Hello to all people that follow my lessons and of course,to these who will follow them one day.
Lately I am asked a lot about kanji,then about pronunciation. Well,I said I’ll post kanji when I decide. Eh,the moment came.
I will explain a few things though I have already said everything important in this thread.
What can I do for your pronunciation… I can record myself,can’t find any other way to help you. That’s why I want first to post an audio to Unit II. I gave you some words there at the end of the lesson,so I will make an audio to them.
Old words:
かさ (Kasa) – Umbrella
くるま (Kuruma) – Car
えんぴつ (Enpitsu) – Pencil [NB: I should remind you a rule,when ''n'' stands in front of a symbol with 'b' or 'p',it's read as 'm'. So,you write it 'n',but pronounce it 'm'.]
ほん (Hon) – Book
おべんとう ( Obentou) – Bentō is a lunch box,Japanese lunch box. The ”o” in front makes the word polite.
カメラ ( Kamera) – Camera
めがね (Megane) – Glasses
かれ (Kare) – He [NB: To be turned in possessive adjective,it's added 'no' -> Kare no ('His')]
かのじょ (Kanojo) – She [NB: To be turned in possessive adjective,it's added 'no' -> Kanojo no ('Her')]
あなた (Anata) – You [NB: To be turned in possessive adjective,it's added 'no' -> Anata no ('Your')]
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LEARN KANJI : RULES
Every language has its rules,unneeded to say,but still. In Japanese,we have many rules,some of them are applied to kanji. I will list the rules,then will explain a few things,before starting with today’s kanji. (Avoid writing ‘kanji’ in plural – ‘kanjis’. It’s incorrect. It’s a foreign word and in Japanese we don’t have plural,so words like ”kanji”,”manga”,”anime” and so on that we use in English,they won’t have plural.)
Facts and rules:
• Kanji are constructed by strokes;
• Kanji have an order of stroke writing;
• Kanji can combine with each other,thus sometimes,if not always,their reading change;
• Kanji come from China;
• In Japanese kanji have two main readings – ”On yomi”(Chinese reading) and ”Kun yomi”(Japanese reading);
• Kanji can change their form of writing when included in a new kind of kanji,then they become part of it;
• In Japan people that know over 3,000 kanji are considered for intelligent;
• Kanji are used for words that are native words;
There are other things I can say about kanji,but they aren’t so,I mean,SO important as the ones I enlisted above. The most important things are the stroke order and their two readings,”on” and ”kun” reading. Why we have these two readings?
Simple,kanji come from China,so they have their original readings, but when Japanese take the kanji system in their language,they include a Japanese reading ”kun yomi”. When which to use is stated by the teacher. I’ve said these thing in the article about kanji. Check it out, Kanji Art Intro and Calligraphy.
I decided to give ten kanji for a start. Wonder which ones? Let’s learn how to count in Japanese,ahahahaha. Yeah,consider yourself as a kid in elementary school,folks. So,we should learn even such ”silly” things. Remember,I give meanings and readings I decide. If you do not see some meaning,or reading of the kanji – it’s because I decided so. (: Anyhow, where I mark it with *** ,it means there is a reading,but I skip it. Also,on the Chinese reading,although there are more than one reading,I want to give only one,since you are a beginner.
Here I go,
TODAY KANJI:
一
Kanji Info:
On yomi: イチ (ichi)
Kun yomi: ひと (hito)
Meaning: One
Stroke count: 1
Interesting way to remember: One finger
Kanji usage: 一り ( ひとり ) [ Hitori - Alone; One person ]
二
Kanji Info:
On yomi: 二 (ni)
Kun yomi: ふた (futa)
Meaning: Two
Stroke count: 2
Interesting way to remember: Two fingers
Kanji usage: 二り ( ふたり ) [ Futari - Together; Two people ]
三
Kanji Info:
On yomi: サン (san)
Kun yomi: ***
Meaning: Three
Stroke count: 3
Interesting way to remember: Three fingers
Kanji usage: 三にん ( さんにん ) [ Sannin - Three people ]
四
Kanji Info:
On yomi: シ(shi)
Kun yomi: よん(yon)
Meaning: Four
Stroke count: 5
Interesting way to remember: Four fingers in clenched fist
Kanji usage: 四にん ( よにん ) [ Yonin - Four people ]
五
Kanji Info:
On yomi: ゴ(go)
Kun yomi: ***
Meaning: Five
Stroke count: 4
Interesting way to remember: A reel is better than five fingers
Kanji usage: 五にん ( ごにん ) [ Gonin - Five people ]
六
Kanji Info:
On yomi: ロク(roku)
Kun yomi: ***
Meaning: Six
Stroke count: 4
Interesting way to remember: Eight topped by six
Kanji usage: 六にん ( ろくにん ) [ Rokunin - Six people ]
七
Kanji Info:
On yomi: シチ(shichi)
Kun yomi: なな(nana)
Meaning: Seven
Stroke count: 2
Interesting way to remember: Badly written ten worth only seven
Kanji usage: 七にん ( ななにん ) [ Nananin - Seven people ]
八
Kanji Info:
On yomi: ハチ(hachi)
Kun yomi: ***
Meaning: Eight
Stroke count: 2
Interesting way to remember: Eight can be easily divided
Kanji usage: 八にん ( はちにん ) [ Hachinin - Eight people ]
九
Kanji Info:
On yomi: キュウ(kyuu)
Kun yomi: ***
Meaning: Nine
Stroke count: 2
Interesting way to remember: Less than perfect ten worth only nine
Kanji usage: 九にん ( きゅうにん ) [ Kyuunin - Nine people ]
十
Kanji Info:
On yomi: ジュウ(jyuu)
Kun yomi: ***
Meaning: Ten
Stroke count: 2
Interesting way to remember: All points darted,perfect ten
Kanji usage: 十にん ( じゅうにん ) [ Jyuunin - Ten people ]
I made an audio,hopefully it will help you improve your pronunciation when counting. (:
And,the kanji usage is one of the usages,don’t take it absolutely only these ones. Just giving you a way to remember,or even to know new words. (:
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As an ending to the lesson,I want to give you new words. Yeah,yeah,you have a lot to learn from the lesson,but that’s the point. (:
New words:
うま(Uma) – Horse;
め(Me) – Eye(s);
みみ(Mimi) – Ear(s);
くも(Kumo) – Cloud;
むし(Mushi) -Bug,insect;
やま(Yama) – Mountain;
まくら(Makura) – Pillow;
さる(Saru) – Monkey;
しろ(Shiro) – Castle;
せんす(Sensu) – Fan.
A download to their pronunciation,
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TIPS
I can give you some tips how to correctly study Japanese.
• Give yourself breaks;
• Don’t study more than ten kanji a day;
• Practice;
• Use words in your daily life,even if it means people to stare at you;
• Use the recalling process.
What can you do for kanji studying. Well, make out of paper some small pieces to write down the new kanji on it. On the back of the piece,write down the reading(s) and the meaning(s). Or one of the two,whichever you want. Put them aside and in one hour pick a piece from the box(or wherever you put the paper pieces). Whatever first comes,if you turned the side with the meaning,write down the kanji. If you turned the side with the kanji,write down in a note the meaning plus readings. It helps you practice. If you can’t recall the certain thing in one minute,then put it aside – you need to work on it more.
You can practice everyday this way. (:
That was the first lesson on how to learn kanji, folks. Good luck and see you on the next lesson!
The post Learn Kanji •Unit IV• (Japanese for Beginners) appeared first on Asia Otaku.
