Is it hard to write Japanese?


I see the Japanese symbols, but never asked myself how hard is to write using
these symbols. It seems very inviable. How do you guys do when writing at
Japanese? Is it really harder than, for example, English or Portuguese. I
mean, the amount of writing required to express the same sentence.




As I've explained when teaching, each language's quirks add value to it or
else they wouldn't be retained. If you embrace the differences by learning
Kana quickly and then not being afraid of Kanji thereafter, it will come
fairly easily with practice. If you view kanji as a monolithic set of
thousands of symbols with nothing in common with each other, you're going to
have a hard time.

The trick with Kanji in particular is to remember that it forms a visual
system of roots, prefixes, and suffixes that, among other things, enable you
to guess the meanings of words you've never seen before or "coin" new words on
the fly when needed. Further, if you become acquainted with the breakdown of
kanji as you learn them you'll discover patterns (visual, semantic, and
phonetic) that create a useful web of knowledge for holding everything
together.

In short, it's as hard as you choose to make it.




As I've explained when teaching, each language's quirks add value to it or
else they wouldn't be retained. If you embrace the differences by learning
Kana quickly and then not being afraid of Kanji thereafter, it will come
fairly easily with practice. If you view kanji as a monolithic set of
thousands of symbols with nothing in common with each other, you're going to
have a hard time.

The trick with Kanji in particular is to remember that it forms a visual
system of roots, prefixes, and suffixes that, among other things, enable you
to guess the meanings of words you've never seen before or "coin" new words on
the fly when needed. Further, if you become acquainted with the breakdown of
kanji as you learn them you'll discover patterns (visual, semantic, and
phonetic) that create a useful web of knowledge for holding everything
together.

In short, it's as hard as you choose to make it.

