Let's Read Kanji

Even though you may not know the correct pronunciation of a Kanji character, you often can know its meaning. Do not be afraid of what may appear at first sight to be "chicken scratches" all up and down a page. Although opinions vary, there is a fairly easy way to learn to read Kanji. This system of writing has, basically, 300 "building blocks." By combinations of these, all the thousands of Kanji are formed. Shall we try a few?

The character for ka wa (river) comes from the flowing river [Artwork-River Drawing] and looks like this [Artwork-River Drawing]. Now, if you squeeze that river [Artwork-River Drawing], what do you have but the character for water [Artwork-Japanese Characters], mi zu?

A traveler in Japan will find it helpful to know the characters for "entrance" and "exit" that are in train stations and other public places. First take a mouth [Artwork-Mouth Drawing], form it into [Artwork-Japanese Characters] and pronounce it ku chi. Now picture a small river running into a large river [Artwork-River Drawing], square it up [Artwork-Japanese Characters], and you have hai ru or iru, meaning "to enter." Put the two together [Artwork-Japanese Characters], smooth out the pronunciation, and you have the word for entrance, i ri gu chi, or, literally, 'enter mouth.' To leave the station, you must know another character. So think of a flower growing out of the ground [Artwork-Flower Drawing]. Shape it up a bit [Artwork-Japanese Characters], and you have the character for de ru (to leave). Put [Artwork-Japanese Characters] with [Artwork-Japanese Characters] and you have [Artwork-Japanese Characters], meaning 'coming out mouth,' or exit, pronounced de guchi. That wasn't nearly as hard as you expected, was it?

Many of the characters tell a story, as does the man [Artwork-Man Drawing] [Artwork-Japanese Characters], standing by a tree [Artwork-Tree Drawing], which becomes [Artwork-Japanese Characters]. The two together [Artwork-Japanese Characters] constitute the Kanji for vacation, pronounced ya su mi. How about a man leaning on a shovel [Artwork-Man Drawing], next to his horse [Artwork-Horse Drawing]? Put them together and you have e ki, or station [Artwork-Japanese Characters], as in "Tokyo Eki," where you can catch the bullet train.

There are many, many more to learn, and while requiring effort, it is a thoroughly fascinating and entertaining study. Over the years the writing of Kanji is being progressively simplified. As the older and younger generations differ in their way of writing Kanji, often a letter received from a grandmother or grandfather will have to be read and "translated" by someone living nearby who is in the same age group as the writer of the letter.

Some Reasons for Learning Japanese

There are many reasons that may prompt persons to learn Japanese. With some individuals, it may be simply a hobby that helps to broaden their views of people from a different culture and environment. Others will want to learn Japanese for business reasons. Tourists will enjoy their visit to Japan all the more if they know some basic Japanese. But to gain a real working knowledge of Japanese, one would have to live in this country for some years.

If you wish to learn Japanese, you can. Our word of advice is: "Ganbatte kudasai!," that is, "Stick to it!"

Page 3 of 3 :: First | Last :: Prev | 1 2 3 | Next