Daily Thread: simple questions, comments that don’t need their own posts, and first time posters go here (October 13, 2023)

4 comments

1. There was this song I was listening to and one of the verses included “望みを識れ” (礼賛歌 – Valkyrie).

   I searched the verb 識る on jisho and apparently it has the same meaning as 知る? It seems kinda unclear since there’s not any example sentences so I would be grateful if anyone explained what exactly this verb means.

2. How do you guys practice shadowing? Do you have the text in front of you or you do it strictly via listening and repeating?

   In my physical Japanese class the sensei gives us a printout, then plays the audio file for us to listen and follow along. But we always shadow while reading the printout.

   Yesterday I tried an online tutor and it was listen and repeat. I didn’t have the text in front of me. Obviously that’s more challenging but I wonder if that’s the norm or is it the former?

3. I just saw the word 笏 and was wondering, any relation to 錫杖 in any way? They both start with しゃく or I wouldn’t ask

4. Hello,

   I started self studying Japanese and was curious if the structure I came up with based on multiple sources is fine or if I’m missing something essential. The goal of the study structure is not to be fluent at the end but to create a foundation that can be used to further learn japanese. The scheme I’m following can be separated in three independent parts:

   Part A: Writing system, this contains the kana and all the jōyō kanji following the approach recommended in “Remembering the Kanji 1” learning the kanji independent of reading

   Part B: Japanese Grammar rules using Tae Kim’s Guide to Learning Japanese

   Part C: Vocabulary using a frequency dictionary, in this part I’m planning to learn the reading of the kanji automatically by learning the pronunciation+writing of the vocabulary.

   The plan is to do A and B side by side and start with C after finishing A. After those three parts I will hopefully be able to be further improve my Japanese by consuming Japanese media and communication.

   I already have some experience with learning Japanese due to a language course where we used the Genki 1 book as a basis. I didn’t really like the approach taken in Genki and also in most other introductory books since they always feel like building a house vertically instead of horizontally by introducing writing+grammar+vocabulary side by side in minuscule packages. For understanding the grammar a basic grasp on the writing is necessary and for the vocabulary writing (especially all the kanji) and grammar are essential hence the structure of learning the language in this order.

   My question is if I’m missing or misunderstood something important about the language and/or if anyone has any recommendations/improvements (e.g. different resources).

   Thank you in advance for any helpful answer.