Spelling mishaps

Japanese Language Questions
1

Continuing the discussion from Active recall for Writing:

I don’t know about anyone else, myself, I have found that I recognize the kanji and the vocabulary reasonably well, most of the time that is. What I do mess up most often is, the spelling. For some reason the “U” extension and the “Tsu” . I make large, and it’s supposed to be small, and the other way around. I’ve read a few of the Tofugi articles, like dropped vowels and such, along with the different counting methods - I get wrong often enough. Though I do use Jisho, (on my phone) rather useful for me. “it takes pictures, records voice and I can draw the kanji I see, etc. and it gives me the readings and other such things” rather handy. If anyone has suggestions, I’m open for trying something new. :face_with_peeking_eye:

2

What is your question?

3

I also don’t quite know what you are asking, but if you’re wondering about how to improve spelling in vocabulary cards in WK, you should use the recorded audio whenever you misspell a card. Try and hear what is different between what you wrote and what is said.

For me in the case of spelling changes for compound words, I also like to have little pet theories about why the correct spelling is correct. Like 出発 “could” be しゅつはつ, but instead it is しゅっぱつ, so I might try saying しゅつはつ and trying to hear why it “sounds wrong” and think about the frame of mind that might be necessary to “correct” it to しゅっぱつ

4

I teach English as a second language, and spelling and reading are two of the most difficult parts of learning. Most of my students have Spanish as their first language, which is very phonetic. It’s hard even with the same alphabet, so it’s not surprising that learning to write with a different alphabet is harder.

If you are struggling with long and short vowels, it will take time. Listening is a great strategy, but I find that for me, writing the words out by hand helps my memory a lot more (though I usually just do this when learning words). If it’s a concern for you, develop a routine of saying and writing the reviews you get wrong x number of times. Just remember that spelling with katana and hiragana is still massively easier than English spelling! (I would rate kanji as much more difficult than English spelling because of the sheer number of characters, though!)

5

i’m guessing here, but if the actual thing you are struggling with is remembering the right quirks to placate the IME (in other words, if things like “ku vs. kuu” for the long う or “tsu vs. xtsu” for the small っ are causing problems more than your actual recognition of the spelling), then…

well, me personally, i really hate using an IME with an english keyboard. i Do Not Like typing in romaji as my base. so whenever i need to type something in japanese, i do it on my phone instead, where i can use a proper kana keyboard. bypassing romaji and spelling words in hiragana makes both spelling and reading significantly more intuitive for me. i would try it out if youre not already!

6

Like others here, I’m not quite sure what your question is. But if you are struggling to “spell” things correctly, you may want to make sure that you are understanding what the actual sound that is occurring is. In particular, I noticed that you said つ vs っ was an issue. Small っ indicates a double consonant, and does not sounds like つ. It is “silent,” and only modifies the character after it. WaniKani has a built in sound functionality, and if you are not already, I highly recommend listening to the kanji or word several times to understand what it sounds like. Unlike in English, Japanese words are typically spelled how they sound (in hiragana, anyway lol). The long vowels, like the う extension you mention, are also audible. It is extended because you are holding that vowel sound for longer.

I think that better understanding what the Japanese actually sounds like will help you with your spelling. Also, if you do not already have a solid grasp on hiragana you should try to get that under your belt as soon as possible. Fully understanding hiragana, and therefore the basis of sounds in Japanese, will help with spelling tremendously.

Additionally, do you type in romaji or with a Japanese kana keyboard? People may be able to give specific tips if you feel that it is more of a typing issue, rather than an issue of understanding.

7

I’ve only recently found the audio, the other settings I still have no idea about. You are right, I’ve not been listening to the actual pronounciation. So I’ll start doing that. Also I do use a standard romaji keyboard. I do know both kana already, although I may be speaking them poorly, an american sound. Honestly, I didn’t have a specific question, just wondered why is my spelling so often wrong. Are there more rules for writing? I’m still new at this, but am willing to learn from those who has done this process longer. thank you.

8

Since you’re using romaji, one tip I have for typing つ vs っ is that, rather than typing “xtsu” to get the small つ, you can actually type a double consonant. Of course, I’m not sure if you are already doing this, but in case you aren’t, or if anyone else sees this thread, I’ll explain down below.

Let’s take the word 切手, for example. The hiragana spelling is きって. On a romaji keyboard, you could type “ki xtsu te” into WanKani. BUT, you could also type “kitte.” And this is how the word actually sounds! Plus, there is no way to accidentally write a big つ. Typing that double consonant (tt) automatically adds a small っ.

Also, I know you already said you read some Tofugu articles. If you haven’t read their guide on Japanese pronunciation, you may want to do that. Alternately, finding a video on it may be more helpful tbh, as their article is decent but not necessarily my favorite.

If you haven’t heard of mora before, that may also be something to look into. This might help you understand long vowels, aka what you referred to as the “U” extension. Essentially, mora refers to the “beats” in a word. Each mora takes the same amount of time to pronounce. In the word さようなら for example, there are 5 moras, one for each character. You’ll notice the long vowel, よう. This still takes up 2 beats. It is distinct from さよなら, which only has 4 beats. The “U” extension isn’t a random spelling thing, it genuinely changes how the words sounds by changing the length of time you hold the vowel. I find that practicing words by slowly saying them out loud with the right rhythm helps me remember whether a word has a long vowel.

As for additional rules for writing, there isn’t anything that I can immediately think of, at least as it pertains to spelling. If you have any other specific issues you often experience or specific questions maybe you could list them out and folks here can try to explain? I hope this makes sense lol!