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Re: [Lingo] words with kanji in common



On 14/07/07, steven smith <sjs@example.com> wrote:

Learning a foreign language is a difficult prospect. Modern
teaching methods make it easier, of course, using approaches
such as [...] the Natural Approach (mimicking
how children acquire language by building listening skills
and vocabulary before they start to produce speech).

I question the effectiveness of this method, as children's language acquisition "device" (to quote Chomsky--consider the device as literal or figurative as you wish) switches off at a certain age (10-ish? anybody remember?), so I think learning methods that mimic children will not be effective for adults.

The way information is organized is important, too.

I could not agree more. Remember, I'm all about neural networks, as any good Computer Scientist should be. :) I think the more connexions you have to a word or piece of grammar, the more likely you are to be able to recall it on demand.

For example, one
area of English that's especially challenging for foreigners
are two-part idiomatic verbs,

Also known as phrasal verbs.

I knew about 物 (as in 着物, 食べ物, 飲み物).  What other
groups are there?

Oh, tonnes--or "heaps and heaps", as Jim Breen would (presumably) say. ;)

Many kanji can be used as suffixes. Here are some that leap to mind quickly:

食:朝食、伴食、夕食、学食(学生食堂)、その他
化:悪化、強化、国際化、進化、自由化、電化、その他

Is it worth writing a filter for edict to
pull them out or has someone already done this.  I think it
should be a pretty easy perl script.  If it hasn't been done
before and anyone else is interested, let me know and I'll
post the results.

It should be really easy, viz:

http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/cgi-bin/wwwjdic.cgi?1MKJ%B2%BD

<< Search >> the current dictionary for compounds of the selected
kanji: [Position: ( ) initial (o) any, Common words (EDICT) [x] ]

This looks like a useful approach to building vocabulary.  I
imagine this is old stuff for most of you but thought I'd
share it anyway.

Yes, it does. This is why good kanji flashcards have compounds on them. :)

--
Cheers,
Josh

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