For People Who Make Vocabulary Cards

I make Campus Cards using this Smart Phone Label Printer from King Jim. Thought others may be interested. Right now, I am not so interested in handwriting Japanese, as I mostly want to read it. I found out, at age 49, that I am Autistic. It’s weird. Sometimes I feel so disconnected with myself after learning this at midlife. One of the things that many may not know about Autism is that it effects the motor skills of a person. Maybe recall the awkward kid in Elementary School that’s always picked last in everything. They’re often “fat thin,” too. We don’t tend to care about eating and generally have a habitual diet. Anyhow, this printer prints in a number of languages and makes studying much easier and quicker for me. Thought it may help other people.

King Jim Multi-Language Label Printer

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Sorry I am a bit slow in understanding new technologies :sweat_smile:
Do you actually print your cards on paper? And if so why? I also have a slight preference for “real” things but making Vocabulary cards was a bit tiring and in the end I use Anki now.

Must be quite a shock and at the same time a relief to find out about Autism at your age. I have the feeling, since the pandemic started, a lot of people in my surrounding also got a late diagnosis of something. Recently my older brother was diagnosed with ADHD and in hindsight a lot of things that where going on in my childhood make more sense (It seems my father, grandfather and some male relatives from his branch of the family also have that, but without being diagnosed). He is now trying to find a medication that helps him to concentrate better so sometimes I sneak- read the ADHD forum, but I don’t understand a word. :sweat_smile:

I would be interested to understand better how people with ADHD and Autism really feel and experience the world differently but maybe it is difficult for two humans to completely understand each others thoughts and experiences even without being diagnosed with something, which I came to think is a quite arbitrary classification anyway.

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I, myself, like the tactile feel of flipping a card over. That’s also part of Autism that is called “stimming,” for stimulating. We just like the feel of an actual paper. Often, autistic people will even carry a fuzzy blanket or sweater, just to feel something comfortable. It’s like getting a hug and makes us feel a little less alone.

My partner has ADHD. I live with it, yet much of what I still think about it is more of a stereotype than what my partner is. I think that each individual has an individual style to their ADHD. ADHD is on the Autism Spectrum, so there also may be similarities between your brother and I. Usually, they don’t have as many social problems as I do, but ADHD people can also be Autistic. Tony Attwood has a great book on Asperger’s, which is what ASD, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Level 1, is. Basically, we tend to have one person that can witness our meltdowns. When all our differences pile up and we cannot comprehend how to fix a social situation. Women don’t tend to have public meltdowns, but men often can and do, because it’s ok if they’re violent and abusive and get away with it. My dad used to always start projects, but take a long time finishing them. I also do something similar. Oh, and I will often start talking about things to my partner, like he lives in my brain. It’s comical. He will say to me, “context,” which just means I thought I was talking to him, but he ca’t really read my mind.

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Ah, ok thank you. I thought there might be a relation between actual paper cards and Autism but couldn’t really imagine what it is. So I guess you take the Campus Cards apart and print directly on them?

Definitely. In my family, at least with my grandfather, it is the “narcissistic personality disorder” type of ADHD and I didn’t meet other people so far who are like that other than my family. But it could be, that the symptoms show more to close family members than to friends or colleagues. My dad also always has projects, but they are often not really necessary, it seems he can’t stand the feeling of doing nothing in his interest range (that being said he never had time for anything outside his interest range :rofl:)

The Campus Cards are bound together with a ring that opens, but the printer prints on label tape. Basically, I’m taping the Kanji tape to the front of the card. My handwriting isn’t so bad that I cannot write Hiragana and Katakana legible enough that I can tell what it is. I have more trouble with the fine detail in the Kanji.


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Oh, and my dad, older brother, and one of my older sisters are also narcissistic and plain abusive. I don’t have children because I have trouble taking care of myself because I was taught to hate myself. Also, I don’t see any point in passing my Autism on, if it would only also get my children left out of things and preyed upon. Been unable to work for over eight years, since being a Whistleblower. My partner and I lost the house we were buying. It’s fun for others to pass abuse on and mostly sociopaths make it high up in companies. My mom and 3 of my 5 sisters probably had Autism. All my dad did to my mom was cheat on her and force her to have 7 children. I even wonder if she was forced to have me, which is quite a burden to bear when one is taught to hate themselves. Two of my older sisters are dead and the last one alive is certainly Autistic. She had an aneurysm in a very tricky place in her head. It was only after the surgery that she started behaving like she has Autism, which she was wonderful at covering up prior to the surgery. Honestly, many girls are never thought to be Autistic because we tend to mimic others in order to fit in. The thing with me is that I never tried, but when dealing with someone who I feel is abusing me, I just tell them exactly what I think of them. It’s not the best solution, but it is just me simply venting the abuse I get so often. I’d rather give it back to an actual asshole than to anyone that didn’t earn that kind of treatment. It’s just me “giving up” on life. I don’t believe that I can get out of abuse because I never have. Autistic people tend to not believe in things that they haven’t experienced. I’d have to seriously experience something good in order to feel better. The workplace is never set up to make workers feel good about themselves.

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The cards look nice. It’s definitely a good idea to learn vocabulary in this way because if the Kanjis are handwritten the proportions tend to be quite unbalanced usually especially when written on the vocabulary cards :sweat_smile:

Sorry to hear about your family. It looks as if they managed to damage your feeling of self worth quite a bit. What helps me sometimes when I cannot understand why these people are so cruel to me (and others) is to think about the fact, that narcissistic people actually are more damaged emotionally than their victims otherwise they wouldn’t act like this.

Thank you, for reminding me that my siblings aren’t taking care of themselves and simply pass on abuse. I often forget that I try to do better. I believe that being kept from work makes me more angry and just increases the damage over time that perpetuates for me and, much more important to me, my partner. It weighs so heavy on me because I feel that I just drag him down to my depths of ruin.

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It is so nice to know that somebody else makes cards. I make handwritten cards for kanji along the same sort of lines. Yours are much more professional. I find it useful to flip through them when I have a few spare moments particularly when a new batch is unlocked.
On the back mine have meaning and on reading, then I add the kun reading when it crops up in vocab.
Trouble is I think I am the only person that could read them!

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That’s wonderful to hear that someone else makes actual cards. I, too, add more information to my cards like the on’yomi and kun’yomi readings. Recently, I am very pleased to see the usage notes that have been added to the vocabulary section. For me, I wanted to offer a solution to try to help people that want their cards to be more useful. As I learned only last year that I’m Autistic, I thought there also must be other people in a similar situation. If I can help anyone not have as difficult of a time in life as I have, that’s what I want to do. May we all experience relief and kindness. Thank you for studying. It’s great for your brain :brain:

We all have our own problems when learning something new. My problem is that I can remember meanings but have great trouble with readings. If the kanji are nouns I can get it as I relabel objects in japanese. Mostly in my head but I sometimes put actual labels on them. My family is very amused.
My son is autistic so I have some understanding of your challenges.
I think my major problem is an old brain full of too much stuff.

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I wish I had some kind of trick to tell you. Using my new-found knowledge that I am Autistic, I make a mental picture. For instance, one of my current words is 強力 (きょうりょく; strong, strength, powerful). I picture this Pokémon:


And shout the reading at him in my head. Maybe I should start making some dance for them and get a little more exercise?

One of the things I have always tried to do is see a picture in the Kanji. Often the radical components help but if they do not I try to find an image within the kanji that I can relate the meaning to. I am quite a visual learner. The difficulty is linking the readings to this.
For me it is all about making connections. Oh and endless repetition.

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How would that look like?

That’s one thing that I am seriously thankful for with regards to updates that were made to WaniKani. The extra study and the usage notes are very helpful. I love that I can do them as often as I want.

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