Quote:
Originally Posted by Nameless
Nevertheless, I've read grammar here and there and it was easier than I thought, are kanji really the hardest part of Japanese?
|
I think the problem is that not knowing one grammar doesn't affect your learning another grammar. But not knowing kanji REALLY slows down your progress at some point because all the advanced materials are written in Japanese using a lot of kanji. When I first purchased my copy of どんな時どう使う日本語表現文型５００ when I only know about 800–1000 kanji, it took forever to read a single lesson. Once understood, the grammar was very, very easy to internalize. But the lack of kanji knowledge was debilitating.
It's like how learning to run is easier than learning to play tennis, but if you can't run, you'll never be good at tennis. If you're 15 and have never run before, it's going to seem a lot harder than playing tennis for a very long time because the "playing tennis" you're learning is confined to "this is the proper mechanics for a forehand," "this is the proper grip for a forehand," etc.
Once dropped into a tennis match with a 5.0+ USTA-rated player, you'll quickly realize your inability to run down the ball does you in a lot more than your mistaken use of western grip instead of eastern grip to hit a low passing shot when your opponent is at the net.
Just my opinion as someone for whom grammar has come a lot easier than kanji.