The Fugu That Broke The Camel's Back (Why I'm quitting WaniKani)

I actually thought ある in kanji wasn’t really used because I never learned it after a few years of learning Japanese but since I learned it, I see it quite a lot when I read books or articles

Asahi Shimbun

So it’s not only interesting to learn from which kanji words come from, it’s also useful :blush:

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I think that’s spot on and a really great post.

Computer games are another contender; especially something like Sekiro. You see 忍具 a million times, it might not be common in conversations but it’s definitely common in this game.

Another benefit is that Japanese people/teachers get really impressed when you know obscure words! Even if it is 可笑しい日本語 you at least have a laugh and then they provide more common alternatives.

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This isn’t an airport, you don’t need to announce your departure :wink:

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Yeah, the same thing happens when I use technical or literary words in French while in France. I think we’re all pleasantly surprised and impressed as native speakers when a learner of our language knows something rare, even if it’s something we ourselves don’t know. If nothing else, it’s a pretty fun way to keep a conversation going and pique someone else’s interest in you, and generally gives others a good impression (unless, of course, you’re intentionally using words that are rude or sound pompous).

PS: I didn’t know that おかしい could be written as 可笑しい. I probably looked up the kanji form exactly once, and I never saw it again, so I didn’t remember it. Thanks!

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I think it gets used in stickers occasionally to help save space. I feel like I’ve seen it on Line ones.

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It’s not always a guarantee that a Japanese person would actually know those particular fish too. A Japanese friend suggested trying a highly recommended nice local restaurant, so we went, sat down, looked at the menu, and she said, “I don’t even know what half of this is.” It was mainly local fish in their specific kanji names. She was able to ask what the taste and texture was like though at least.

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Baader-Meinhof phenomenon is really strong with WK.

First time I’ve seen 案内 I thought to myself, “this word makes no sense, good thing I probably won’t be seeing it around much”. Ever since, there hasn’t been a week that I haven’t encountered this word in the wild.

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Fair enough, and I mean, I’m not surprised: there are those scarfs/cloths for tourists covered in fish kanji, and I think there are at least twenty different ones. However, what I wanted to say was that it’s definitely not pointless to know these kanji. At the very least, knowing a few of the most common ones 鮨 for sushi, 鮪 for tuna and 鮭 for salmon (I didn’t know this last one until a second ago) could be the difference between spotting a sushi restaurant and easily getting some standard fare, and just being completely unaware. Also, I raised the fact that I was in Tokyo because… well, where else are you going to get dishes that are fairly well known and probably not local, if not in the capital city? If you encounter obscure fish kanji in the capital city, which is full of tourists and travellers, then it’s all the more likely you’ll encounter them elsewhere as well.

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I’m pretty sure I don’t know half the words for various fish even in my native language, let alone English or Japanese. But I wouldn’t think it weird to find them in a language course, and definitely wouldn’t justify quitting because of them.

Memory and brain are constantly optimized. If you don’t use the words you learned they’ll eventually fade, and in my opinion since you don’t know they will, there’s no real disadvantage to just tossing in everything and seeing what sticks.

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I have feelings this post is a troll.

Otherwise, I think when someone worked and lived in Japan for 20 years, they are more than enough skills to hold a conversation or reading materials. Maybe that’s why there’s no feeling of euphoria learning in Wanikani. Anyway, good luck with your decision!

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I long for my humble abode.

I think this is an odd way of saying homesick but everyone would understand…right? :thinking: Lol

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I didn’t mean to imply otherwise. I just thought it was funny to have had a similar yet dissimilar language barrier experience. :slight_smile:

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Well at least in that case it’s apparent why it’s here - there’s articles on Tofugu raving about it, since it’s Cat Island. Or at least, there were articles, though I haven’t checked lately if they’re still there.

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Hahaha. I guess it is. (Tone doesn’t always carry well through text, huh? :sweat_smile:)

Well, at the least, I guess it’s quite reassuring when even a native friend is a little lost: it shows us at once that there’s always more to learn, and that even so, it’s OK not to know everything. :slight_smile:

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I know the names of common fish in English but if someone’s talking to me and they happen to mention a fish I don’t know, I can simply ask what does it taste like. Learning the names of fish (in any language) doesn’t interest me one bit. If I go to Japan and see a bunch of kanji for fish at a restaurant I wouldn’t feel bad about not knowing how to read it or what they mean.

Why? Because I don’t care about fish Lol. I would be able— however— to talk to the waiter/waitress about fugu because I learned it in WK :slight_smile:

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Fish. They all taste like fish.

Well, the sneaky trick is that they all have 魚 as a radical. さば, さけ, うなぎ, さめ, かつお, くじら, かじか, いわし

Though, uh, I guess not 河豚. Or, uh, 穴子…

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Surprisingly, I think I managed to understand quite a lot of this :sweat_smile:
What is the name of this book?

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It’s 天冥の標 1. I really recommend it if you like SF!

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I hope you will come back soon.

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