Hungry for Words: Mostly Japanese

The best way to learn kanji is not online

This post is not about a particular world, but I often see people on various forums and such asking about some killer software app or website where they can learn, and memorize, kanji characters.

In my opinion, no such site or app exists, because the best, or only, way to learn kanji properly is to write each character out physically many, many, many times.

Before you scoff at the old fashioned concept of putting pencil to paper. let me explain. Kanji characters depend a lot on the stroke direction of each swash or line. (For that matter, some katakana characters do also: can you tell the difference between ソ　and ン?) Stroke order is not as important for reading comprehension, but can make a difference when you are writing kanji by hand. And I don't really know of a better way to learn these things than by writing out the characters repeatedly until you develop a muscle memory for how the characters should be written. You can't do that by typing.

If you live in an area near a Japanese bookstore, go and look for a 漢字練習帳　(かんじれんしゅうちょう　kanji renshuuchou) - a kanji practice notebook. These have pages with large grids that are perfect for practicing your kanji by hand. They're used by kids in elementary school in Japan. Of course you can always practice on any old piece of paper, but the notebooks are nice to write in.

You can use an online resource to organize your kanji study, but for practice and memorization? Do it by hand.

More than 1000 kanji required to read a newspaper

This page on Wikipedia Japan has listings by grades 1 through 6 of the kanji characters that are taught. The list has changed over time, but basically it's a total of more than 1000 characters (1016 for that list). To read a newspaper, you should know all of these characters. Even for manga you should know most of these characters. Here is another list, which also includes the kanji taught in junior high (grades 7 through 9 in US terms), organized by the number of strokes per character. I don't know how to write out a lot of these off the top of my head, but I can read them.

I haven't written a lot of Japanese (or any other language for that matter) out by hand recently, unless I'm writing an address on an envelope or something. I do most of my writing online, where I can easily look up kanji if needed. I am positive that's lead to a deterioration in internal kanji database. I know I'm not alone in this, because I often see Japanese people writing some very strange kanji online.

So, if you want to learn properly, write it out!

How I learned

In case you are thinking, "She's Japanese, how can she understand how it is for a non-Japanese to learn kanji", let me tell you how to learned all the kanji required to be learned by the 5th grade in a few months, when I was about 10!

I was born in the Tokyo area, and lived there until age 5, when my parents moved to London. I was already reading by that age (see my English Twitter page for a photo of me reading intently at around age 3 or 4...though I'm not sure if I was actually comprehending anything!), but of course mostly kana-base pictured books and such.

For the next 4 years, I attended regular schools in England and didn't learn much Japanese. Then we moved to the U.S., in the summer when I was age 10. My parents knew we'd be returning to Japan the next year, so they wanted to put me in the Saturday Japanese school.

My mother sat me down with a simple book, and told me to read. To her horror, she discovered that I could barely read at all. So, she had a correspondence course for overseas Japanese kids sent over - for grades 1 through 4. From June to September, she sat me down every day, making me go through the correspondence course. The kanji was especially difficult - she made me practice those characters, over and over and over again.

I really hated this...it was summer, and I wanted to be playing with my new friends! I remember threatening to jump out of the window of our 5th floor apartment several times. But my mother perservered. By the time September rolled around, the Japanese Saturday school was not sure that I could keep up with the other 4th grade level kids, but I could, just barely. (I hated going to that school anyway for other reasons, but that's another story.)

The next year, we did indeed return to Japan. Once again the regular elementary school near our new home wasn't sure that I was ready to jump into the 2nd term 5th grade, but they put me in anyway. I remember feeling very strange and foreign for the first few weeks, but after that I really had little problem. I could keep up fine with all the lessons. And that summer of intensive drilling by my mother was what brought me up to speed, despite all the grief I gave her. (One of these days I'll remember to thank my mom for that.)

So you see, I'm living proof so to speak that pencil-on-paper drilling really works! It's hard and boring, but really sticks.

*This post was inspired by this question on Ask Metafilter, where there are suggestions for online learning resources. I haven't tried any of them myself but maybe you'll find one there to suit you.

Arbeit as a part time job, and other kinds of workers in Japan

Contrary to what many English speakers seem to think, English is not the only language from which Japanese imports words and phrases - and often twists the meanings of. Ever since the Meiji Restoration, and even before that, Japan has been incorporating words from other languages very freely.

Which leads to today's word: アルバイト (arubaito), or バイト (baito)　for short. German speakers may recognize that this comes from Arbeit. While Arbeit means 'work' (verb form to work is arbeiten), once again the Japanese imported version of the word is a bit different from the original.

アルバイト　means part time or casual work, usually by students or other young people who can't or won't work at a 'real' or full time job.

The Japanese word for work is 仕事　(しごと　shigoto), but someone who is working part time doesn't refer to their workplace as a 仕事先　(しごとさき　shigoto saki) as a full time employee would; they'd call it a バイト先　(バイトさき　baito saki).

When they go off to their job, they might say 「バイトに行ってきます」（baito ni itte kimasu), not 「仕事にいってきます」(shigoto ni itte kimasu).

'Proper' employees vs. バイト and others

In Japanese working society, a 正社員 （せいしゃいん　seisha-in) is a full time employee, literally translated as a 'real' or 'proper' company member. Being a 正社員 means that one gets full benefits, a year-end bonus, and historically (though not since the early '90s) lifetime employment.

Then there are the other workers, which are called バイト、パート　(paato, or part time, usually applied to housewives with part time jobs and never to men for some reason) or 派遣社員 (はけんしゃいん　haken sha-in, or contract worker). Both　バイト　and パート　workers work part time, and contract workers usually work full time, but without the benefits or year-end bonus. They also may or may not get paid for overtime. (Many employment agencies give benefits and other perks to contract workers who are signed up with them, however.)

Traditionally, being a 正社員　has had higher status than being another type of worker. But since the 'Lost Decade' of the late '80s to '90s, when the Japanese economy went through a big downturn, many younger people have preferred to earn their living by being 派遣社員　or even アルバイト. It gives them far more freedom to leave a job if they don't like it, take time off to travel, and so on. This is a huge fundamental change in Japanese society, which has been analyzed to death in Japan itself but doesn't get that much publicity outside of the country, even in the latest flurry of news stories trying to learn some lessons from the Lost Decade to deal with the current worldwide recession. In any case, the Japan of the Economic Miracle of the '60s to mid-'80s is long gone for all purposes...

Wagamama, not the restaurant

Today's word is:

我がまま　わがまま　wagamama

(It's sometimes written 我が侭, but it's most commonly written as all hiragana or 我がまま）

It means to be selfish, demanding, care only about yourself, and so on. It is a word that can have a negative or positive connotation, but mostly it's negative. A wagamama child (我がままな子供）is synonymous with a spoiled/bad child.

It it most often used as an adjective, e.g.

あの人は我がままですね。　あのひとはわがままですね。 ano hito wa wagamama desu ne.

• That person is selfish, isn't she.

Sometimes it's used as a noun:

おもちゃ買ってなんて、我がまま言わないで！　おもちゃかってなんて、わがままいわないで！ omocha katte nante, wagamama iwanaide!

Don't say selfish (things) like 'buy me a toy'!

So what about that restaurant then?

According to the Wagamama Wikipedia page, the London based chain of 'TGIFA'* pan-Asian eateries "defines wagamama as "wilful / naughty child". I guess they mean that in a positive way.

If you want to see what I and others think of Wagamama, take a look at this forum topic over on Just Bento.

(*Thank God It's Fake Asian ^_^;)

Comfort, healing, gratification

Today's word is inspired by the personal finance book I've just reviewed over on Just Hungry.

癒す　いやす　iyasu

It means to comfort or heal. In current vernacular, it's used a lot in with a passive voice:

癒される　いやされる　iyasareru　

- to be comforted by something or someone.

In the Saving Techniques book linked to above, the author uses the passive term 癒される　quite a lot. She has a habit of spending money on things that she thinks will comfort her, make her feel better. For example, she is 癒される　by a coffee and cake at her favorite 喫茶店　(きっさてん　kissaten, coffee/tea shop); a latte at a international coffee-selling chain, the act of buying several bottles of aromatherapy scents (which she plans to use later for to be 癒される　some more); a bar of chocolate. Of course, the point she is making is that she's wasting money for that feeling of immediate gratification. So she switches to ways she is 癒される　that don't involve spending money, such as cleaning up her cluttered apartment, or just going outdoors and taking a walk.

The term 癒される　is used quite a lot in marketing in Japan. All kinds of things are supposed to give you that feeling, from music to food to　anime to stuffed plushies to... you get the idea.

By what things or actions are you 癒される？

Legs like sticks

I've just spent the last couple of days playing tourist in Paris (on a short stopover en route back to Zürich from western France). I had a very packed agenda, since one purpose of my trip was to do some research for my food blogs, especially Just Hungry. I walked around so much that my legs feel really heavy and tired.

Which leads to today's phrase:

足が棒になる　あしがぼうになる　ashi ga bou ni naru

- (My) legs become sticks. Meaning: To walk around for so long that ones legs feel tired and heavy, like big sticks. It can also mean that you've done something to the point of exhaustion.

Example: パリ観光は楽しいけど、足が棒になる。パリかんこうはたのしいけど、あしがぼうになる。
Pari kankou wa tanoshii kedo, ashi ga bou ni naru.

- Paris sightseeing is fun, but my legs become sticks (= I walk around so much that I become exhausted).

*Note that in Japanese Paris is 'pari'

Another way this is used is like this:　

足を棒にして　あしをぼうにして　ashi o bou ni shite -

- To walk around doing something persistently, until the legs turn into heavy sticks

Example: 足を棒にして買い物をする。あしをぼうにしてかいものをする。ashi o bou ni shite kaimono o suru

- To walk around shopping, until the legs turn into heavy sticks, or to shop 'till you drop.

Example 2: あの作家は足を棒にして本の下調べをする。あのさっかはあしをぼうにしてほんのしたしらべをする。Ano sakka wa ashi o bou ni shite hon no shitashirabe o suru.

- That author walks around until his legs are heavy sticks, doing research for his book = the implication is that that author is very thorough.

So, next time you get exhausted from walking around, point out that your legs have become sticks!