized it. I also think 大野 and 二宮　have the most recognize able names in 嵐。 Next would be 松本、but I barely recognize 櫻井, and i almost never recognize 相葉, hehe.　　I haven't really studied the name kanji yet. The only ones I know are ones that I just pick up along the way.
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ladyfaile
i can recognize Miyavi but i don't know the meaning
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ladyfaile
gaaaawd kanji is hard lol i was using that app the other day to study some of the first grade kanji. i was writing them and the hiragana and english translation so i have it for quick reference later and just cause i remember things better if i write them out but man oh man. it's tricky cause it's like learning a whole extra step. it's like you have to translate to hiragana and then english so you're learning a whole new word and 2 different ways to write it.
so on the plus side it will help expand my vocabulary but it'll take forever to learn just the first grade set lol
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room 707
I'm kind of teaching myself Japanese by using a lot different apps and online websites, but I do plan to get actual lesson in the language while studying in college. I want to go to Japan one day so I basically told myself the I MUST know if fluently before I can go. Nothing like self-motivation lol.
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ladyfaile
right on! check out the stickied thread for japanese resources lots of goodies there that should help :)
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Kawaikochan
ladyfaile wrote: gaaaawd kanji is hard lol i was using that app the other day to study some of the first grade kanji. i was writing them and the hiragana and english translation so i have it for quick reference later and just cause i remember things better if i write them out but man oh man. it's tricky cause it's like learning a whole extra step. it's like you have to translate to hiragana and then english so you're learning a whole new word and 2 different ways to write it.
so on the plus side it will help expand my vocabulary but it'll take forever to learn just the first grade set lol


It is really intimidating, lol. But I actually think it goes in waves. At first you're like "OMG what is this!" Then you learn a few and start to recognize a pattern, and think "Ok, I can do this." And then you start to learn kanji that have like 1341235 strokes, lol. At that point I'd go until I wasn't really learning anymore and then pick some nice, simple, small stroke number kanji. That approach keeps me going. Although, the simple kanji can be the hardest to write properly.
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Kawaikochan
sydderz wrote: I'm kind of teaching myself Japanese by using a lot different apps and online websites, but I do plan to get actual lesson in the language while studying in college. I want to go to Japan one day so I basically told myself the I MUST know if fluently before I can go. Nothing like self-motivation lol.


Yay! welcome welcome welcome :) Please feel free to share what you've been doing so far. If any of the websites or apps aren't already mentioned here, then please suggest them :) If they are mentioned, then please give your opinion. We all use different resources in slightly different ways.

Also, feel free to drop by and voice any frustrations you may be having. This whole process can be intimidating/frustrating, but we can all relate *hugs*
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ladyfaile
Kawaikochan wrote: It is really intimidating, lol. But I actually think it goes in waves. At first you're like "OMG what is this!" Then you learn a few and start to recognize a pattern, and think "Ok, I can do this." And then you start to learn kanji that have like 1341235 strokes, lol. At that point I'd go until I wasn't really learning anymore and then pick some nice, simple, small stroke number kanji. That approach keeps me going. Although, the simple kanji can be the hardest to write properly.


it's true, the bigger the line the harder it is to get the right angle and curve. i don't find them too difficult to write so far but i don't see myself being able to write them from memory for a long time haha. well i still can't write katakana from memory (or read all of them for that matter, i'm working on it lol)and sometimes have to look up the odd hiragana (i know them but i sometimes just need a reminder of where to start and then i'm good)
but you're right if i start to get frustrated the best thing is to take a step back and review some of the simpler ones or go back and review hiragana and katakana for a change of pace or do some vocab or something. that's why i'm still struggling with katakana, i get frustrated with how many kana look alike and instead of getting frazzled i'll just back up and do something else for a bit, which is why i started on kanji, though i know i should get katakana down before i get too far. i'll do some tomorrow and if i need a break from it i'll read some of tae kim's guide instead and leave kanji for a couple more days then review the ones i've done already before i try to learn any new ones
hopefully the one step forward 2 steps back method will do the trick lol
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boutux
ladyfaile what app are u using to learn kanji. please don't say kotoba cuz it doesn't work on my ipod for some reason.

kawaikochan have u started the online classes yet?

unfortunately my studying has been almost non existent the last 2 weeks. my job has had me very stressed, frustrated and exhausted. i come home, check my mail, mdl watch a drama and go to bed. when things calm down again i'll get back to my lessons. but i want to know which app i can use to learn beginner kanji.
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boutux
okay i FINALLY got kotoba installed on my ipod. yay!!. i defintely need to go back and revise katakana. this app is a bit confusing though.
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Kawaikochan
boutux wrote: kawaikochan have u started the online classes yet?


Yes :) I've taken three so far. This week has been hectic so I"ve only taken one. The first one I described in a previous post. The second was about the same, but on the beginner 2 level. The third was different because there were other people in my class (European). It was fun to have people in my class. They offered different ways of remembering the lessons. The beginner two classes I took were heavily grammar oriented. I think I am going to stick with them because I need more practice speaking Japanese.

In Intro (which I didn't take, but it says this in the course description) and beginner 1, they speak much more in english and use romanji. In beginner 2, they speak 90% (if not more) japanese, and you're expected to be able to read kana without any trouble. They use furigana for all the kanji when they first introduce them, so you don't have to worry about that. The great thing about JOI is that you can see the lesson plans for the class ahead of time. So if you're taking mostly beginner 2 classes, but see something in beginner 1 that you think you need to practice, you can just register for that one class. The classes aren't in any particular order. You can take whatever class you want with any teacher.

It was fun. I signed up for more lessons and will definitely let you all know if I see any more improvement because I'm taking lessons in addition to self study. :)
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ladyfaile
it is Kotoba that i'm using LOL i don't find it too bad, you have to explore a little bit to figure it out but it depends on what you want to get out of it too.
i dunno about you but personally as soon as i open the app it takes me to the dictionary. just hit cancel in the top right and you'll see all the options at the bottom. under kanji i've been using the 'school grades' lessons. i find they don't all have the actual japanese word in roomaji. it will give you different readings, i don't know the difference for some of them, but some of the kanji don't have the actual common pronunciation. what i do (for pretty much all of them anyways to make sure i'm getting the right wording) is then go to dictionary and enter the english word.. it will show different translations just find the one with the same kanji and it will give you the roomaji and hiragana/katakana. it's pretty easy to flip back and forth and you don't lose your spot, so that's the way i've been doing it so far til i understand more about the different readings and stuff.

then for katakana i have an app called hiragana & katakana, it was free also. under lessons you can choose hiragana or katakana and then which line/chapter and then each individual kana. it gives you an audio of the pronunciation, stroke order, examples of words using that kana, and fun little descriptions to help you remember the strokes.
i just wish that you could easily flip through all the kana in order instead of always having to go back to the chapter listing and select the next kana. being able to swipe to go to the next kana would make it much easier but that's really my only complaint. that and the review quizes are way too easy because it gives the kana and the audio and then multiple choices of the roomaji. i suggest turning the volume off for them or there's no point unless you're totally new to the language pronunciation-wise
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