Second time around ... From 25 to 1 to 6

[larrydeluca]

I’m surprised by many things on the second time around.

1. I’m not moving quite as fast as I thought I would

2. 月gotchas - it seems がつ is when you’re referring to a specific month (even with gotchas - it seems がつ is when you’re referring to a specific month (even with 何月）but げつ when the month is a concept. Is this correct?)

3. Surprised at how much I’ve forgotten as well as the things I remember.

4. Cool thing - I recognize the radicals much more readily now, and it feels more like I’m “reading” the characters rather than memorizing thousands of pictograms.

5. I’m understanding the example sentences better (though I think they still move too quickly and would benefit from furigana (maybe even as a mouse-over?). Beyond the kanji, the sentences help with grammar and choosing the right reading (provided the sentence clues you in as to what that reading is).

6. My grammar has improved considerably.

Onward!

Larry

[sansarret]

@larrydeluca

月gotchas

Here is very lovely thread on the matter:

My nemesis, 月, and how to overcome his evil ways

So if anyone was around many years ago, they may (although probably not) remember that my wall of shame was ALWAYS plastered with some vocabulary word containing the 月 kanji. The reason for this was that I would always get mixed up between the readings がつ and げつ. Some lovely friends always made fun of me for it and yet no one at the time could give me any hints about how to recall which reading to use when. :’) WELL, when I was reintroduced to this vocabulary I shouted in agony. “Noooo! My nem…

[TofuMental]

@larrydeluca

I’m understanding the example sentences better (though I think they still move too quickly and would benefit from furigana (maybe even as a mouse-over?). Beyond the kanji, the sentences help with grammar and choosing the right reading (provided the sentence clues you in as to what that reading is).

A chrome plug in called Rikaikun does just this. You can also use it to cheat though so best to be careful in limiting it’s use.

[jake3456]

One gripe I have about the way WK formats its example sentences is that it uses a weird smattering of kana+kanji. Just as an example, it might write 富士山 as ふじ山. Obviously I know what Fujisan is, but if I didn’t, this presents me with two problems:

1. I’m not sure where the vocab word begins or ends. Which kana in the sentence are just kana and which are standing in for something usually written using kanji?
2. Which pronunciation do I use for the kanji? Without furigana and without it being highlightable as a vocab word, I’m left wondering, “Is this Fuji-san? Is it Fuji-yama? Is it Ji-san and the ふ is part of another word in the sentence?”