And averague native person of whatever language knows more than 10k of words. Spanish has more than 80k. What's different about 力 = power and 人 = person? In the end they are words, just because the way they are writting is hard for adults doesn't mean that it's that hard to see that all languagues has words and it's a way to have them. Know 3k of words I think that it's pretty normal.
learning vocabulary and learning kanji are two very different things. i don't know a single language (not saying there aren't) other than chinese ofc and maybe egyptian and any spin off from that, that has a different character for practicaly every word in existence. so yes, harder. MOST langauges have a normal alphabet or some version of it that they use.
My point was that learning languagues at that level is pretty hard and a little bit more those, like japanesse, which doesn't have an alphabet (talking about kanjis, I know they have hiragana and katakana), but knowing 3k of words to normal talking it's pretty normal. In fact, they are so much kanjis which are formed by others kanjis, so if you know those first kanjis you'll get what that kanji is. Forst is 森林, tree is 木, in fact they have some things that holly shit... Woman is 女 and rape is 強姦... The second kanji is formed with 3 times the woman kanji and the first it's like strenght or something like that.
Melon: But the Kanji have different meaning regarding context and also a lot of different ways to pronounce them. You need not only to learn the kanji and the meaning but also the Onyomi and Kunyomi (those are "pronounciations" and there are usually several for both, don't even ask me what the difference is between KUN an ON and when to use what, I haven't grasped that yet). I wonder if that gets easier by time, but as a beginner I find it pretty damn hard.
I don't study japanesse but I have friends who do it and they say than yes, so keep going! ^^
But I have to say that having multiple meanings it's also pretty normal, isn't it? In spanish we have words that the context can made them opposites. I'm seriously asking.
last edited at Jun 8, 2019 8:13AM