I wanted to study Japanese due to its innovative nature. While the Japanese characters, Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji, are partly derived from traditional Chinese characters, it developed its own unique set of grammar. The Japanese language is also continually embracing foreign words from numerous languages like English, Frech, and Português, etc. It fascinates me and inspires me to learn more about the Japanese language and culture, which is not easy but definitely an expedition worth seeking.
初 （はじ）めまして。私（わたし）はミンハンです。中国（ちゅうごく）から来（き）ました。私（わたし）はコロビア大学（だいがく）の四年生（よねんせい）です。日本語（にほんご）の一年生（いちねんせい）です。どうぞよろしくお願（ねが）いします。
Hi! It’s really interesting that you brought up that Japanese’s innovative design is what drew you into the language. I know many people shy away from it because of all the different characters sets you have to learn. However, I think the design is really well executed, and its ability to absorb other forms of communication speak to its flexibility and ingenious design. I was learning this week about how hiragana/katakana was developed during Heian period and it’s really interesting how it informed and was informed by Japan’s culture and national “essence”. I’d love to learn more about Japanese linguistics in the future!
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of what we talked about in class today, why tobacco is spelled in Hiragana rather that Katakana, and how it is a great example of the ways in which culture and history can influence language. I find these little adjustments to language resulting from some historical event, ongoing or not, to be really intriguing. Language is amazing, what a cool reason to study Japanese Minhan-san!
ReplyDeleteHi Minhan!
ReplyDeleteI love that you are exploring several languages through the lens of Japanese! I am always excited to see English words in our vocabulary to learn because, for me at least, I have a much easier time committing them to memory. Do you think learning Kanji will be difficult for you, since you know the characters already by another name? I am certainly envious of your ability to read Japanese, considering you can read the Kanji in Chinese and now you can read both Katakana and Hiragana. We should chat some more sometime! I would love to hear some stories from your life!
Best,
-アイザック・ルーミス
Hey Isaac! Thanks for your comments. Kanji indeed look similar to traditional Chinese characters with varying degrees of modification. Some Kanji characters and compounds share the exact same meanings with their Chinese counterparts, but others can be completely different. One of the interesting facts that I realize not too long ago is that some modern Chinese compounds, like 経済 (economy), 資本 (capital), 科学 (science), and 社会 (society), are actually borrowed from Japanese during late nineteen and early twentieth century. It's almost like the old teacher learning from her former student who grows to be independent and productive. It also reminds me of how the Japanese became such a robust language through constant learning and adapting. Anyway, I'll be happy to chat some more sometime!
DeleteThe origins of written Japanese used to be a fascination of mine - I wrote a final paper about them in college. Most new Japanese words are simply written in katakana. Nonetheless, I hope that if you find any new information about this topic that you'll share it with us!
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting comments.As you said Japanese are originated in some languages.
ReplyDeleteI may not understand the etymology of the word, even if a Japanese.
こんばんわ、ミンハンさん。This is really an interesting reason for studying Japanese. Many people may not realize it even after many years of study. いっしょにがんばりましょ。
ReplyDeleteHi Minhan! Your reason to study Japanese is astonishing - interest in innovative nature of the language. Does it mean that you are interested in learning the origins and development of language and characters? It makes my eye open in viewing language in a different perspective. Would love to follow your thoughts on Japanese.
ReplyDeleteAnd I can relate that learning a different language and culture is not an easy thing 😃.
頑張ってね！
I’m indeed interested in understanding the origin and development of languages. I was also hoping that learning Japanese would be a valuable supplement to my natural language processing (NLP) research project.
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