Hey guys! Anyone else have problems with these? They’ve been hanging around like a bad smell for what feels like forever! For some reason I just can’t wrap my head around them. Everything else I’ve encountered in these first 10 levels has given me very few problems. This however… ARRRRGGGGHHHH!
Gaaaaaahhhhhh!!
What exactly are you struggling with?
Is it that you get them confused with one another?
Haha, sorry - I wasn’t very clear. It was written with rage in my heart clouding my judgement as to whether or not I was making sense in my post. My head just scrambles up the mnemonics of them - radicals about ‘leader cemonies’ and ‘body of the leader wearing a tie’ and so on. I don’t really know what it is. Something just will not click with these for me.I don’t have this problem with anything else I’ve encountered in the first ten levels. Just these! I needed a rant I think.
I do get them confused with each other, yeah. I might just accept that these are here to stay for all sixty levels haha.
When I’m struggling with kanjis that look the same for me (e.g., 失、矢、天、夫、末、未… seriously these kanjis almost destroyed my life), I write them in a post-it and tag it on my computer screen so I can see it everyday. At some point, you wont need to look at it anymore. It may help with 一生、一代 as they have close meaning.
Haha no worries. I’ve had similar troubles in the past and I agree, it can be quite frustrating.
But! You have already taken the first step that I’d suggest - complaining about it!
I’ve found that when I’m stuck on something and I get mad at it, I complain about it to someone and just that sometimes seems to help me get it right the next time.
Other than that, try modifying the mnemonics to help you remember them better. Maybe add to them or change them completely in a way that will help you distinguish them from one another.
OMG these three make me so mad. When it comes to the meaning I just write down “lifetime” for each one and get it right but still have no idea what the actual distinction is between the words themselves; when is one appropriate to use above the other and what the connotations of each is.
I feel you with 一代… not the pronunciation, but the meaning. I insisted in writing “one generation”, which is… not exactly it. It took me AGES for the correct meanings to be stuck in my head.
一体 is a funny one. But, if you watch any anime, you’ll hear it screamed over and over, or muttered dramatically. It’s THAT “ittai”, that made it easy to remember at least for me.
文字
文学
Are the ones I just messed up on my review.
I do also get 一生 and 一代 mixed up.
Don’t worry. You will be seeing 学 and 字 A LOT. So you will naturally tell these apart pretty quickly.
For 一代, I remember it as “generation” rather than lifetime, I know wanikani gives them both as synonyms. 代 is used in other words involving times or periods so I feel like “generation” just fits better that way.
一生 since it is the kanji for “one” and “life” I remember it as “a lifetime” or “one existence” rather than something like a generation or age as wanikani also lists.
Maybe thinking of them like that will help distinguish the two.
As for 一体, I have no tips other than what ApathyAunt said, you end up hearing it A LOT in anime / manga / dramas; if you can imagine a character exclaiming it, it has more of a harsh sound than the other two.
I’m about the same level. Every kanji mentioned in this post drives me crazy. Still, I’m dedicated to this learning of kanji, so it really doesn’t matter.
Agree with this. Drop the “one” so far easier to remember - “generation”, “lifetime”, “what on earth”.
I roll over with rikaigu or look up in a dictionary for any meanings I don’t like or if I know it’s similar to something else (sometimes a good thing). I also like to add a synonym for the meaning I know it as if it’s slightly different or something I know I will type at a later date.
I also like to look up in different books for better/different mnemonics or further explanation of meanings.
I had problems with 一代 and 一生. Not sure why you mix 一本 with those tho but i learned counters from elsewhere so maybe that’s why.
Im not sure if im even on right track here but this is how i see difference between these life words even they kind of overlap.
I think 一代 like life in that means life of generations. Like family saga and individual is just substitute actor in this story for his lifetime. Like life is just part of chain of lives and things that last and benefit next generations are maybe more important than things like if he was nice or happy during his/hers life.
I see 一生 more like life where individual aspect is more present. More like i as western citizen see meaning of one’s life.
Things like if he was happy or funny or liked to fish or post cat pictures on forums. Like viewpoint of this life is more from individuals point of view.
This at least helps me to tell this apart even if my interpretation of words might be off.
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