yudantaiteki Wrote:nest0r Wrote:Writing kanji more at the beginning is a decent strategy for learning it more quickly
I guess I don't ever think it's a good learning strategy to use kanji where native speakers rarely or never use them. Learning to read and write Japanese isn't just about memorizing shapes, it's also about learning how to use them to write Japanese, and writing things like 未だ and 迄 makes your Japanese look like you don't know what you're doing. It seems to me a little like trying to work a new grammatical pattern into everything you say, even where it doesn't sound natural, in order to get more practice using it.
I've made quite a few posts on abnormal kanji usage already, so I don't want to seem too repetitive, but: by not using kanji forms, they're threatened by extinction, and an interesting dimension of the language is basically smothered through neglect of usage. As it is, most of the younger generation in Japan cannot even read a lot of the traditional characters, making many names, and pre-reform literature out of their reach.
For most people, this of course doesn't really matter: they're perfectly content to write そば instead of 蕎麦, and ろうそく instead of 蠟燭, and why not? It's easier to write, remember, and they're rarely encounter the kanji forms since most other people don't use them either.
However, once you focus on literature, kanji forms present an extra dimension to nuance of expression in writing. Most languages are limited by a single writing system, and thus are restricted to synonyms in order to create similar meanings with subtle differences. Japanese, however, is able to convey so much more detail with a single word, based upon how it is writen. 掛詞 are a nice example I suppose. In literature, the writing system used itself can display character traits, feeling at that time, etc. I've given examples in other posts I've made, but I don't really know how to fish them up.
Constant use of all kanji forms 24/7, I agree is a bit tiresome due to the contrast to normal writing, but its occasional use adds artistic flair to writing syles, as well as placing emphasis in certain situations. Also, it might be important to note that while it's common to not use many kanji forms, this will change based upon the social circle you're interacting with. In America, for example, many of the teens type in abbreviated, ungrammatical English. Many Japanese youth, and the less educated, will do this as well. But if you interact with the more educated people, you'll see a much higher use of kanji forms, etc. I am a member of a few Japanese literature groups (I think you call them book-clubs in English?) and the majority of people never write きれい, it's always 綺麗, for example. Using too much hiragana when kanji would serve, is often a sign of laziness and lack of education to the more literate of society.
And to some people, some of the simplified characters are just stupid, often because the original meaning was lost through the simplification. I've met many people who always write 龍, never 竜, etc.
Though if you have to write quickly, of course it makes since to use simplified ... a lot of teachers in Japan nowadays even use some of the Mandarin characters rather than the Japanese ones when they write on the board.
On a personal level, the various methods of writing a word are attractive to me because sometimes I really get bored of writing the same thing. On Monday I might write どこ, but come Tuesday I'll switch to 何処, and by Friday go for 何處, only to revert back to どこ the next day. Writing "どこ" everytime is just plain dull to me.
