UPDATE | March 09, 2022
Studying Chinese characters is difficult, isn't it? How do you always study? In this column, four Japanese language school students will teach you recommended ways to study Chinese characters (all of these seniors have passed N3!) How did they learn Chinese characters when they first studied Japanese? Is not it. There seem to be various ways to study Chinese characters.
INDEX
I wrote and learned Chinese characters every day. I don't know if this method is good for everyone, but I liked it. At Japanese language school, I have time to study Chinese characters and have to learn new Chinese characters every day. There are also tests, and sometimes I fail. But it was a good practice. Now I can read most of the N3 kanji.
Writing practice is hard and difficult, but when I have a lot of Chinese characters in my notebook, I feel like I'm doing my best! Also, looking at my old notebook, I think, "I had a hard time at that time. I did my best!" Writing Chinese characters can be a good memory. I did my best at that time, so studying has become a little easier now.
[PR]
I didn't really like studying Chinese characters. Up to N5 level, it's difficult to learn new words and Chinese characters together. So at first, I only learned the words. Then I learned Chinese characters. I chose this method because I wanted to be better at "speaking" than "writing". It will be easier to understand if you study Chinese characters after you become good at speaking.
And now, it's hard to read sentences with only hiragana. I didn't like Chinese characters so much (laughs) It's hard to learn Chinese characters, but it's convenient to learn them. I think it's best to learn the Chinese characters that are often used in conversation first. Then you can use it for emails on your computer or messages on your mobile phone. I worked hard on Chinese characters for communication.
When I was studying Japanese in my country, I didn't remember Chinese characters at all. But before I went to study in Japan, I thought I had to study Chinese characters. So I consulted with a friend who knows Chinese characters. Then, my friend taught me a group of similar Chinese characters.
The first Chinese character I learned was "tree". And I learned "forest", "forest", "village", "holiday" and so on. This way of remembering is interesting and fun because you can understand the story of Chinese characters. In addition, "day" and "ten" are used in various Chinese characters. It's easier to remember if you group the same shape. Also, it is recommended to break up the Chinese characters and memorize them in katakana. There are many katakana characters in kanji such as "no", "ta", "me", "e", and "ro".
I like Japanese songs and anime. Before I learned Chinese characters, I chose one of the songs and anime conversations and learned them all. Then I looked up the Chinese characters of the words used in song and anime conversations. It's fun to learn Chinese characters because it's your favorite song or anime word. It's a little different from studying at a Japanese language school, but it's very interesting!
The first song I learned was "Nada Sosou". I love this song, so I learned Chinese characters together. There were some difficult Chinese characters, but there were also many easy and convenient Chinese characters. For example, "old", "people", "rainy days", "sky", "want to meet", "me", etc. If you have a song or anime that you like, please look up the Chinese characters along with the words.
What do you want to do with Chinese characters? What kind of Chinese characters do you want to be able to use? Studying Chinese characters is difficult, so you can take a break from time to time. But I want to be able to understand Chinese characters! If you think about it, please remember the recommended method of your seniors.
Learning Chinese characters will make your life in Japan a little easier. It is also convenient when you want to communicate in Japanese using a mobile phone. If you learn Chinese characters, you may be able to understand your favorite songs, anime, and manga. Of course, you will also be able to test Japanese!
I will continue to write columns that will help you study Japanese.
Please look forward to next month!
I teach Japanese at Japanese language schools and universities in Kyushu. I love games and manga. I also work as a coordinator and web writer to create a local Japanese language class for those who are studying Japanese.
[PR]
[PR]
