Quote:
Originally Posted by yuriyuri
(Also I am interested because the way you wrote your post made it seem as though this specific type of Kanji knowledge has been some kind of magical entity which the Japanese people have just acquired through being Japanese and that no one else can have it... At least, that's how I read it anyway)
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I have to agree with yuriyuri on this.
Why is kanji so incredibly impossible in your thinking? Humans sight read most everything - even words in phonetic writing systems. When you see a word like "cat" written out, you don`t sound it out in your head as something made up of phonetic symbols. You recognize it immediately as meaning, well, "cat". There is generally no thinking in between there - see the "pattern" of "cat" and it is recognized as a near symbol. While the foundation is different, in advanced reading it is no different from encountering a kanji.
Also - Japanese doesn`t use more words than other major languages. I am pretty certain it just seems that way because you do not know the words yet.
There are countless ways to say the same thing in English too.
Anyway - I`m a non-native speaker of Japanese, but have refrained from replying in here up until now because I really don`t feel the same way about the language as you seem to. There is nothing mystical or incomprehensible. There is no magical Eastern way of thinking that makes Japanese impenetrable.