Japanese writing is renowned for its beautiful appearance. Kanji writing of Japanese characters is seen by many as works of art. There are special scribes who have been taught to write precisely and these are hung in homes around the world. They are enjoyed as precious pieces of dcor to make the home more beautiful. It has also become very popular to have your name written in Japanese characters. Japanese culture is famous for lifting minimalism to the heights of artistic achievement.
Their approach to everything, including Kanji writing is extremely simple. But it is this simplicity that gives each brush stroke a deeper meaning. Japanese culture favours tranquility, peace and simplicity. This philosophy is still clearly seen in modern Japan. This belief that simplicity is the best has been carried through into the ‘Kanji Supremacy’ course. This course is specifically aimed at people who want to learn to read Japanese. The language is not easy to learn if you speak English. This is because it sounds completely different to English. The writing also looks completely different to the English alphabet.
An important part of the ‘Kanji Supremacy’ course is learning to read Kanji writing. You will have access to a system that is very unique. It does not take a long time for you to get a hold on the reading. Most language learners believe they have to spend a lot of time learning to read and write a foreign language. They also believe it costs a lot of money because they have to attend classes. But the ‘Kanji Supremacy’ course is very affordable. It is also a package that you download. This means you are able to work through the course at home. The unique system of learning that enables you to read Japanese writing in only thirty days is enough to attract a great deal of interest.
Author: Lynn Gardner
Lynn Gardner is the director of popular blog LearnJapaneseOnlineNow.Com. She is an expert on the Japanese language and her blog contains stacks of information on things like how to read Japanese and more. Get free tips when you check out her blog today!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lynn_Gardner
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Language is a very complex mode of human communication. With hundreds of diverse languages in the world how possible would that be that a person from the east could bring bring a message across somebody in the west without distorting the real message? What if people who speak different tongues gather together trying to talk to one another? How chaotic could it get? Language translation may immediately pop-out to anyone’s head as an answer but it’s way beyond that.
Language translation is not a piece of cake. It’s quite dynamic and needs tons of expertise. The text to be translated is called the “source text,” and the language to be translated is called the “target language“.
A certain text can be perceived in hundreds of different ways. The primary goal of language translation is to interpret the meaning of a text to the equivalent text of another language. It is essential that the same message is communicated accurately.
Misinterpretation and misconception arise when the language translation is haphazardly done. There are translation services but it needs to be very efficient. Translation must take into account constraints. Here are some factors to consider in translating any language.
Context should be well-interpreted. The context of the source text should always be parallel to the target language.
The rules of grammar of the two languages should be overlooked. A single error in translating the tense of a message can distort the supposed meaning of the original text.
The writing conventions and the idioms of the languages are no second priority. An expression in a certain country differs from the other. What’s funny for a Japanese may be offensive to a spanish. Every single expression that will be translated is considered critical.
Another common misconception in translating is that there exists a simple “word-for-word” equivalent between any two languages. Translation is not a straightforward mechanical process. A word-for-word translation does not take into account context, grammar, conventions, and idioms.
Relevant resources are also necessary in order to translate efficiently.
There are also two criteria in determining the quality of language translation: fidelity and transparency. Fidelity or ‘faithfulness’ in translation is measured through the accuracy of the translated text, whether it render the meaning of the source text, without adding to or subtracting from it, without intensifying or weakening any part of the meaning, and importantly without distorting it.
The criteria used to judge the fidelity of a translation vary according to the subject, the precision of the original contents, function and use of the text, its social or historical context, etc.
On the other hand, judging the transparency in translation would appear more straightforward. It can be in the case of word-for-word translations generated by many machine-translation systems. This often results to a humorous and non-sense message.
Words are so powerful that a single mistake in translating them spells a big difference. Language is more than just words and phrases, it is a vehicle for communication understanding.
By: Hayley Davis
Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com
Language translation is here to solve any of your language difficulties.
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Learn Japanese for a real communication for your work, school project, and communicating with your Japanese mate properly.
Many people think that Learning to speak Japanese language is more difficult than learning to write Japanese. But, it is actually vice versa, because there are 3 different Japanese symbol called Kanji, Hiragana and Katakana, if you want to learn to write Japanese.
Normally, many Westerners think that kanji symbol is the only writing form we use in Japanese. It is true that we use kanji symbols more than hiragana or katakana symbols when writing something in Japanese. However, unlike Chinese people who use only Kanji symbols, we mix up all Japanese scripts.
So, when do you have to use which script? The answer is it all depends on a type of sentence used. Generally, the majority of Japanese textbooks says that Hiragana symbol is used when a word cannot be written in Kanji symbol, and Katakana symbol is mainly used to represent foreign words, or names which have adopted into the Japanese writing system.
However, it is always the case.
For example, “Thank you” in Japanese is “A Ri Ga To U”. Normally, you will write this word in Hiragana symbol, but in a formal letter, you should use Kanji symbol. Although it is not wrong to use katakana symbol to write “Thank you” in Japanese, not many Japanese people would do so.
If you travel to Japan, you would see how each Japanese Kanji Symbols, Hiragana and Katakana symbols are used
For example, Japanese Magazine normally use 80% of Kanji symbols, and 10% of Hiragana and Katakana symbols.
Another case is the singboard of the place in a subway. Almost all the sings are written with the Kanji symbols. By the way, we can write numbers in kanji symbols as well, but normally use the numerical sign to represent.
Also, Japanese language is changing everyday. There are new Japanese words in which old Japanese people cannot understand and those words are usually written by Katakana symbol or Hiragana symbol.
Although they are not proper Japanese language, many young Japanese people use such characters nowadays, and those words are normally abbreviated words.
That is why leaning to write Japanese is more difficult than speaking Japanese.
By: Takanori Tomita -
Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com
Takanori Tomita – working as a Japanese translator in Tokyo Japan. His “Learn Japanese Language” website is Learn Japanese Language for Real Communication
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March 2nd,2009
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The Japanese language is so fascinating. The tonal qualities of the language is quite unique and the inherent politeness of the Japanese people is translated well into its language which is in turns elegant and stylish and drips with respect.
Japanese writing is also a very elegant script and it has evolved from its original Chinese script beginnings to become something that is intrinsically Japanese. There are actually different types or ways of writing Japanese characters and it has been a source of confusion for people who are not familiar with Japanese culture or for students of Japanese culture who have not yet fully researched the intricacies of the Japanese written language.
The three ways of writing Japanese characters are Kanji, Hiragana, and Katakana, with another version called Romaji being used for special purposed.
Kanji
The word kanji is a Japanese derivative of the Chinese word hanzi, which translates to ‘Han characters’. The word Han pertains to the Han Dynasty and is also the name that the Chinese use to refer to themselves.
Using Kanji would mean employing between 5000 to 10000 Chinese characters. This meant that writing in this form was very difficult. In 1981, the Japanese government, as a measure to simplify how Japanese is written and read, intrduced the j?y? kanji hy? or List of Chinese Characters for General Use. The list includes 1945 regular characters and 166 special characters that has a use only for writing people’s names. All official documents, as well as newspapers, textbooks as well as other publications only use this form.
Hiragana
Chinese characters are considered as the source for Hiragana syllables. Hiragana – which means ‘ordinary syllabic script’ — was referred to originally as onnade or ‘women’s hand’ because women used this form the most. Men are known to write in Kanji and Katakana. But usage of Hiragana evolved through the centuries, and by the 10th century, it was being used by both men and women.
The earliest versions of hiragana had diverse characters that represent the same syllable. The whole system was simplified however in order to make it easier to use by establishing a one to one correspondence between the written and spoken syllables.
Katakana
The Katakana ‘alphabets’ have a very storied history. It was taken from abbreviated Chinese characters that were used by Buddhist monks. They used Katakana in order to illustrate the correct pronunciations of Chinese text back in the 9th century. Initially, there were so many different symbols used just to represent one syllable that it became quite confusing. But through time, it became more streamlined. Katakana was initially thought of as ‘men’s writing’ but over the centuries it has been used to write onomatopoeic words, foreign names, telegrams, and non-Chinese loan words. Katakana contains about 48 syllables.
There is also another script used in the Japanese language called Romaji. It is basically used to write the Latin alphabet into Japanese characters, especially for English or Latin alphabet-spelled words that do not have a direct Japanese translation.
By: Philip Nicosia
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LearnMyLingo.com delivers a variety of quick language learning programs right to your desktop including Japanese and Spanish e-courses.
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March 2nd,2009
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Don’t make the same mistakes that 1000’s of people do every single day when they choose a method to learn Japanese.
Let me show the best approach, with a combination of methods so that you have variety and best of you will learn very quickly. You just need to think outside the box.
You won’t regret choosing to learn Japanese; it’s really fun and can provide pathways to many adventures and even employment.
Japanese is easier than a lot of languages to pronounce the words as the vowels sounds don’t drop off or blend like English or Spanish do.
When it comes to reading Japanese things are slightly more tricky but by no means impossible. There are three types of writing styles called, Katakana, Hiragana and Kanji.
My advice is that you start learning to speak Japanese before you start learning how to read and write in the language. The reason I say this is that once you can communicate in basic Japanese you will have much more motivation to understand the writing systems. Understanding the basic introductions, tell the time and simple questions is easy to pick up.
When you are able to have your first real Japanese conversation you will find that it is a great feeling and you will just want to know more.
A common mistake that a lot of people learning Japanese make is that they rote learn hundreds of Japanese words and neglect to practice in context by listening to spoken Japanese. The result of this is a student that knows lots of words but struggles to form sentences quickly and understand conversation.
My recommendation in this day and age with the convenience of the internet is buy an online Japanese course. Without a doubt this is the cheapest and most convenient way of learning languages. Check out the links below for my advice on what courses to choose it you are interested. However just briefly I need to point out that look for a course that involves more than one modality for learning.
The reason I say this is that it is well known amongst language teachers that if a person is to pick up a language they need to learn through listening, watching and doing. So choose an online course that has audio of native Japanese speakers in conversation, pictures, images, games etc…
Choosing to learn Japanese online has skyrocketed in popularity recently with more and more people recognizing the freedom, flexibility and cost savings that it provides.
A good online course will teach you Japanese Grammar, which is how the sentences are structured, and how verbs, nouns, adverbs etc….fit together. In addition to grammar you will learn new words and then it is just a matter of combining your news words into different sentences and your ability to speak exponentially increases.
It won’t take long for you to be able to start learning new words and sentences if you have a good online course, but the key that makes a you really proficient is practicing in context. Obviously the best way to do this is to talk to a Japanese person. However if you don’t know any Japanese people here are some great alternatives to help you:
1.) Watch Japanese T.V shows and drama’s. You can do this by simply typing ‘Japanese drama’ into You Tube.
2.) Listen to live Japanese radio. This time do a Google search and you can find them very easily and just load the station straight away, easy!
3.) Watch Japanese DVD’s and follow along by watching the subtitles. You can buy some pretty cheaply through E-Bay or Amazon.
You can also use the free resources on the Internet to help you learn how to speak Japanese, I have a free audio course for people on my site, but I wouldn’t rely on this approach exclusively.
The internet does also have free resources that you can use but I find this method alone not that good. The reason being is that you will take ten times longer and the consistency of information isn’t always good. You are much better off purchasing an online course that has structured lessons that fit together in a progressive order.
All the best!
By: Japanese Jackson
Learn Japanese. Or you can visit his blog here: Japanese Jackson’s Blog
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