Daily Thread: simple questions, comments that don’t need their own posts, and first time posters go here (May 30, 2024)

4 comments

1. Anyone know good workbooks/free printables for writing hiragana (and eventually katakana)

   Just starting to learn (literally started yesterday) japanese and I’ve been starting out by learning hiragana! I was wondering if anyone knows of any good workbooks or maybe some free printables that I could use to learn how to write them out properly? I’ve written some down in a notebook but I know you have to be accurate with your writing. So I’d rather get it right first than get used to some bad writing habits.

   I know you don’t necessarily need to know how to write them but I feel like it would definitely help me remember a lot easier if I wrote them over and over. But yeah any help is appreciated thanks!

2. Hi, I’m new to the subreddit, so I was unable to make a new post due to low karma. I read the rules, and I think this doesn’t violate any rules. (I also sestched the previous posts and couldn’t find anything that fit what I was looking for.)

   I have been trying to find words or phrases regarding mental health in Japanese, but all I can find are words for different conditions. I’m looking more for positive words or phrases regarding battling and overcoming struggle and adversity, particularly as can be related to mental health.

   I’ve found individual words, like 光 and 康福, that I believe are based around happiness, but my Japanese is very rudimentary, so I don’t understand the deeper nuances.

   I’d also be interested in any relevant short phrases or idioms. I like yojijukugo, but I don’t know many of them. On a link from another post here, I found 雲外蒼天, which seemed to fit, but I’m not sure.

   To help illustrate the kind of thing I’m looking for, English equivalents would be quotes like “You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” – Christopher Robin, Winnie the Pooh, or “Nothing can dim the light that shines from within.” – Maya Angelou.

   (For context, yes, this is for tattoo ideas. I know all the reasons kanji tattoos are a bad idea, I’ve considered them. Here is the reason I would still like one: I have struggled with my mental health all my life, which has made it difficult for me to achieve many things that come easily for some. In the past few years, I’ve gone from struggling just to stay alive, to finally earning my degree, something I wasn’t sure I’d ever accomplish. I’ve wanted to visit Japan for decades, so in honor of my graduation, my parents got me plane tickets. I am here now, something I never would have thought possible, because of how hard I’ve worked on my mental health. I want to get a tattoo in an inconspicuous place, to remind myself that happiness is possible through hard work. That’s why I like the idea of a yojijukugo, something that says a lot in few words.)

3. I wonder if the following four sentences mean the same thing:

   1. ごみを七つの種類で分ける
   2. ごみを七つの種類に分ける
   3. ごみを七つの種類別に分ける
   4. ごみを七つの種類ごとに分ける

4. Hello. I recently finished the Japanese course on Busuu, so I tried reading Yotsuba to! but I find myself looking up more stuff on dictionaries than I’d like to admit.

   I know it’s not the system used to grade the levels of Japanese, but Busuu goes up to B2. So, now that I’m done with that, what would you suggest for me to do in order to keep learning? I’d like to go to Japan next April for tourism, so I want to be able to speak mostly fluently with people over there, but I’m kinda lost right now on what to do next.

   Thanks in advance.