If you study kanji for long enough you’ll begin to see patterns emerge. At first, they won’t make too much sense and you’ll think it’s pure luck. You’ll make a couple of connections and say “Hey! Nice! This made it easier to remember this kanji. Lucky me.” Then, you’ll go about your life as if [...]
You’re sitting there staring at this (probably ancient alien origin) kanji character, and you have no idea what it means. Like nada. Nothing. Zilch. No matter how deep your probe your brain nothing will come out. Congratulations. You have successfully failed at identifying a kanji. Don’t worry, though. It happens to the best of us. [...]
Of course, there are plenty of resource out there to help intermediate and advanced learners of Japanese to practice their reading. They can use any Japanese book, manga, blog, or website and study away to their heart’s content. For beginners, though, finding Japanese things to read that are at or around your level is a [...]
Everyone knows that kanji made in Japan is of a higher quality, sure to never break down and last you many generations. It’s why I only buy kanji from Japan and not any of that knock-off Chinese kanji stuff. I kid, I kid. But did you know that there are actually a good number Japanese-only [...]
The more you study kanji the more (and less) they start making sense. A method to all the madness begins to develop and you begin to notice things…dangerous things, perhaps (or perhaps not). One of those things I came across recently was a sort of “sound attachment” to animal-related kanji. This isn’t something that always [...]
Did you know that every year the Japanese Kanji Proficiency Society chooses a “Kanji of the Year”? They choose a character that best represents the events of that past year through a national ballot where of course, the kanji with the most votes wins. Then, it’s announced on Kanji Day (December 12) at Kiyomizu Temple [...]
For the longest time I’ve run across all kinds of Japanese idioms that follow the same sort of pattern, not even realizing that they were an actual “thing.” They’d be like this: Four kanji. Meanings of the individual kanji don’t really have much to do with the idiom on a whole. Probably comes from some [...]
