I don’t often pay attention to the stats on this blog. Quite frankly, I write because I want to. I have no illusions that I’ll ever be able to monetize this, and I have never sought to. If this blog ever gains enough popularity that I can try other projects I’ve been meaning to, perhaps then I can at least recoup the cost of hosting it, but as for right now, I’m not concerned with it. But that said, tonight I looked at the stats, and this month has been… Read More »Thanksgiving
A previous commenter, as seems to be the case a lot, got me thinking about why I study Japanese. In all truth, I am somewhat of a misanthrope. I’m not usually very fond of people. I am pretty good at interacting with people in a competent way, and I do not dislike everyone, but in most cases I can just take them or leave them. So the question of why I am studying a different language, especially one as different as Japanese, is a fair one. And truth be told,… Read More »Why I study Japanese
Note to Japanese readers: if you are not prepared to accept a rather harsh criticism of your culture, please stop reading now. A couple of days ago, I learned about the behavior of the Japanese in the second world war, and it rather shocked me. I didn’t really understand why the Japanese were (and to some degree, are) so reviled in South and East Asia, but after hearing about some of the atrocities that were done in Manchuria, China, and the Philippines, among others, I think I understand it now. … Read More »Uncomfortable
Every now and then I’ll hear someone say that Japanese is pretty straightforward. I’ve said that a couple of times, and in limited contexts, it’s true. The rules are pretty clear, and most of the time if you follow them you’ll do okay. See the catch in that sentence? “Most of the time.” Let me enumerate the ways in which Japanese is NOT straightforward. Rendaku. It’s so complicated that a guy made Lyman made a law about it. That only mostly applies. Yomikata. Kanji readings are for the most part… Read More »Japanese is Not a Straightforward Language
Learning any language, particularly Japanese, for most people is a major commitment. There are some people who seem to be able to pick up languages very quickly, and don’t hesitate to make sure you know that, but their tricks don’t work for everyone, and I’m pretty sure their knowledge is broad but shallow. But I think sometimes someone goes into a language thinking “I’m going to learn this language”, and then give themselves a goal. “I’m going to study for six months”, or “I’m going to study for a year”… … Read More »Commitment
One thing that many people don’t know about me is that I’m fairly competent on the piano. As with Japanese, I am only now learning exactly how much I don’t know in that discipline, but I can hold my own. If I really want to learn a piece, even if it’s difficult, I usually can. But the reason I chose the piano was precisely because it is a different instrument. I also became relatively proficient with the clarinet, and while in some ways it is a far more expressive instrument, and… Read More »Complexity
One of the most fascinating and frustrating things about Japanese is that it is a very precise language. For example, the word for “husband” and the word for “prisoner” only varies by the length of one vowel. It is a metered language, it does not have stresses like in English. The hard part about Japanese is not the vocabulary, though that is hard. It’s not the grammar, though that is hard. The hard part is training yourself to pronounce the words correctly. I have found, anecdotally, that Japanese people are… Read More »The Japanese Devil is in the Details
Ever since I began learning about Japan and its culture, I’ve been of decidedly mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, they are particularly imaginative when it comes to existing means of artistic expression – they come up with things that we in the west would never even dream of, and the world is (most of the time) better off for it. On the other hand, they have some significant challenges that they are trying to wind their way through, and failing. I keep having the most unpleasant feeling… Read More »My Thoughts on Japanese Culture
I’ve been using Wanikani lately I’ve gotten to level 5, and it’s actually a little frustrating. You have to get the radicals/kanji/vocabulary right a specific number of times, spaced out over months, before they consider the item “burned”, and you don’t have to see it again. And they dole out the lessons sparingly. You can’t binge on them. A cynic might make the argument that they’re just doing that to stretch out the amount of money you need to pay them to complete the program, but while that may be… Read More »What I Hate About Most Online “Learn Japanese” Sites
My thoughts on kanji and what they are for have evolved over the past year or two. When first starting Japanese, they seem almost redundant and needlessly difficult. Why use kanji, you think, when there are around 110 perfectly good syllables to use in their place? But that’s an English way of looking at the problem. We don’t have a syllabary, though we have syllables. About fifteen thousand possible ones, though I don’t know how many we actually use. So we take a look at the twenty-six letters of our… Read More »My Evolving Thoughts on Kanji