Kanji that threw you for a loop?

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Reply #1 - 2012 December 17, 3:47 am
Zlarp Member
Registered: 2012-10-26 Posts: 124

Having finished Heisig plus the supplement, I've been starting to take my first steps into the reading world. But even Heisig can't prepare you for some things. Kanji like "貰" didn't prove to be problematic. Neither did something like "嘘". Both contain elements I know and are easily remembered.

Then I met "兜" and I felt like I did when I first started learning Japanese - completely puzzled. Luckily, I've since been able to include this thing into my known kanji database, but I still feel weird whenever I see it.

What are the kanji that stumped you when you found them in texts? Now I'm not asking for weird kanji for the sake of them, I know there's strange stuff out there, but I'm talking about stuff that's actually being used. I'm interested in seeing what's ahead of me in my learning journey smile

Last edited by Zlarp (2012 December 17, 3:47 am)

Reply #2 - 2012 December 17, 4:06 am
yudantaiteki Member
Registered: 2009-10-03 Posts: 3619

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y158/chriskern99/kanji-1_zpsa68fdf05.png

Reply #3 - 2012 December 17, 4:11 am
Zlarp Member
Registered: 2012-10-26 Posts: 124

I can't even find that one when trying to look it up. What is wrong with that weird thing?

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Reply #4 - 2012 December 17, 4:11 am
yudantaiteki Member
Registered: 2009-10-03 Posts: 3619

It's not even in Morohashi.  It's a variant form of 等.  It's not used in modern JP though so that's kind of a joke.

Last edited by yudantaiteki (2012 December 17, 4:13 am)

Reply #5 - 2012 December 17, 4:17 am
Zlarp Member
Registered: 2012-10-26 Posts: 124

Ah, thank you smile I was going insane trying to find it tongue

Reply #6 - 2012 December 17, 4:42 am
anritsi Member
Registered: 2010-07-06 Posts: 50 Website

I always thought 凹 & 凸 were weird. And I always forget their stroke orders. ._.

Reply #7 - 2012 December 17, 4:45 am
Zlarp Member
Registered: 2012-10-26 Posts: 124

Somehow those two clicked with me. Probably because they were early on in RTK when everything else was just as weird.

Reply #8 - 2012 December 17, 5:52 am
erlog Member
From: Japan Registered: 2007-01-25 Posts: 633

傑 always felt like a really odd mixture of elements that didn't really connect with the meaning very well. I eventually learned it by brute force. According to my stats, 徳 also threw me for a loop for a very very long time for whatever reason.

Reply #9 - 2012 December 17, 7:57 am
JimmySeal Member
From: Kyoto Registered: 2006-03-28 Posts: 2279

Not actually kanji, but the 专 传 转 family of Hanzi made my brain tie itself in knots, and the traditional versions 專 傳 轉 weren't much more comforting.  But I eventually realized that the first one is just 専 in disguise and the rest are essentially radical+云 (i.e. 伝 転) and it got a lot better.

Reply #10 - 2012 December 17, 12:53 pm
Zgarbas Watchman
From: 名古屋 Registered: 2011-10-09 Posts: 1210 Website

When I was at the beginning (so what, 1-2 months into learning Japanese?) I thought 朝 was really easy to remember as a car going over the moon. 3 years later I started RTK and noticed that it wasn't a car... Blew my mind. Started questioning everything. Paranoia ensued. Oh, the hilarity...

Reply #11 - 2012 December 17, 1:38 pm
Stian Member
From: England Registered: 2012-06-21 Posts: 426

I have a more opposite experience. Annoying kanji like 発, 封, 露　など has been made much easier to remember when I learned 発表, 封印, 露見, 披露, and so on.

Last edited by Stian (2012 December 17, 1:39 pm)

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