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Importance of stroke order?

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The_Brightest_Moon

PostPosted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 8:51 am


This is mainly for kanji:

I'm really bad at writing kanji but I can write a few. I don't memorize stroke order and the ones I CAN write turn out fine. Why learn stroke order? Like what's the importance of it..All the books make it seem like if you don't learn stroke order they'll sneak into your house at night and kill you in your sleep -_- but for me, I have a horrible memory, so stroke order is just another thing to memorize to me. So why is it so important if you can write kanji without memorizing it?
PostPosted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 1:09 pm


Stoke order is extremely important. If you don't learn it, I'll sneak into your house at night and kill you in your sleep. >:]

Stroke order helps in memorizing kanji a lot. When you get to more complicated kanji, like 遮 or 鍛, stoke order ensures that you don't forget a line here or a radical there.

It also makes the kanji flow better. Tyring to write 丘 with improper stroke order feels awkward.

There's also kanji that look extremely similar. Having the right stroke length and order helps distinguish them. For example, 土 is soil, whereas 士 is samurai. 未 (not yet) vs. 末 (end, extremity).

And lastly, what's your definition of fine? Believe me, what looks fine to you probably looks gibbled to a native Japanese. I used to disregard stroke order, and one of the Japanese exchange students looked at my writing and facepalmed. What looked like decent kanji to me was barely readable to her. Keep in mind calligraphy is very important in Japan.

Don't worry too much about it being a burden on your memory. Before long it becomes second nature, and you won't even need to look up the stroke order of a new kanji. There are general rules to stroke order, which you can read here. Plus more of the complicated kanji use a combination of more simpler kanji, called radicals. If you know the stroke order for those simple kanji, the stroke order, and the momorization, of the more complicated kanji becomes fairly simple.

PhoenixOwl


The_Brightest_Moon

PostPosted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 2:01 pm


PhoenixOwl
Stoke order is extremely important. If you don't learn it, I'll sneak into your house at night and kill you in your sleep. >:]

Stroke order helps in memorizing kanji a lot. When you get to more complicated kanji, like 遮 or 鍛, stoke order ensures that you don't forget a line here or a radical there.

It also makes the kanji flow better. Tyring to write 丘 with improper stroke order feels awkward.

There's also kanji that look extremely similar. Having the right stroke length and order helps distinguish them. For example, 土 is soil, whereas 士 is samurai. 未 (not yet) vs. 末 (end, extremity).

And lastly, what's your definition of fine? Believe me, what looks fine to you probably looks gibbled to a native Japanese. I used to disregard stroke order, and one of the Japanese exchange students looked at my writing and facepalmed. What looked like decent kanji to me was barely readable to her. Keep in mind calligraphy is very important in Japan.

Don't worry too much about it being a burden on your memory. Before long it becomes second nature, and you won't even need to look up the stroke order of a new kanji. There are general rules to stroke order, which you can read here. Plus more of the complicated kanji use a combination of more simpler kanji, called radicals. If you know the stroke order for those simple kanji, the stroke order, and the momorization, of the more complicated kanji becomes fairly simple.


Ok then.....Thanks! *goes off to make an effort*
PostPosted: Mon Dec 08, 2008 3:18 am


Also, programs such as the DS Kanji sonomama rakubiki jiten and other electronic dictionaries that include a spot to write kanji with a stylus are dependent on the stroke order to look up kanji usually.

I don't remember all radicals (at least not yet) and I've been studying for nearly 6 years. Basically, seeing and writing and doing the kanji enough times and you eventually become familiar enough with kanji to the point you can look at a kanji you don't know and guess what it's radical might be (8 out of 10 times, you could be right). But I like kanji, and it can come natural to me, so I am not like everyone in that sense.

IdiotbyDefault
Crew


Elsewise

PostPosted: Fri Dec 12, 2008 10:01 am


Kanji is probably my weakest area, at least when it comes to writing it. I can read them and understand their meaning just fine, most of the time (for the ones I do recognize). But like you, stroke pattern has been a challenge.

I have my Japanese professors' nit-picky grading system to thank for keeping me in line with my kanji.
PostPosted: Tue May 05, 2009 4:04 pm


You know a lot of people are going to say, IT"S IMPORTANT....
but the thing is, thats because they were taught it's important at one point...
I don't use proper stroke order, I go against "logic" for pretty much everything, yet I do very well.
It's all about you... as you go along, you'll find out what's best for you...

Just experiment with it, and see the results... maybe you're not comfortable with anything... who knows.

jmpeer


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PostPosted: Tue May 05, 2009 4:16 pm


jmpeer12
You know a lot of people are going to say, IT"S IMPORTANT....
but the thing is, thats because they were taught it's important at one point...
I don't use proper stroke order, I go against "logic" for pretty much everything, yet I do very well.
It's all about you... as you go along, you'll find out what's best for you...

Just experiment with it, and see the results... maybe you're not comfortable with anything... who knows.


I would to add that most Japanese adults forget the proper stroke order as they get older to many Kanji, so don't stress it too much unless you're in a class where it is key, like a Calligraphy class or whathaveyou. Learning it first is important though. Once you feel acclimated to writing it move on and keep on learning. You'd be surprised how little Japanese know of the intricacies of their language(much like how many native English speakers cannot identify many of the inner workings of their language)
PostPosted: Thu May 07, 2009 12:34 am


In general, learn it, then forget it as you go along, seems to be best. I have a (native Japanese) teacher who doesn't remember stroke order for some kanji and she's always having to go back and correct a missing line here or redo a radical there. Otherwise we can't read it!

Tougenkyou


IdiotbyDefault
Crew

PostPosted: Sun May 10, 2009 12:49 am


Koiyuki
jmpeer12
You know a lot of people are going to say, IT"S IMPORTANT....
but the thing is, thats because they were taught it's important at one point...
I don't use proper stroke order, I go against "logic" for pretty much everything, yet I do very well.
It's all about you... as you go along, you'll find out what's best for you...

Just experiment with it, and see the results... maybe you're not comfortable with anything... who knows.


I would to add that most Japanese adults forget the proper stroke order as they get older to many Kanji, so don't stress it too much unless you're in a class where it is key, like a Calligraphy class or whathaveyou. Learning it first is important though. Once you feel acclimated to writing it move on and keep on learning. You'd be surprised how little Japanese know of the intricacies of their language(much like how many native English speakers cannot identify many of the inner workings of their language)


That is so true! My students (when I taught English in Japan) were very surprised when I showed them in my electric dictionary on how I go about looking up a kanji I don't know the readings for. They were shocked and such! But, I could show them good and correct grammar, but I couldn't sometimes explain WHY something is in English because some rules seem random almost.

Btw, to answer the question better, it helps when you're learning kanji that you also practice the stroke order and how to actually write them. Once you get pretty good with Japanese (i.e. years of study) you then can stop worrying about stoke order a lot and focus more on being able to read and understand them (so that's when readings will become more important).
PostPosted: Fri May 22, 2009 7:05 am


stroke order is important.

1. helps you count the strokes in a Kanji. Therefore, a lot easier to look up in dictionary.
2. Once you get used to the stroke order, you can write the Kanji faster.
3. Kanji is just a combination of stroke orders, so after you have a grip of the different strokes, memorizing kanjis will be a piece of cake.

cellimimi

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HardGayFooo

PostPosted: Fri May 22, 2009 8:11 am


I'd say stroke order is somewhat important, but if you know the stroke order, your kanji can become prettier, and it makes it easier to memorize because you'll know the number of strokes.
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