So I've jumped onto the lang-8 bandwagon which is great. However, I found it interesting that recently I was corrected in a way that simply deleted 漢字 I used so that it could be replaced with 平仮名. I can certainly understand doing this for some phrases (thank you, good luck, hello, it's been a long time etc.), but having it done to common words like 未だ and 良い?

I'm presuming there's no method but feedback from natives as to what is considered acceptable in 漢字 and what isn't, but I thought I'd start this thread to facilitate discussion - to hear from the people of koohii what it is that they themselves have had rewritten in 平仮名.

I never write 未だ　or　良い in kanji for regular use. Most of my habits I just pick up from doing my sentences. Sure there is the odd time that they are written in kanji, but for the most part I only see them in kana.

I think the only way you'll find out what is acceptable, and generally done in kana versus kanji is exposure. ( unless you find an exhaustive list of these exceptions, that might work too )

未だ and 良い written in kanji are -not- common words.

まだ isn't normally written with kanji. I'd say neither is 良い, but atleast it's not too uncommon.

I think it's one of those things you pick up through exposure. Some words are usually never written with kanji, and it sort of throws you off when they are. Keep outputting while reading as much as you can and I think you will get a better feel for it.

Kanji may also add a more formal touch to written text, which is something worth considering.

atarakushi Wrote:I'm presuming there's no method but feedback from natives as to what is considered acceptable in 漢字 and what isn't

My method is reading a lot; you get these things naturally from exposure. You also realize how native speakers differ in opinion: some writers love kanji and use them almost everywhere (取り敢えず、勿論、etc); other avoid them whenever possible. There are also other factors besides personal preference, such as how formal the text is, how old the audience is, etc.

as others said, you'll see easily by reading manga, books etc.

Also when you type (in land-8 or whatever) the most common word will be first on the list eg. to get to 平仮名 I have to skip over ひらがな. You can also check on http://www.jisho.org, it says if a word is usually written in just kana - eg http://jisho.org/words?jap=hiragana&eng=&dict=edict

I think there's also an idea of kanji - kana balance. I find that in novels a lot of words that are generally written in kanji can sometimes be written in kana to avoid overloading the sentence with kanji. A lot of kanji definitely gives a more formal feel, but it's ultimately a stylistic choice, like iSoron was saying. You'll quickly develop your own kanji sense through reading.

From what I've heard, it's popular with オタク to use kanji where they're never used, like 有難う御座います and what not, so possibly something to avoid.

and for thugs to use 夜露死苦

Womacks23 Wrote:未だ and 良い written in kanji are -not- common words.

And typically 未だ is read as いまだ rather than まだ, and I would tend to read 良い as よい rather than いい.