After a long day at work I was looking forward to a nice drink in peace. I opened the door and heard Fred's voice booming. All hope for a nice quiet drink was gone. Fred had apparently heard yet another incorrect reference to Japanese people writing Chinese characters and he was going off like the 4th of July, expressing his annoyance at people who were unaware of how different the characters were.
"When I write English," he asked, "What alphabet do I use?"
Somebody foolishly tried to answer, not understanding that all Fred's questions were rhetorical unless Fred wanted information about a train schedule or what time some place opened. Paying no attention to the poor fool who tried to answer, Fred went on, "I use the modern English alphabet. It may be Latin-based, but it is not what the Romans used. You can call it the Roman alphabet or the Latin alphabet or whatever you like, but it has changed."
I was not sure exactly where Fred was going with this, but I thought I knew where he was going. "The Japanese characters are the same. Although the characters, named after the Han dynasty, were once Chinese, they are not any more. In the years since Japanese writing embraced characters and added two Japanese syllaburies, times have changed. The Japanese government instituted character reform after World War II. And let's not forget China. Chinese writing has certainly not stood still in the hundreds of years since Japan first started to borrow Chinese characters. This is Japanese writing now and they are Japanese characters. They may have originated in China and they may have been Chinese in the past, but they are not any more. They are Japanese characters!"
Fred tended to repeat himself when he got worked up. I wonder if it was time to ask Fred if he had any problems with the word Chinese. After Fred slammed his glass down on the bar, I knew he had finished. So, I asked him if he had any problems with the word Chinese. He responded immediately with a loud "No!" He then continued, "Chinese is a perfectly good word, but it does not apply to things Japanese. Take a look at ramen. The Japanese call ramen Chinese noodles. They definitely were Chinese characters once, but they are very Japanese now. I don't know why Japanese love to preface things with Chinese when they are no longer Chinese. It just doesn't make sense."
And as usual, Fred was right. What once were Chinese characters are now Japanese characters.
I couple of years ago I went through somewhat of a depression. I guess that is fairly normal, but I ended up going to see a counselor to talk through my issues. Being a counselor myself, it felt kind of strange at the beginning, but I did it anyway. Why? I guess because I am a firm believer that sometimes healing comes only as we get outside of ourselves and share with others. Anyway, one of the first things my counselor suggested that I do was make a list of things that intrigued me and that I'd like to learn about. Ever since then, I have been working my way through my list. I guess it is sort of my life goals in a way. I'm currently working on memorizing and being able to write the Chinese characters.
Learning how to write the Chinese characters was somewhere in the middle of my list. I'm not sure what exactly inspired me to include it on my to-do list except that I've been to China once and I still cannot get over how beautiful the written Chinese characters are. So their beauty intrigued me enough to want to learn them. So last fall I enrolled myself in an introduction to Chinese class and began plugging away at learning the Chinese characters.
The Chinese characters have proven to be as hard to master as they look. I thought they would come easily for me since I have at least a little bit of artistic talent. But no. They didn't. I have had to really discipline myself and practice consistently to grasp even the most simple Chinese characters. Many friends have suggested that I just quit because they know that I don't have any intention of ever learning how to speak or communicate the language.
There is something in me that cannot quit learning the Chinese characters though. Maybe it is because I am really trying to learn commitment to even small things and because I am trying to accomplish all of my goals. I just know that when my counselor suggested that working towards goals we care about can be really healing for people, I took her words to heart and have found that they are true. I have found a great amount of healing by focusing in on the things I want to see happen in my life. Even small things like learning to write the Chinese characters have taught me so much about myself.
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Tom Aaron has sinced written about articles on various topics from Japan Car, Writing and Japan Car. Visit Aaron Language Services at for translation from Japanese to English and. Tom Aaron's top article generates over 12100 views. to your Favourites.
Analeese Burnabaker has sinced written about articles on various topics from Destinations, Kids and Teens and Travel and Leisure. Analeese Burnabaker is a counselor who is happy to receive the counsel of others. Learning the is just one goal among many for her. Intereste. Analeese Burnabaker's top article generates over 12100 views. to your Favourites.