omg no! don’t stress yourself out like that anon!!

okay, i’m going to be real with the japanese language learning community: you all are doing waaaaaaaay too much when it comes to kanji.

there. i said it.

learning kanji does not have to be a headache!

i spent the first 6 months of my japanese learning “career” (for lack of a better word) trying to figure out the best way to learn kanji because every website and book was like “here’s the kunyomi, here’s the onyomi, now learn them both” but the fine print of that learning method says “you’re going to f*cking struggle”

but then i started realizing that kanji i read all of the time, i didn’t even “properly” study like those articles said. i didn’t know the kunyomi and onyomi for 行 for ages, but i knew it was read いく in 行く and こう in words like 旅行 and 直行. because i learned those words in context and on their own.

a few months after i came to japan, i started asking japanese people how they learned kanji and every single one of them answered the same way: they learn through vocabulary. i once asked my boyfriend how he learned kanji in grade school, and he said that they were basically given a kanji, and then they were given a list of vocabulary that included that kanji. they then memorized the vocabulary and grew to know the kunyomi and onyomi readings.

which, spoiler: kunyomi and onyomi is not always an accurate measure. lots of compounds use the kunyomi, some of them add dakuten (as in ちゅうごく instead of ちゅうこく in 中国), and others add っ (as in ちょっこう instead of ちょこう in 直行). this really isn’t something you can just magically guess.

but it’s important to remember that everyone learns differently. i don’t learn individual kanji – i learn kanji within various vocabulary words. i make sure to get as much exposure to the various ways a single kanji can appear within a larger compound, so 高 is not just a single kanji, but it is 高い and 高校生 and 高価.

i do, however, think it’s important to understand the meaning of a kanji. this can help you decipher the meaning of a word you don’t know yet. for example, 高価 (こうか) means “high price.” 高 means high and 価 means price. knowing their meaning individually can help decipher the meaning.

in this way you can argue that yes, knowing the individual readings of these two kanji makes guessing the reading of this word easier, but 価 can also be read “ke"! you can’t guarantee an accurate reading all of the time, but with more and more exposure to individual kanji, you will be able to tell.

which brings me to my main point: learning kanji is an individual experience. i, personally, think that learning onyomi and kunyomi readings for 2,000+ jouyou kanji is a HUGE WASTE OF TIME, but there are a lot of people out there that do this methodically and know lots and lots of kanji and vocabulary. i, personally, need kanji in a larger vocabulary word in order for it to stick, and my brain just catalogues the various readings away. that’s how my brain works and learns, but it’s not how everyone else works and learns. 

it’s important to find what works for you.

that being said, if you’re just starting out i highly recommend Jakka. it’s a website meant for japanese grade school teachers and has tons of grade school kanji material broken up into their appropriate grades. japanese school children are expected to learn and master a certain amount of kanji + vocabulary each grade level, so if you’d really like to learn like a child, learn like the school children do! (the website is in japanese but fairly simple to navigate.)

1. Something is about to happen or just started happening These are usually very brief statements ending with 了

下雨了 (Xiàyǔ le) It’s raining Meaning the rain just started or someone just noticed it’s raining. The change in the situation is that before it didn’t rain but now it does.

上课了 (Shàngkè le) Class is beginning, let’s start the class

快放假了 (Kuài fàngjià le) Vacation starts soon

2. Something has happened - 了after whole sentence

你吃了吗? (Nǐ chī le ma?) Have you eaten?

吃了 (Chī le) Yes I have. This is a very common and casual way for the Chinese to greet each other instead of 你好 (nǐhǎo).

我回来了 (Wǒ huílai le) I’m back, I have returned

我买新的裤子了 (Wǒ mǎi xīn de kùzi le) I have bought new pants

3. After something has happened - 了 after verb

下了课 (Xià le kè) After class is over

回了来 (huí le lái) After returning

买了新的裤子 (Mǎi le xīn de kùzi) After buying new pants This indicates you are telling something more about what happened. You could also replace 了 with 以后 (yǐhòu) which means after

下课以后 (Xiàke yǐhòu) After class is over

回来以后 (Huílai yǐhòu) After returning

买新的裤子以后 (Mǎi xīn de kùzi yǐhòu) After buying new pants

🌻 Describing People:

1. Physical appearance

aguichant- enticing, alluring avachi- limp, sloppy, baggy baraqué- well-built bizarre- strange boursouflé- bloated bronzé- tanned chétif,-ive- weak, sickly débraillé- untidy, sloppy dépenaillé- unkempt douteux, -euse- doubtful, dubious, questionable élancé- slim frêle- frail, fragile grand- tall grassouillet, ette- plump gros, grosse- fat hâlé- tanned insolite- unusual, quirky maigre- skinny mignon- nice, sweet mince- slender musclé - brawny, muscular nerveux- nervous, upset pâle- pale potelé- plump (like a baby) rabougri- wizened, shrivelled séduisant - attractive, charming, seductive

2. Character

abruti- idiotic acariâtre- sour, bad-tempered antipathique- unfriendly anodin- harmless astucieux, euse- clever, astute, shrewd atone- lifeless, expressionless avisé- sensible, wise borné- narrow-minded (“bornez-vous!” limit yourself) braillard- describes someone who complains a lot brave- good, honest, brave candide- naive, ingenuous, innocent, trusting casanier,-iere- homebody, home lover compassé- starchy, stiff compliqué- complicated; fussy (e.g. about food) compréhensif,-ive-  understanding dépravé- perverted dévoyé- perverted difficile- difficult distrait- absent-minded, distracted drôle- funny ennuyeux,-euse- boring évolué- broad-minded, independent, progressive exigeant- demanding extraverti- extrovert faiblard- weak, feeble fainéant- lazy, idle falot- dreary, bland farfelu- eccentric, bizarre franc- candid futé- cunning, smart guindé- stiff, awkward imprévisible- unforeseeable juste- fair lunatique- temperamental maladroit- clumsy mal commode- bad-tempered malicieux,-euse- mischievous, naughty malin- cunning malveillant- malicious, malevolent, spiteful maniaque- finicky, fussy marrant- funny; odd maussade- gloomy, sullen méchant- malicious, nasty méfiant- distrustful, suspicious méprisant- contemptuous, disdainful névrosé- neurotic perspicace- perceptive, insightful primesautier-iere- impulsive rébarbatif -ive- hostile, off-putting renfrogné- sullen replié sur soi-meme- introverted, withdrawn rusé- cunning sage - well-behaved, good saugrenu - absurd sensé- sensible sensible- sensitive sérieux,-euse- serious, responsible susceptible- touchy, sensitive, delicate sympathique- nice, friendly terre-á-terre- down-to-earth tordu- warped, twisted travailleur-euse- hard-working

3. Mood

accablé- distressed admiratif, -ive- admiring affolé- in a panic amer, -ere -bitter assoupi- drowsy béat- blissfully happy; smug, complacent cafardeux,-euse- in the dumps débordé (de travail)- snowed under (with work) décontracté- relaxed détendu- relaxed découragé- disheartened, discouraged dépité- vexed désemparé- distraught, at a loss effaré (de)- alarmed (at) énergique- energetic enthousiaste- enthusiastic gai- cheerful bien ententionné- well-intentioned lointain- distant mélancolique- gloomy navré- sorry, apologetic, upset paumé- lost, at sea ravi -delighted surpris- surprised tendu- tense vanné- exhausted vexé- annoyed

🌿 Describing ideas or events

1. Positive alléchant - tempting, mouth-watering attendrissant- touching bénéfique- beneficial commode- convenient cocasse- funny, comical conforme (á)- conforming (with) convenable- fitting, acceptable, respectable déroutant - disconcerting détaillé - comprehensive, detailed distinct - separate, distinct équitable - fair excellent - excellent, first-rate formidable - fantastic fulgurant - dazzling, thundery grave - serious honnête - decent hors pair - exceptional impeccable - great, without flaws important - important marrant - funny merveilleux - marvellous parfait - perfect passionnant - exciting percutant - powerful, striking, forceful primordial - of prime importance propice - favorable, suitable raisonnable - reasonable rarissime - extremely rare recherché - much sought-after, studied réconfortant - comforting réjouissant - delightful rentable - profitable, financially viable réussi - successful, well-done sagace - sagacious sage - wise sensationnel - sensational spontané - spontaneous subtil - subtle surprenant - surprising véridique - truthful

1．木漏れ日(こもれび): sunlight filtering through the trees

⒉ 眠い(ねむい): sleepy

⒊ 愛(あい): Love

⒋ 永遠(えいえん): eternity

⒌ 小雨(こさめ): light rain

⒍ 忘れる(わすれる): to forget

⒎ 雲(くも): clouds

⒏ 守る(まもる): to protect

⒐ 苦節(くせつ): unswerving determination (my current username!)

⒑ 強さ(つよさ): strength

11. 翼(つばさ): wings

12. 微笑む(ほほえむ): to smile

13. 繰り返す(くりかえす): to repeat

14. 彼方(かなた): beyond

15. 天使(てんし): angel

16. 声(こえ): voice

17. 夕闇(ゆうやみ): twilight, dusk

18. 朝顔(あさがお): morning glory

19. 太陽(たいよう): sun

20. 覚える(おぼえる): to remember

21. 花(はな): flower

22. 世界(せかい): the world

23. 蝶々(ちょうちょう): butterfly

24. 遠く(とおく): far away

25. 聞こえる(きこえる): to be heard

26. 足跡(あしあと): footprints

27. 消える(きえる): to disappear

28. 朝(あさ): morning

29. 温もり(ぬくもり): warmth

Cake tin - (la) tortiera

Coffee pot - (la) caffettiera

Double boiler - (la) pentola per la cottura al vapore

Espresso coffee maker - (la) moka

Fryer - (la) friggitrice

Frying pan - (la) padella per friggere

Grill pan - (la) griglia

Lid - (il) coperchio

Mould - (lo) stampo

On-Off swich - (l’) interruttore

Oven-proof dish - (la) pirofila

Pot - (la) pentola

Pressure cooker - (la) pentola a pressione

Roasting pan - (la) teglia

Saucepan - (la) casseruola

Spout - (il) beccuccio

Spring form - (la) tortiera apribile

Vegetable streamer - (il) cestello per la cottura a vapore

i am a certified Chinese Person™ here to help you with conversational Chinese because people in China are less likely to try to rip you off if you can speak the language. If anyone more fluent in Chinese than I am wants to make corrections or add on, feel free to do so!

咖啡店 -  kā fēi diàn

茶店 - chá diàn - tea shop

咖啡 - kā fē - coffee

茶 - chá - tea

冰茶 - bīng chá - iced tea

绿茶 - lü chá  - green tea 

tip: use v to type ü when using pinyin on an american keyboard

黑茶 - hēi chá - black tea

珍珠奶茶 - zhēn zhū nǎi chá - pearl milk tea/boba tea/bubble tea

水 - shuǐ - water

可乐 - kě lè - (not really cafe related) coca cola

大/中/小 dà/zhōng/xiǎo- large/medium/small

(牛) 奶 - (níu) nǎi - milk

the word  牛 is not always necessary unless you want to specify that it is cow’s milk, not a different dairy product

(蜂) 蜜 - fēng mì - honey 

the word  蜂 is not always necessary unless you want to specify that it is honey from a bee

糖 - táng - sugar

杯子 - bēi zi - cup

勺子 - sháo zi - spoon

餐巾纸 - cān jīn zhǐ - napkin

桌子 - zhuō zi - table

椅子 - yǐ zi - chair

热 or 烫 - rè or tàng - both mean hot

凉 - liáng - cold

冷 (lěng) also means cold but is usually not used when referring to food unless it’s frozen

喝 - hē - drink

渴 - kě - thirsty

those two characters look really similar right? you can remember it because you drink with your mouth and  喝 has a 口 (mouth) in it, and when you’re thirsty you want water so  渴 has the water side thing (sorry I don’t know the English word for it)

请 - qǐng - please

对不起 - duì bu qǐ - excuse me, sorry

if all else fails…

我不会说中文 - wǒ bu huì shuō zhōng wén - I don’t know how to speak Chinese

我不懂中文 - wǒ bu dǒng zhōng wén - I don’t understand Chinese

requested by anon

die Literatur – the literature

die Analyse – the analysis

der Aufsatz – the essay

die These – the thesis

das Thema – the topic

die Einleitung – the introduction / introductory paragraph

der Hauptteil – the body of the essay

der Schlussteil – the concluding paragraph

der Abschnitt – the paragraph

der Absatz – a break in the text

das Zitat – the quote

zitieren – to quote

die Zusammenfassung – the summary

die Interpretation – the interpretation

die Deutung – the interpretation

interpretieren – to interpret

deuten – to interpret

etw. falsch deuten – to misinterpret sth.

die Schlussfolgerung – conclusion

das Erscheinungsdatum / Erscheinungsjahr – the date / year of publication

der Roman – the novel

die Kurzgeschichte – the short story

die Novelle – the novella

die Erzählung – the story or narrative (as a genre usually a short story)

das Gedicht – the poem

die Fiktion – the fiction

das Sachbuch – the non-fiction book

die Prosa – the prose

der Autor / die Autorin – the author

der Verfasser / die Verfasserin – also author, but fancy

die Figur – the character in the text

der Charakter – the character (as in personality)

die Persönlichkeit – the personality (but can also mean a famous / renowned person)

die Entwicklung – the development

der Schauplatz – the scene or setting

die Handlung – the plot

die Rahmenhandlung – the overall plot or setting of the text

die Binnenhandlung – the smaller plots inside the main plot, usually centered around single characters

die Szene – the scene

die Rolle – the role

die Gesellschaft – the society

das Motiv – the motive

der Erzähler – the narrator

Street Findings

i’ve seen a few different posts floating around recently about the best ways to memorize characters and, while i do think they contain some good ideas, not everyone learns the same way, so i just wanted to add my two cents 

1. have the right amount of words to work with

usually when you come across vocab lists there’s anywhere from 5 to 30 words on that list. what i’ve found out from experience is that it can be easier to learn new vocab when you divide them into lists of a more manageable length. for me, this is 10 words (if i’m in a time crunch and need to learn a bunch of words then i’ll occasionally push it up to 15 but that’s rare). for you, it might be 5 or it might be 15. it’s really about finding how many words work for you.

i say this first because i’ve found that if i have too many words i’m trying to learn in one go, it’s harder for me to memorize all of the words. 

1. b. have a decent foundations in radicals

before i get to my actual learning methods, i want to include this quick tip. one thing that really helps me with memorizing characters (as well as writing new characters for the first time) is being familiar with radicals. when i say “being familiar” with radicals, i don’t mean learning every single radical and its meaning and its pronunciation all at once. instead, i recommend just scrolling through a list of the most common radicals like this one from hackingchinese.com and looking at the usage examples. 

the longer you learn mandarin, the more familiar you’ll get with radicals but if you’re just a beginner don’t worry too much. i make this suggestion because characters become way less daunting when you’re able to visually break it down into smaller components. once you do that, it’s easier to piece the character together in your memory later.

also, if you want to use a physical dictionary you’ll have to be able to recognize what a character’s radical is bc that’s how you look characters up if you don’t have the pronunciation. so it’s just useful all around

2. write it out

so once i’ve got my list of words i want to learn, my next step is to write the list out. for me, this can range from something as simple as writing just the characters on a post-it note to writing the words, pinyin, and meaning down in an actual notebook. if i do write pinyin and meaning this is the format i use:

我 I, me,  wo3

你 you ni3

i keep the pinyin away from the character so i can try and remember the pronunciation as i read through the list later.

once i’ve done that, i start writing the characters over and over. i do not, however, just do one word at a time 

instead, i do a handwritten spaced repetition method i learned a while back. so i’ll start with an example list: 富，说，受，会，剩. when i go to write this is what i’ll do:

i’ll write the first character/word (富) 3 times. then i’ll write the second character/word (说) three times. then i go back and write the first character once, then the second character. after this i write the third character (受) three times. then i write the first, second, and third characters one time each. and i keep cycling through like this until i finish the list. 

with the example characters i listed, it would look like this: 富富富 说说说 富 说 受受受 富 说 受 会会会 富 说 受 会 剩剩剩 富 说 受 会 剩 

(another way to demonstrate it is to use letters, so: AAA BBB A B CCC A B C DDD A B C D EEE A B C D E FFF A B C D E F GGG A B C D E F G…)

if you prefer to practice just one word at a time, then go for it! i just personally prefer this method because it helps me more than any other method i’ve tried.

3. flashcards

i rarely, if ever, use flashcards to memorize the actual character. instead, i use flashcards to help cement the pronunciation and definition in my mind.

i’ll usually make my flashcard sets on quizlet by consolidating a few vocab lists so i have 25 to 30 words in each set. i put the character on the front of the card, and then the pinyin and meaning on the back once i make the set i’ll just review it a couple times in a row. after that i just come back to it every so often and run through the cards a couple times.

bonus: find example sentences 

if you want extra reading practice, look for example sentences that contain these words. i just think it’s a fun way to learn how the word is used in context.

DRUG VOCAB (NSFW // CW for Drugs, obviously)

大麻 ( dà má ) - Weed 卷烟纸 ( Juǎn yān zhǐ ) - Papers 烟斗 ( yān dǒu ) - Pipe 水烟斗 ( shuǐ yān dǒu ) - Bong 嗨了( hāi le ) // 飞了( fēi le ) - Stoned 挂了( guà le ) - Fucked up

K粉( K fěn ) - Ketamine 摇头丸 ( yáo tóu wán ) - Ecstacy 可卡因 ( kě qiǎ yīn ) - Coke 冰毒 ( bīng dú ) - Meth 迷幻剂 ( mí huàn jì ) - LSD

Pakistan by @aabbiidd. (Part II)

1) Flore de la Mer (Flora of the Sea).

2) Anemones de Mer (Sea Anemones)

3) Annélides ( Annelids )

4) Crustaces (Crustaceans)

Illustrations taken from ‘Le Monde de la Mer’ by Alfred Fredol.

Published 1866 by L. Hachette.

Wellcome Library.

archive.org