Avatar

Little大福

@littledaifuku-blog / littledaifuku-blog.tumblr.com

Best served with tea. A little studyblr on my adventures in learning Japanese. Kind of a sideblog to @eleore.
PostsLikes
Avatar

Kanji&Vocabulary from Magi 311

As last time, here are some kanji and vocabulary that I found interesting or useful in this chapter, or that are basic and worth remembering. Doing only two sentences this time because I’m not feeling so well today.

  • 「う！？身体が…！？」
  • 「体」(からだ, body/health) This one is interesting because it appears a couple of times in this chapter, both by itself and with other kanji. It’s pretty easy to remember as PERSON + BOOK, and it’s only one stroke away from 休 (to rest).
  • 「身体」can also be read as からだ (or しんたい depending on the context), and means body as well. As far as I can tell, the main difference is that unlike 体, 身体 can refer only to the “physical body”. 
  • 「本体」is later used by Hakuryuu to mention that Hakuei’s “real body” is somewhere else. Read as ほんたい, refers to one’s “real” or “main” body, as they are both possible meaning of 本 (so yes, it does not mean just “book” :).
  • 「それゆえに死なないと分かってはいても、姉上の体を傷つけるのは…」 Lots of stuff here! Hakuryuu Always gives me material to talk about xD
  • 「それゆえに」(for the reason/therefore) I didn’t know this one, but some reason I get the feeling that I have seen it before? Anyways, the meaning is pretty straightforward.
  • 「死」(し, death) Well, here is a kanji you will learn to recognize without even meaning to, as it appears a lot - especially in the early chapters of Sinbad no Bouken! A way of remembering it, based on the radicals, is ONE + NIGHT + SPOON.
  • 「分かる」(わかる, to understand) Also a kanji you will see everywhere, because it means quite a few things, I’m clarifying that here 分 refers to “understand”, which might be the meaning/word that’s most familiar to most people.
  • 「姉上」(あねうえ, older sister) A  formal (and archaic, I think?) way to refer to one’s older sister, this is how Hakuryuu usually refers to Hakuei. Note that 姉 means “older sister” on its own (as is お姉さん). A quick way of remembering it is WOMAN + MARKET (which in itself is LID + TOWEL).
  • 「上」(うえ, up/above/one’s superior) Pretty straightforward as well, this one means up/above. I have seen a few rules for it but to be honest you will remember it without trying that much. You can contrast it with 下 (below), in the sense that in “below” ト is indeed “below” the line, while in 上 it’s... well, “above” xD.
#kanji#vocabulary#magi
Avatar

In which I try a new approach

As basic as N5 might be, there are 3 kanji that are giving me nightmares because I can’t seem to remember. Sure, they have become familiar so I do recognize them, but I can’t seem to write them.

Therefore, I thought I’d try something different - let’s overanalyse them to see if that helps xDDD. Note that this includes some high levels of frustration ahaha.

新 (atarashii, new)

I can recognize this one - the problem is writing it. The left part is easy enough, as it’s composed of 立+木, but when it comes to the right side I just stare blankly at the page. I have no idea why my brain hates this one so much, but it does.

I guess it looks like... 厂+丁? And it looks like 丁 is a N1 why.

So we have... the STANDING TREE on the HILL has a NEW LEAF...? ... that’s way too complicated for this level =_=...

後 (ushiro/ato, behind/later)

Honestly, I shouldn’t have any trouble with this one, since it’s composed of elements I already know: 彳, the top part of 糸, and 夂. So why, brain?

I guess that this one will be the “write it until it sticks” kind.

駅 (eki, station)

Again, this one I can recognize (ここから駅まで has been to be one of the most textbook example sentences ever), but... .

Anyways, the left part is easy enough,  馬, but just what is that right side? It looks like an R, I guess? Or like a コ with a weird 人, since I don’t like using Roman letters for this?

#japanese studyblr#kanji#n5#journal
Avatar

In which studying from different sources pays off

I’m working on my workbook today, and lo and behold, after introducing a few N4 and N3 kanji (because why not), it finally decided to continue with N5... all of which I already know by now except for those 3 that hate me.

Funny thing is, it’s actually kind of refreshing when the workbook decides to do this. It’s like it goes “Oh, are you finally done suffering with 馬 and these other N3 I’m mixing with things like 人 and 月? Here, have this one you already know, you earned it” and lets me relax for a while.

#journal#kanji#japanese studyblr
Avatar
reblogged
Avatar
tofugu
Image
Why Quantity, Not Quality, Makes You Fluent In Japanese
What makes you fluent in Japanese? You won't find out through perfectionism. Learn why embracing mistakes is the key to Japanese fluency.
www.tofugu.com|Koichi

I’d like the start this article with a quote from “Art & Fear”, a book written by David Bayles and Ted Orland.

The ceramics teacher announced on opening day that he was dividing the class into two groups. All those on the left side of the studio, he said, would be graded solely on the quantity of work they produced, all those on the right solely on its quality. His procedure was simple: on the final day of class he would bring in his bathroom scales and weigh the work of the “quantity” group: fifty pound of pots rated an “A”, forty pounds a “B”, and so on. Those being graded on “quality”, however, needed to produce only one pot – albeit a perfect one – to get an “A”.
Well, came grading time and a curious fact emerged: the works of highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantity. It seems that while the “quantity” group was busily churning out piles of work – and learning from their mistakes – the “quality” group had sat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of dead clay.

These two paragraphs are what inspired Tofugu’s 500 Japanese Sentences (which later became 4500 Japanese Sentences, available now btw), a workbook that gives you a lot of Japanese sentences to translate, based off of words that are ordered by frequency of use. The focus, of course, is all on quantity, not quality. If you don’t know how to translate something and can’t figure it out quickly, move on. If you’re confused, move on. If you’re stuck, move on. Do what’s at your ability level and what’s slightly above it and skip the rest. It’ll be there waiting for you on your second run through.

This goes against what most people are taught in school. In fact, there’s a popular saying you’ve probably heard a lot: “Quality over quantity.” It turns out, though, that quantity creates quality, and this can be applied to pretty much any skill you’re trying to develop, Japanese included.

Read more!

#articles
Avatar

In which Kanji strike back

A while ago I received this ask from @judaluffy in my main blog:

The topic seemed a bit more appropriate for this blog, so let’s go for it! Using a cut because wall of text is long.

#asks#kanji
Avatar

Kanji&Vocabulary from Magi 310

I’m so excited! This something I always wanted to do, but never had the chance. So behold - a little collection of kanji and vocabulary that I found interesting or useful in this chapter.

This is the first time I do this, I want to tackle rather easy (N5/N4) kanji I already knew + some vocabulary that I had to look up.

Note that this is by no means a comprehensive list - otherwise we would need to do almost the whole chapter! xD

  • “前にアリババくんがかけられたのと同じ…” Wh-What?! Two kanji I can read in the same sentence...?!! What is this sorcery xDDDD. Anyways, here we have two rather common and easy to remember kanji:
  • 前 (mae, before/previous) This is one of those kanji that my brain went all “eh, I like this one”, especially since it shows up everywhere. Still, an easy way to think about it is “the MOON goes before RI” or “the MOON goes before the SWORD”. 
  • 同じ (onaji, same/identical) Another example of a kanji that was easy to memorize since it appears rather often in manga. If anything, “ONE MOUTH” could work for this one, but to be sincere I found it unnecessary.
  • “早く逃げてくれ”
  • 早く (hayaku, quickly/fast) This one is tricky for me because it’s really easy to recognize, but I haven’t written it that much. I have seen it compared to a sunflower, but for me the “SUN TEN” snippet works better. 
  • “まったく…聞き分けのない子供達だね！”
  • 聞き分けのない (kikiwakenonai, unreasonable) This one was really interesting because while I knew both 聞 (listen) and 分 (understand, among a bazillion other meanings), I had not seen this expression that often. However, if you think about it it makes a lot of sense - you are not listening and understanding, thus you are being unreasonable.
  • As a side-note, I really love all the kanji that use the MON radical xD
  • ”剣を持たせなければ、貴様はどうという事もない”
  • Oh Hakuryuu you... this is the part where he says “You are nothing special/not a big deal”. I didn’t know this expression, so I really laughed at it ahaha.

Well, that’s that! A little short, but hey, we need to start somewhere! :D

#kanji#vocabulary#from magi
Avatar

In which a “New Station” would probably give me nightmares

Got some honey tea and about 40 pages to be done in the next hour or so.

Yay? xDD. Fortunately one of the units is about a topic I’m rather familiar with, but it’s still quite a bit for one day.

I’m still fighting with some of the kanji, though. My brain just seems to hate both 新 (new) and 駅 (station) and stubbornly refuses to learn them, while it keeps picking up stuff from the N4/N3 sets I’m not even studying yet because why. 

Yes I know it’s probably due to the translations and the Remembering the Kanji book but still.

Speaking of Remembering the kanji, I’m over the 30% mark now. Its style is nice, but it doesn’t seem completely suitable for my learning style so I’m rushing quite a bit to move onto my other book. My workbook, however, feels a little neglected this week </3.

#japanese studyblr#journal#kanji
Avatar

Writing this feels a little weird.

After such a long time and so many posts and people, starting a new little space feels a bit strange, as if something was wrong. But hey, I guess it’s time to finally properly start this thing :)

So - why this blog?

As much as I love Étude, I can’t deny that after so long it took a direction I never really intended it to. I adore it, and the community has been really great overall, but at some point series and games ended up taking over (especially Magi), and as a result, I found it quite difficult to mix stuff. The learning-related posts I wanted to make had a really different tone and felt out of place; likewise, my dashboard started feeling cluttered, and even though I tag everything finding certain posts became a little complex.

That’s when the idea of making a studyblr started sounding really appealing.

As someone with a rather awful short-term memory and a love for organization and tracking, having a place to document and track my progress, ramble on different topics, and just compile resources sounded perfect.

So yes, this blog will be a little different from my main, and bit more for myself - however, I do hope others who are on this language-learning journey might find it interesting, and that we can help each other along the way! :D

#misc#studyblr#japanese studyblr
You are using an unsupported browser and things might not work as intended. Please make sure you're using the latest version of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Edge.