I often have trouble making out the more complex kanji, furigana, and dakuten when reading. Sometimes it is actually helpful - for example, when I’m pretty sure I know the readings of the kanji. I can double check with the tiny, blurry furigana and sorta confirm I’m right.
But, really, how do you read these things? Does it just get easier over time as you get stronger with the kanji and context and so forth? Or should I invest in one fo those magnifier glass bookmarks?
I also have some trouble with that if it’s really tiny text - if I can’t get them at all and I have no clue about the kanji, I draw the kanji into my dictionary app.
But yeah, I do think you sort of get used to it and eventually deciphering those little smudges will get a bit easier. I’m thinking of various old ds games that use kanji, but don’t really have the space for them, and yet somehow Japanese people (and, I’m sure, learners with enough exposure) are able to accurately read them.
I assume it’s similar to how our brain makes connections with words written in the Latin alphabet. We don’t really read words letter by letter but recognize the general shape, so long as the first and last letter are there.
So, I do believe in time the same will happen with Japanese characters. So long as some identifying parts are, well, identifiable, the brain will eventually learn how to utilize them.
My child had some sort of “science” kit she didn’t want any more, so I liberated the little magnifying glass, and keep it in my pencil case specifically for double checking furigana and tiny dodgy handwritten kanji.
I had a similar problem, now I wear glasses because it turns out I thought my eyesight was fine and it wasn’t, so maybe yeah actually see an optometrist if you haven’t.
On the other hand, if you’re already wearing glasses, it might be time to give them a clean! (Not that I’d know from personal experience, why would anyone think that?)
Oh man, this. My partner drives me nuts with how filthy hers get where I’m wiping mine down on the hour. What’s the point in a device to aid vision If they’re constantly smudgy and dirty…