On beginning Japanese - some notes to self

Today while waiting it out for a volunteer duty at the library, I happened upon a book on learning languages. It sold me on various benefits of learning a new language, from the entertainment value to the cognitive function, to the challenge itself. I mentally ran through different languages I encounter through my day or if I slightly expand my day. Some of them are: Japanese (a trip, some shows), Spanish (shows, I think of Marquez, also its proximity to English), French (in so many books), Italian (just to understand the contexts of Eliot, and perhaps Dante). Big dreams and aspirations. Anyhow, these were the languages that immediately flashed through. 

One of the things that the book mentions is that it is ok to be imperfect. It quotes: "Language is the only thing worth knowing poorly." - Kato Lomb. That further inspired me.

I quickly read a chapter or two of the book and then found myself in the language aisle looking through easy Japanese. The book I borrowed is called 'Japanese Kanji and Kana'.



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Back home, I have been browsing through the many online resources, flash cards, podcasts, videos. It is day 0, when I plan the next few weeks of immersion, learning, lessons and work. This note to explain to myself how the language is organised. Further there are some questions and wonders about the language itself, call them beginner observations.

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After a few hours of trying to understand the different aspects of written and spoken language, this is what I would like to leave as notes to self:

1. First focus on the spoken Japanese. Understand the meanings, vocabulary, the grammatical structure (Subject-Object-Verb instead of the English Subject-Verb-Object), pronunciations. This can be done through vocabulary books, podcasts, and a general immersion in shows/music. Words can be wago (original Japanese words), kango (Chinese -Japanese words) and gairaigo (Foreign loan words)
2. Next, if you are still interested learn what they teach the children – Hiragana (the cursive set of 46 phonetic letters for grammar), Katakana (angular set of 46 phonetic characters, for showing emphasis or for foreign words), and kanji (characters of ancient Chinese origin that represent ideas and sounds, and are used mostly for nouns, verbs and other ‘content’ words. There are 2,136 commonly used Kanji taught to children. But beyond that apparently thousands and thousands for those interested deeper). A usual written sentence in Japanese has a mix of Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji characters.
3. Further to it, if you still have it in you, learn to write Japanese – the Hiragana, the Katakana and Kanji.

 

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Now for the various thoughts and questions that this exploration leads to:

• There are no spaces in a Japanese written sentence. One gleans meaning and information given the presence of Kanji, Hiragana and Katakana.

• It is fascinating that people remember these 2,136 characters and the phonetic characters of Hiragana and Katakana. It is similar to teaching ‘sight words’ to children to be able to absorb information faster/ read fast. And 2,136 is a beginner’s vocabulary. Many thousands more!

• There are different levels – being simple conversant, being a reader, being able to write, and then really being able to write! It must be challenging to be a writer in that language, or to have written conversation. Just a different system of memory of words through characters. And the writers in Japanese have a vast canvas to work with. I am thinking of writers using exotic kanji, obscure kanji, along with everyday kanji and hiragana and katakana. A writer first needs prowess in spoken Japanese, then reading Japanese and then being able to write all those characters!

• A lot of historical context and characters always carried around with you.

• Is the reading speed quicker in Japanese generally? Given the way sight words work?

• Can new Kanji be created? Or only combination of existing Kanji? Howsoever did they spread the ideas of Kanji?

• Where English needs the 26 alphabets and rules of Grammar and you can have a Shakespeare creating new words, Japanese is more about reaching to the depths of Chinese characters to introduce obscure ideas, or relatively 'new' words? Maybe?

• Another wonder is how is the typing organised? Is there a way to organise the characters into some basic shapes?

• Some or perhaps many Japanese books (traditional), are read from what is usually back of the book for English speakers, top to bottom, right to left.

Each language has its own fascinations and unique elements. One’s familiarity with a language might dim the fascination which a newbie might approach with, or observe or see.

My main fascination is with the different way the language is organised.  I am fluent in Hindi and English, and both are different from how Japanese is organised. It requires a linguistic felicity at different level to be able to perhaps some day produce a Haiku in it. 

Also, the system of Kanji implies a basic learning of vocabulary, concepts by everyone who is taught Kanji. It is slightly different in other languages where you proceed from alphabets, words and grammar. And the limits of your linguistic world is the limits of your language. But isn’t it slightly different for a native speaker/writer in Japanese where the linguistic world (written) is already represented even before or as you encounter it in the world? 

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Overall - It is still day 0. The idea is to explore the language, learn the simple conversational Japanese, learn the pronunciations by listening to podcasts/ shows. And see where this takes me.

 

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Here is an interesting resource:

https://www.irodori-online.jpf.go.jp/

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This resource too: https://thejapanschool.com/top-1000-japanese-words-you-need-to-know/