Weekly discussion and small questions thread

In response to user feedback, this is a recurring thread for general discussion about learning Japanese, and for asking your questions about grammar, learning resources, and so on. Let’s come together and share our successes, what we’ve been reading or watching and chat about the ups and downs of Japanese learning.

The /r/Japanese rules (see [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/japanese/about/rules/)) still apply! Translation requests still belong in /r/translator and we ask that you be helpful and considerate of both your own level and the level of the person you’re responding to. If you have a question, please check the subreddit’s [frequently asked questions](https://www.reddit.com/r/japanese/?f=flair_name%3A%22FAQ%E3%83%BB%E3%82%88%E3%81%8F%E3%81%82%E3%82%8B%E8%B3%AA%E5%95%8F%22), but we won’t be as strict as usual on the rules here as we are for standalone threads.

3 comments
  1. Hey- just wanted to see if anyone here has any info on what exactly was going on in these postcards. I’m posting them in /r/translator, but I’ve included the really bad google translations as well. Thanks for checking it out!

    [weird postcards](https://imgur.com/a/IWSMAOL)

  2. Hi,

    A random question to all of you using Android.
    I originally posted on as an individual thread, but one person guided me to also post here, so here it goes.

    It’s about using Android with physical keyboards. The Enter key is supposed to confirm the conversion, but doing so on the Chrome address bar not only confirms, but also sends it as a query. So impossible to search for multi keyword queries unless you touch on the screen.

    Anybody know any tips to overcome this?
    Thank you.

    https://www.reddit.com/r/japanese/comments/sbf9iu/using_physical_keyboard_on_android_the_enter_key/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share

  3. When I first started learning Japanese on a basic level, I made the following observation, the Japanese have an IFF system embedded in their language.

    An IFF system stands for Identification, friend or foe (IFF) , its a necessary system at the advent of radio / radar technology to make it possible to distinguish the identity of detected vehicles on such systems. Once identified, this allows military and civilian bodies to have an understanding of the situation at hand and formulate a response.

    When we break down the Japanese language into its components, from a purely phonetics perspective we get :

    Hiragana for Japanese subjects or topics
    Katakana for foreign non Japanese subjects or topics

    On the other hand, they also have Kanji which is used along side Hiragana for Japanese subjects or topics as well

    However the history of Kanji within Japanese society is also a fascinating phenomenon to explore

    From my superficial understanding of Japanese history, Kanji was an import from China when there was no written form of the Japanese language, hiragana came later on. And it was the elites in Japanese society who monopolized the use and legislation of this part of the Japanese language. In certain periods in Japanese history, the ruling elites even legislated the precise number of Kanji to be circulated within society.

    This phenomenon somewhat reflects the geopolitics of the region in regards to influence from China

    A brief summary of all of above in a somewhat light hearted form would be as follows :

    If you are Japanese

    Hiragana is you and the people you like

    Katakana is everyone else

    Kanji are your in laws

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