Japanese 嘅 べんきょう, daripada pandangan Chinese
Initially I thought that Chinese speakers will have less difficulties in learning Japanese, due to the somewhat shared Kanji system between Chinese and Japanese.
That is before I really went deep into learning Japanese via private tutor, and ohh boy how wrong can I be. I thought I will be just needing to deal with occasional phrases like below, which I had already seen countless of times before venture into Japanese learning, and knowing what it means:
| Vocab | Kanji Literal Meaning | Actual Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 大丈夫 | Great Husband | I’m OK, its OK |
| 面倒 | Face collapse | Burden, troublesome |
| 面白い | White Face | Interesting |
| 済みません | Not done | Apologize, Excuse me, I’m sorry |
Vocab - Misleading Kanjis
There are phrases like 携帯電話、電車、発見 that behaves and sound like its expected on Chinese language, as it is directly taken from it. The next set of phrases hit me hard, that the meaning is nothing like the Kanji.
| Phrase / Vocab | Kanji Literal Meaning | Actual Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 人参 | Ginseng | Carrot |
| 怪我 | Blame Me | Injury |
| 切手 | Cut Hand | Stamp |
| 皮肉 | Skin and Meat | Sarcasm |
Ok, maybe those phrases are acting weird. But there are some cases that the meaning are the literal opposite of the Kanji meaning itself!
| Vocab | Kanji Literal Meaning | Actual Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 留守 | Stay put | Absent, not present |
| 謝る | Thanks | Apologize |
| 今度 | This time | Last / This / Next time |
The next time I encounter a new vocabulary, should I trust it…?
Vocab - Shared Pronunciations
Some pronunciations has various kanji representation, which can mean a lot of different things. It’s up to the listener to pick up the context to tie to:
| Pronunciation | Kanji & Meaning |
|---|---|
| かみ (kami) | 髪 - Hair, fur 神 - God 紙 - Paper |
| かわ (kawa) | 川 - River 革 - Leather 皮 - Skin |
| ようじ (youji) | 用事 - Issue & matters 幼児 - Infant, child 用字 - Character usage 洋字 - Latin alphabet |
I suppose it’s not difficult with the help of kanji (that’s why kanji is important, people) on reading, but try doing that on listening, especially when listening to podcast…
Grammar - Particle
Japanese is all about extracting subtleties on the sentences, so a good command on the Japanese grammar is mandatory to convey without misunderstandings. The most common set of grammar particle new learner will come across is は vs が. Take below phrase as example:
猫は可愛い。… ①
猫が可愛い。… ②
- In ①, は is used as topic marker, as talking about the topic in general. It can be understood as “Cats (in general) are cute”, as describing own opinion or facts
- in ②, が is used as subject marker for emphasizing. It can be understood as “Cats (is the one that) are cute”, as the speaker may be asked on which animal exactly they think its cute.
As you may see, in English we may have to use more words to describe the nuances, but in Japanese, a change in particle will do the job nicely.1 2
Grammar - Inflections
When talking about vocab inflections, I suppose that it is not too different from what is seen on English vocabulary suffixes, but there is more to it. Below I had chosen a “Group 2”3 verb to illustrate this in a simple manner:
| Inflection | Examples | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 〜る | 食べる | To eat |
| 〜ている | 食べている | Eating |
| 〜ない | 食べない | Not Eat |
| 〜た | 食べた | Ate |
| 〜ろ | 食べろ | (Giving order, for example child) Eat! |
| 〜られる | 食べられる | Potential - able to eat Passive - Eaten by |
| 〜させる | 食べさせる | Ask … to eat |
| 〜れば ・〜たら | 食べれば | Conditional - If you eat / After you ate |
| 〜よう | 食べよう | Let’s eat |
And still, notwithstanding you can combine the negative tense, past tense to some of these inflections…
Katakana - Wait what was it again?
Ah of course,the dreaded Katakanas that sometimes takes its meaning from languages other than English, Company brands (I suppose that it’s not too different with Maggi = instant noodles, Tupperware = plastic container), and unexpected short forms.
| カタカナ | Source 4 | Actual Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| アルバイト | German “Arbeit” | Part time |
| コンビニ | Convenience Store | |
| カボチャ | Portuguese “Cambodia abóbora” | Pumpkin |
| ナビ | Navigation | GPS |
| ホッチキス | US company “Hotchkiss” | Stapler |
| シーチキン | Brand “Sea Chicken” | Canned tuna |
| パソコン | Personal Computer | PC |
| コンセント | Concent(ric Plug) | Wall plug, socket |
| アンケート | French “enquête” | Questionnaire, survey |
| パトカー | Patrol Car | Police Patrol car |
| マイカー | My Car | Personal vehicle |
| エステ | French “Esthetique” | Beauty Saloon |
Sentence structure - I have to read from the back?
Of course, not every sentence is read from the back, some have natural flow that which is expected:
新幹線は電車より速い - Shinkansen, compared to train is faster.
But then for below:
毎日コーヒーを飲みます - (I) drink coffee everyday ①
庭が狭くて植えるスペースがない - There’s no planting space due to small garden. ②
- In ①, I suppose you can translate to “Everyday, I drink coffee”, but that sounds a bit unnatural unless the daily routine is to be emphasized.
- In ②, I suppose you can translate to “As the garden is small, planting space is non-existent”. But often times in conversation, we will usually mention the result first, then only explain why that’s the case. This seems to be not common in Japanese writing, at least from my observation.5
I believe that studying Japanese is a way to broaden cultural views, and fresh perspectives on various worldviews. It’s fascinating to explore how expressions and idioms convey meaning in unique ways, often inspiring new ways of thinking. Here are some examples:
| Phrase / Vocab | Kanji Meaning (Perceived Meaning) | Actual Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 杓子定規 | Ladle as ruler | To be rigidly bound by rules; stubborn and inflexible |
| 顎が落ちる | Jaw dropped | To describe extraordinarily delicious food |
| 腕を磨く | Polishing, grinding one’s arm | To hone one’s skills |
| 手袋 | Hand, bag / cover | Glove, mitten |
| 有料休暇消化する | Digest paid leave | To utilize all of one’s paid leave |
| 臭いものに蓋をする | Cover up stinky things | To conceal scandals or unpleasant incidents |
| 腰を入れる | Put the waist in | To take a serious stance or commit fully |
| 腹を立てる | Straighten the stomach | To get angry, lose temper |
| 烏の行水 | Crow’s dip into water | To take a hurried bath |
Furthermore, Japan is a good country to travel to (to live long-term though… that might need a separate topic to consider). I find myself learning Japanese in order to get a feeling of the news reporting, watching anime, listening to podcasts and so on. It is something that interests me.
Who knows what the future might hold if I find myself able to network in Japanese circles?
Le me trying to cram all the languages that I know into the title.
-
This is a very simplified example of the grammar usage, both of the particles have multiple usage. ↩
-
Of course, sometimes Japanese can be very mouthful when describing a certain scenario, which other languages can express with ease. For example, “趣味はテニスすることです”, if literally translated means “(my) hobby is the act of doing tennis”. ↩
-
There are “Group 1”, “Group 3” verbs that have it’s own inflection rules, which is really another beast. My teacher says if you don’t master this, don’t expect to go far in your Japanese learning journey. ↩
-
Of course it can still be done with “植えるスペースがない、庭が狭いだから” ↩