KOTD on Hiatus

Due to an unfortunate family illness, today I’m announcing that I am going on a hiatus from Kanji of the Day. I hope to return to posting “soon”, but I’m not sure when that will be.  BUT, don’t let that be your excuse to stop exploring kanji everyday!  I encourage you to go back through the old posts.

More “soon”…

And now…

On January first of this year, I announced the beginning of a 大復習　(だいふくしゅ) of the kanji here on the Kanji of the Day blog.  In this big review, I have reviewed all the kanji in Kanji of the Day Family 1.  Now, eight months later, the review is finally complete, and starting today, I’ll be building toward a new group, family 2!

Family 1 is not in the past though.  Remember, the reason I call this collection “family” is because I’d like to think of them as such.  You don’t visit family once or twice, but again and again, even if you “know them” already.  There’s always something to see or witness in reviewing kanji.  The object of this blog is not “flash card” style memorization (despite my use of these words as tags).  Rather, the idea is repeated visits and encounters.  Expect to see family 1 kanji re-posted again from time to time, especially as I gather new example uses, like photos.

And now… let’s meet the new family!  Let’s start with 育.

Looking at the numbers

You’ve noticed Kanji of the Day is all about the number kanji.  This will continue for several more days.  If you have any experience with kanji at all, getting yourself to look at the numbers can be painful.  My brain is shouting “I KNOW THESE!” over and over.  Nonetheless, it’s important to revisit these.  Notice the subtleties.  Look for something– anything– that you didn’t notice before.

Today I was reminded that the bottom stroke of 二 is longer than the top.  Good reminder, since 二 is a kanji one often dashes off in a hurry without paying attention to something like “which one is longer.”

What do you notice about the numbers?

PS>  Finding images for most of the numbers is surprisingly hard.  If anyone has any images to recommend, I’d love to know…

Trying out a new look for Kanji of the Day

The look or visual “theme” I’ve been using on Kanji of the Day is very plain.  I chose it intentionally so I could focus my eyes on kanji, not colors or flashy backgrounds.  Problem is– it’s not so good for posting images– it’s very narrow.  The look I’m using today achieves a similar effect but the page is a lot wider.  Perhaps I’ll stick with it, especially as I plan on adding more images…

大復習: Changing things up on Kanji of the Day

 

大復習

あけましておめでとうございます everyone.

The new year is bringing changes to the Kanji of the Day blog.  Since starting the blog in June of 2009, I’ve posted a total of 212 kanji, including all of Jōyō Grade 1 kanji (which you may have noticed I’ve been finishing up posting over the last couple weeks).

In my head, I’ve been calling this group of 212 kanji, “Family 1”.  “Family” for me is the key word.  I’ve been speaking Japanese for many years now.  My week area has always been reading and writing.  I need to make kanji “mine”, they need to be like old friends or family to me.

Over the last several months, it’s become clear to me that my focus has not been on creating this kind of familial intimacy with kanji.  Instead it’s  been on the mechanics of  posting on this blog:  finding a kanji, defining it, adding the Kanji Cafe animated gif, etc.  I don’t have hours and hours everyday to play with kanji, and the time I do have needs to be refocused on kanji, not blogging.

To this end, starting tomorrow, Kanji of the Day will be embarking on what I call 大復習 (だいふくしゅう).  Everyday I will be reviewing on of the 212 “Family 1” kanji here on the blog by re-posting.  As often as I can, I will also be enhancing these posts by:

• updating words and definitions
• adding images from Flickr that show kanji “in context” in Japan
• adding inspired drawings of the kanji (to help me remember the kanji.  I’m not a calligrapher, so I’m not going try to “fake” 書道 (しょどう).

大復習 will last until all of Family 1 has been revisited.  I’m really looking forward to this era of intentional review!

On the road, internet access spotty until October 8

Kanji of the Day will be on and off over the next week, as I do some traveling.  I will post as best I can, including the September review.

In the meantime, as a sneak peak, here are the kanji I have slated for the upcoming week.  Keep on practicing!

披•露•宴•旅•出•夏•秋•冬•春

Problem with Kanji of the Day post images

Just a quick note to let you know that I am aware that the animated images in all the Kanji of the Day posts are not working.  I’ve researched it and discovered the fix , but it’s going to take me a little while to make the repairs… please bear with me…