Somehow, a few months back, I stumbled upon Kanji Clinic, a website featuring the writings of Mary Sisk Noguchi. She writes a piece for The Japan Times six times a year. All of her past essays for the paper are on her site. I started at #1 and am reading several a week. I’ll be sad when I catch up and then have to wait two months for the next installment. 

I’m up to #39 which I read yesterday. It included the following which I will share with you so you can get a taste:

“Back in 1930, Shojiro Ishibashi (石橋, Stone-Bridge) dubbed his new tire company “Bridgestone,” now also internationally known for its bicycles. Just think, if plugging English keywords into the names of Japanese companies had become a trend, millions of drivers the world over might be cruising around not in “Toyotas,” and “Mitsubishis,” but in “Richfields” (豊田, Toyota), and “Triple Diamonds”(三菱, Mitsubishi).”

Whether you are learning Kanji or just interested in them, there is much of interest in her fun little columns.

Posted on October 10th, 2008 under Japan. Tags: japanese language, Japanese Language Study Methods, japanese links. Comments: 1

After several months of off and on reading (I didn’t bring the book with me to Europe during the summer when I was away for more than six weeks) I have finished ハリー・ポッターと秘密の部屋. This was the first book I have read in Japanese in almost twenty years. Clocking in at almost 500 pages, I feel like I’ve accomplished something.

Although daunting at the outset, the reading was actually not that difficult and quite enjoyable. In addition, I picked up some new vocabulary/kanji and had a great review of other vocabulary, grammar, and kanji. Not all of the things learned will come in handy. After all, how often will I need to use words like 屋敷しもべ妖精 (house elf), 杖 (wand), or ほとんど首無しニック (Nearly Headless Nick) in real life? But overall this was a very enjoyable studying routine. I plan to continue it by reading a Japanese book on a daily basis from here on out (in addition to Mangajin, Nihongo Journal, and other things).

The Harry Potter book had furigana next to all of the kanji. For my next read I plan to read something without the furigana crutches. It will probably be slower going, but that is the norm while in Japan which is what I’m preparing for.

I also finished Mangajin #23 as well. If you are interested in purchasing either of these items from me (or the other things previously mentioned) make me an offer.

Posted on October 2nd, 2008 under Japan. Tags: japanese language, Japanese Language Study Methods, mangajin. Comments: 1

I passed the sixth level tests on Nazotte Oboeru Otona no Kanji Renshuu Kanzenhan (なぞっておぼえる大人の漢字練習完全版) for the Nintendo DS. This means I can read and write about as good as a Japanese kid finishing elementary school. I could probably pass Level 5 of the Japanese Kanji Aptitude Test (日本漢字能力検定試験). To get through the sixth level on Nazotte Oboeru Otona no Kanji Renshuu Kanzenhan means you have mastered all of the kyoiku kanji (教育漢字) or about 1,000 kanji. I can probably read another few hundred, but I probably can’t write many more. That will all change as I continue my Nazotte Oboeru Otona no Kanji Renshuu Kanzenhan studies.

The joyo kanji include almost twice that many characters. The next 900+ that I learn/relearn are known as the other general use characters. Although they aren’t as common, it’s important to learn them in addition to the kyoiku kanji as you’ll be looking up lots of characters if you don’t.

When I previously mentioned passing the fifth level I showed you some of the screens in Nazotte Oboeru Otona no Kanji Renshuu Kanzenhan. Here are some more for a different part of the Nintendo DS “game.” These deal with its kanji lookup capabilities.

Let’s say you come across a kanji that you don’t know. On the main screen, above, click on 書き順検索.

You’ll be presented with a blank screen on the bottom. The top screen basically says to write the character on the lower screen and then select the character that will appear on the left that is the one you are trying to write. Stroke order and neatness are not important. I’ve yet to have the kanji I’ve drawn not appear as the top selection on the left.

I wrote this character in; notice that four possible matches magically appear on the left of the kanji I drew. The top one looks good so I select it.

The “game” now provides me with a screen on the bottom where I can practice writing the character using proper stroke order. I also get, from the top screen, the on and kun readings of the character. No, there is no English translation here, but it is still pretty cool don’t you think?

My Japanese Coach for the Nintendo DS is supposed to be available in mid-October of 2008. I will give you a full review soon after my pre-ordered copy has arrived. I’m guessing that it won’t be as good as Nazotte Oboeru Otona no Kanji Renshuu Kanzenhan for Intermediate and Advanced level students of Japanese but will probably be very good for beginners, including those who can’t read hiragana or katakana yet.

Posted on September 23rd, 2008 under Japan. Tags: japanese language, Japanese Language Study Methods, my japanese coach, Nazotte Oboeru Otona no Kanji Renshuu. Comments: 1

I just discovered a site that, while not new or updated recently, provides some nice little Japanese reading practices. Check out http://www.geocities.com/easykanji.

The above site is worthwhile regardless of your current level in the language (assuming you know at least hiragana, katakana, and the most basic of kanji). There are passages for beginner through advanced levels. Don’t know a word in the reading? No problem. Just click on it and a reading and definition appear. It’s that easy.

Posted on September 22nd, 2008 under Japan. Tags: japanese language, Japanese Language Study Methods, japanese links. Comments Off on Free, online Japanese reading practice

I’ve been having a marvelous time reading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in Japanese (ハリー・ポッターと秘密の部屋). I’m more than halfway through it, and have found it most enjoyable (and useful in improving and refreshing my Japanese skills). In anticipation of finishing it soon, I just purchased a number of books in Japanese via eBay.

If you don’t live in a big city outside of Japan, you, too, probably have a hard time finding books in Japanese. There is an alternative I have recently found. Check out http://www.rikai.com/perl/Home.pl.

At the above link you can put in any Japanese webpage and actually read it in Japanese even if you don’t know all of the kanji readings or meanings. As you mouse over any unknown characters you will get the reading (sort of like furigana on the fly) and the meaning. So it is even better than furigana (since furigana doesn’t provide any meaning for unknown words).

If you are just beginning your Japanese studies the rikai site won’t be of much use, but those at the upper beginner, intermediate, or advanced levels of Japanese language ability should find it very helpful.

If you want to link to a page in Japanese and give it this mouse-over ability it isn’t difficult to do so. For instance, if you want to link to an online Japanese novel like this one: http://www.h5.dion.ne.jp/~pt_kloss/yamanoha/yamanoha.htm the “special” link is http://www.rikai.com/perl/LangMediator.En.pl?mediate_uri=http://www.h5.dion.ne.jp/~pt_kloss/yamanoha/yamanoha.htm.

Posted on September 15th, 2008 under Japan. Tags: japanese language, Japanese Language Study Methods, japanese links. Comments: 1