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Japanese confusion.

SpokeLee   September 26th, 2010 7:20p.m.

I've been trying to create my own custom list using the ordering and mnemonics from kanjidamage.com but have been running into some issues.

For one, a bunch of words have (comp) written next to them and I can only study the writing for them. Another is I want to study the on and kun but can't find a way to add readings and the default seems to randomly be either on or kun. Like 一 has いち but notいつ or ひと. Can anyone help a brother out?

ジェレミー (Jeremy)   September 27th, 2010 3:53a.m.

I wouldn't study on/kun readings independently for each kanji, but rather words, and let everything fill itself in as you learn the readings as used in the words. studying readings imho is inefficient and boring :P

If it has comp written next to it, it is just the character and not an actual word (yet), (you can click "more results")

For instance, 休 isn't a word until it is in a word like 休み or 休む, etc,
that's not always the case when its a single kanji that is a word when by itself, like 靴, and then it wont say "comp" next to it (although you could use the "all results" to switch to the 'comp' version too, if one was inclined)

however it could also be used in other words too like 運動靴 and doesn't mean it has to be by itself

with the example you gave of not having いち or ひと、 it wouldn't be いち until its in 一倍、and wouldn't be ひと until its in 一つ、 so my recommendation is to add both of those Words if you need concentration on that kanji

(いつ if speaking of number is 五 when used in 五つ for instance、 although いち and ひと indeed are readings for 一)

hopefully that wasn't a ramble and was any amount of helpful

scott   September 27th, 2010 11:27a.m.

Yep, g1itch is exactly correct!

Just to clarify, "comp" is short for component. When you do add or choose components to be part of a list, the on and kun readings are hidden because they aren't as important to be seen in the general overview of the list, and they would add a lot of noisy text to the page, making the page harder to read. If you want to see the on and kun readings once you've saved the list you can click the word to see them in the popup.

We do not have on and kun readings and component definitions studied because, in our opinion too, it's not a good way to spend your time studying. The components are mainly for reference, as it's much better to study kanji in the context of words and sentences.

SpokeLee   September 27th, 2010 12:38p.m.

So just go by whatever reading is there just so I have a baseline? After I got to joyo kanji I was gonna do Genki then move on to readthekanji.com

Does this sound like a good plan of attack? Or should I just start with remembering the kanji with just the writing and keyword like on the list on this site and then move on with the rest of my plan?

ジェレミー (Jeremy)   September 28th, 2010 11:27a.m.

I would install something like "Rikaichan" plugin for firefox, and not do readthekanji.com, but rather something like http://coscom.co.jp/newsweather/news/index.html

Also, if you aren't already you should do the smart.fm core 2000

Anki(暗記)is your friend (and means 'commit to memory'), you can browse around to find decks that are suited for you

if you need viewing material,
the Japanese-Basic I&II videos by NHK are good,

And then besides all that add every word you are studying into Skritter, which makes it all come together, and make it *at least* 1/3 of your time spent studying

that would be my plan of attack! i wish i knew about skritter a long time ago

If you need mnemonics for a specific kanji you are having trouble with, http://kanji.koohii.com/ you can look up an individual kanji, and read mnemonics for it (useful once in awhile)

and WWWJDIC is a great dictionary for when you need to look up words http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/cgi-bin/wwwjdic.cgi

Top 3 resources::
1. Skritter
2. Anki
3. Smart.fm

ジェレミー (Jeremy)   September 28th, 2010 11:30a.m.

(deleted)

ジェレミー (Jeremy)   September 28th, 2010 11:32a.m.

also the free podcasts at japanesepod101 are good, but get extremely annoying

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