| |
 |
|
 |
| |
 |
| |
Have you ever thought
about the origin of the characters for
漢字?
The right-hand side of 漢,
from a picture of a pelt dried by fire, gives the pronounciation
カン, as well as the
meaning 'dried up', and the left-hand side gives the meaning
of water. The earliest uses of 漢
were as the name of
a river (with little water), and of the Milky Way (a river with
no water). A kingdom of the 漢(Han)
people emerged around the river, which eventually became the
Han dynasty, and hence 漢
was used to refer to China.
The character 字
comes from a picture
of a child, which gives the pronunciation ジ,
under a roof. It originally meant 'have children', but came
to be used for characters produced by the combination of other
characters and was subsequently generalised to 'letter' or 'written
character'. So 漢字
simply means Chinese
letters! |
| |
|
| |
 |
| |
藤堂編 小学生版 「漢字なりたち辞典」参照 |
| |
|
| |
 |
| |
Here are some websites
that are suitable for your students to build up their kanji
reading and writing skills.
http://web.mit.edu/21f.501/www/kanji.html
This website allows you to test yourself on 56 basic kanji
meanings and readings through multiple-choice exercises.
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~kanji/
Kanji Practice is
a site which helps you to master reading and writing kanji.
Kanji are grouped in sets of 50. For each kanji the site gives
a brushstroke image, a brief video clip demonstrating stroke
order, sample sentences for On and Kun readings with accompanying
audio clips, print variations and the English translation
of the kanji. 300 kanji are covered.
http://japanese.about.com/bl50kanji.htm
On this site you can look up the Japanese kanji and pronunciation
for key words such as 'peace', 'love' etc. as well as accessing
other information about Japanese language.
http://contest2002.thinkquest.jp/tqj2002/50051/
This site enables you to test your ability to write basic
kanji. Follow the English cues to write the kanji using the
mouse, and check your answers.
http://www.funtrivia.com/quizdetails.cfm?quiz=182602
This site offers a quiz on the meanings of 10 basic kanji
compound words. It doesn't require a knowledge of the kanji,
just some intelligent guessing!
|
| |
|
| |
 |
| |
Here is a task you
can try with your students - you might discover some new characters.
How many kanji can you make by adding one stroke to the kanji
日?
Hint: You can add
the stroke inside or outside.
Answers below. |
| |
|
| |
 |
| |
 The
Japanese love a contest, and kanji, which requires
such effort to learn, is a popular subject. The
漢字検定試験,
or 漢検
for short,
attracts contestants in great numbers every year.
The test has 8 levels - Level 8 allows young learners
to try their powers of memory, while Level 1 is
so demanding that few educated Japanese are able
to score highly. There are also many kanji contests
run on a smaller scale, particularly in schools.
Depending on the school's aims, it may be an open
contest which all students can attempt, regardless
of age, or it may be a test which is pitched at
different levels, making it easier to achieve
百点満点 (full
marks).
Most recently,
a Level 9-10 児童(juvenile)
漢験has
been created for children of primary years 1-3,
and foreign learners of Japanese are also being
encouraged to take up the challenge. To find out
more, go to http://www.kanken.or.jp
. |
|
|
| |
|
| |
Answers
to Kanji challenge: 田 目 旦 旧 由 甲
申 白 |
| |
|
| |
This
section written by Cathy Jonak |
| |
|
| |
Privacy
& Copyright © The Japan Foundation, Sydney - Language
Section 2000 - 2005 |
| |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
