"Ryan Ginstrom" <ginstrom@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:<c28pjd$1qorse$1@ID-101276.news.uni-berlin.de>...
> "Ken Yasumoto-Nicolson" <ken_nicolson@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:1hoe40duj3mdas4ita2lfqj46sn2jha4on@4ax.com...
> > The way I used it was to first cut the input kanji DB to the 1006
> > basic kanji, then once all these were mastered, I pasted in the
> > remaining ones.
> 
> This seems like a lot of work.

Not difficult at all - everything is in plain old text files.

> But do you have a system whereby you can test on individual readings, not
> "get at least one reading right?"

To get a kanji "done", you have a total of 3*num readings guesses. For
instance (no kanji through Google) for "three" you have to guess/know
all of the readings (san, mi-, mi<small tsu>-), and you get a score
from 0% to 100% depending on how many you get right and how many
guesses you need.

> > One thing to note is that you learn to read the kanji in context
> > and/or from the English gloss, although the guys in s.l.j say that
> > reading in isolation or producing from memory is as important.
> 
> Reading what in isolation from what? I'm afraid I'm not very current on the
> slj consensus.

I think they mean just seeing the kanji on its own, with no context
whatsoever. Production from memory means basically writing it given
the English gloss.

> > However, if your prime goal is to just to be able to read more (or
> > look up the dictionary faster!) then it's a great program. The way is
> > brings learnt words back into circulation is reaaly great for
> > reinforcement.
> 
> Well, the nature of my job is such that I actually do quite a bit of
> reading. And in areas I am familiar with, I am pretty fast.
> The problems I need to address kanji-wise are (1) "holes" in my knowledge
> (for instance not knowing the kun readings of a lot of kanji I only ever
> spot in compounds); and (2) fading ability to write a lot of kanji.

I'm trying to think of a good way of doing writing lessons, but
KanjiLab will certainly help you learn some of the obscure kun
readings, even of the joyo kanji.

> Lately I've been thinking about taking some sort of penji class to help with
> my writing.

I was tempted to look into the U-CAN penji correspondence course after
all the ads over the New Year.

> What I really want to do is find a way to keep improving my Japanese. I
> don't want to get comfortable with my level of Japanese, and wind up
> speaking some sub-dialect.

I know what you mean - my two fellow gaigin in the office have fallen
into that hole, although I suspect both of them plan to return to the
West within a few years.

> > I understand the subtitles better than the spoken J on most
> > entertainment shows...
> 
> I think those things are great for a Japanese learner, I wish they had
> started doing them 10 years ago. That and the shiwa news, where they read
> all the text for the news and put furigana on top. And those dramas for the
> sight impaired, where they describe everything happening on the screen.
> That's a great way to pick up vocabulary that's otherwise hard to learn.

As my favourite program's London Hearts, I pick up a *lot* of vocab I
can't imagine I'd ever learn anywhere else!

> > It's MEI - and yes, unless I somehow get something promising in the
> > translation line, but I don't know the first thing about that
> > industry!
> 
> Oh-ho, so you've been thinking about getting into translation. There is a
> real niche for people with technical knowledge. It seems like 95% of the
> foreigners who learn Japanese are bunkakei-types. There is a premium on the
> ability to read and understand a technical Japanese document, and write
> something convincing in English. That and your insider knowledge of MEI
> lingo and technology, and there should be a decent amount of work.

We have a few in-house perma-temps (whatever the J-term for that is)
who, as far as I can see, only get a barely increased salary over the
ordinary employee, without all the benefits. Although they're familiar
with terminology, etc, they are not technically trained, and they are
Japanese producing English docs, their output leaves something to be
desired.

> I'm not sure if level 2- is good enough to translate, 

I know, but doing it even as a side-job is a 3-5 year goal...

> but more important
> than that you need to be able to read and understand technical documents in
> your field of specialty very well, and write equivalent English the way a
> specialist in the field would expect to see it.

At the moment, we have a 66 page PowerPoint slideset that everyone
needs to study by next weekend. They suggest 1 hour 15 mins for the
average person, but I'm on about 20 mins per slide + notes.

The last thing I want to do, however, is advertise any desire to
translate within the company right now - other people (even with less
skill than me) have done that and ended up doing screeds of
translation in addition to their full-time work!

> If you have any specific questions about the translation industry, feel free
> to mail me at ryang at gol dot com.

Cheers Ryan, but maybe not now.

> > Next year I should be applying for me life sentence - I mean
> > my Permanent Residency thingie...
> 
> I'm probably going to apply this year or the next as well.

Next year is also buy a house/flat year for us too, so I want the PR
to make securing a loan easier.

Ken