Not entirely sure if this is the place so ill just keep this brief.
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There’s two questions that i have as of now and hopefully i can find answers, the first being how or if there’s a way to read the simplified versions of words or if its just a matter of remembering the word ( as a matter of fact i’m not even sure if that’s what it is ) e.g. sensei – 先生 or
せんせい.
i’ve done a bit of looking and it seems that its simplified in chinese characters ( still also not sure if thats Kanji or not either )
If you couldn’t also tell i’m a total beginner looking for some level of fluency at some point, ,with that being said is there any decent site or application for learning japanese i can use without having to either pay or go for lessons ? ( paying for something might be an option in the future )
Anything helps, thankyou.
1 comment
Yes, it shows that you are very confused but that is OK. We all start from somewhere. 🙂 In order to answer the question in your post, I have to go a bit into depth.
Japanese has three writing systems, hiragana, katakana, and kanji. Kanji originate from Traditional Chinese hanzi characters; not Simplified. (Traditional and Simplified hanzi can look very different) There are also a number of kanji that actually were created in Japan. The history of how these writing systems came to be is very long.
Resources online are many and very plentiful. One of my favorite tools, WaniKani for kanji learning, is a paid service but the first 3 levels are free and can be a great way for understanding how kanji really work. せんせい is not a ‘simplification’ of 先生, it is just the same word transcribed into hiragana. Kanji don’t have to be memorized individually for each character among thousands, once radicals are understood, it is easier than it would appear.
Kanji have multiple meanings and readings. (specifically, kun’yomi which is the native reading, and on’yomi which is the Chinese-influenced reading) and sometimes those can have multiple readings as well. It is not a place for an absolute beginner.
Before anything else, I recommend finding a resource that works for you when it comes to learning hiragana. (you can certainly do that for free) Knowing how to read hiragana is a skill that will *always* help no matter your level of learning.
My favorite sensei is [Japanese Ammo Misa](https://youtube.com/c/JapaneseAmmowithMisa) I cannot recommend her channel enough. Check out the playlists on her channel, there should be something that works for you!
It’s a long journey, but if you truly wish to learn, then you can do it 😊