Video 3: Kanji in Tobira Lesson 8

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Description: This is a dual-language video, with content in both Japanese and English. Selecting either English or Japanese captions will provide the same dual-language captions. This video covers the Japanese kanji characters in Lesson 8 of the textbook, Tobira: Gateway to Advanced Japanese Learning Through Content and Multimedia.

Instructor: Dr. Takako Aikawa

Hai, de wa, lesson hachi (8) no saisho no hajime no kanji desu keredo mo, mazu, kono kanji, imi wa ‘effect,’ to ka ‘be effective’ to iu imi ga arimasu.

De, part nan desu keredo mo, component.

Kono hidarigawa no kono component, kono part wa desu ne, ‘exchange’ to iu imi ga arimasu.

Tatoeba, ‘kōryu,’ ‘exchange.’ Sore kara, ‘kokusai kōryu,’ ‘international exchange’ to iu imi ga arimasu.

Sore kara, kono migigawa.

Kore wa minna shittemasu yo ne. ‘power,’ ‘chikara’ to iu imi desu.

So if you exchange your power, you can be more effective to iu, de, kono kanji, ‘effect’ to ka ‘effective’ to iu imi ga arimasu.

Yomikata nan desu keredo mo, on reading ga main desu.

‘kō’ to iimasu.

Tatoeba, ‘kōka,’ ‘result.’ Sore kara ‘kōritsu,’ ‘efficiency.’ Sore kara ‘yūkō,’ kore wa na adjective desu keredo mo, ‘effective’ to iu adjective desu.

Ato, ‘yakkō,’ kono kanji wo mitara deshō ka?

Kore wa ‘kusuri,’ ‘medicine.’ Sore kara ‘effect,’ dakara ‘yakkō’ tte iu no wa, sono, nan desu ka, ‘drag effect’ to iu na imi desu.

Ato kun reading de ‘kiku’ to iu no ga arimasu.

‘kiku.’ ‘kusuri ga kiku’ so ‘medicine worked.

Effective’ to iu imi desu.

Hai, de wa, tsugi no kanji desu.

Kono kanji desu keredo mo, imi wa ‘division,’ sore kara ‘subject of study’ to iu imi ga arimasu.

De, component nan desu keredo mo, mazu kono hidarigawa, kono radical, kore wo ‘nogihen’ to iimasu.

Imi wa desu ne ‘grain’ to iu imi desu.

Sore kara hidarigawa.

Kono kanji wa we used to use this kanji as a counter which is like 18 liters, but we no longer use this counter.

But you can imagine a story you need some sort of counter or cup, in order to divide grains.

De, yomikata desu keredo mo, kore wa on reading dake de daijōbu desu.

Tatoeba, ‘gakuka,’ ‘course of subject.’ ‘Kamoku,’ ‘subject of study.’ Sore kara ‘kagaku.’ Chotto koko kiwotsukete kudasai.

Kono kagaku wa ‘science.’ Kore mo ‘kagaku,’ both are read as ‘kagaku,’ but this character means ‘chemistry.’ Sore kara ‘naika,’ ‘internal medicine.’ ‘geka,’ ‘surgical department.’ Hai, de wa, tsugi no kanji desu.

Kono kanji, imi wa ‘decrease’ no imi ga arimasu.

De, component nan desu keredo mo, kono radical daijōbu desu ne, ‘water.’ Sore kara, kono part desu keredo mo, kore wa you can imagine like weapon or spear, so something like someone is actually making a hole with a weapon so that the water decreases.

Ma, sono story ga dekiru ka to omoimasu.

Yomikata nan desu keredo mo, on reading.

Kore wa ‘gen’ to iimasu.

Tatoeba, ‘genshō,’ daijōbu desu ne, ‘decrease,’ soshite ‘sukunaku narimasu,’ ‘to decrease.’ ‘genten,’ kore wa ‘point’ to iu imi desu.

Dakara, ‘to decrease points,’ ‘reduction,’ ‘point reduction’ no koto desu.

Sore kara ‘gensoku.’ Kono soku tte iu no wa ‘fast’ to ka ‘speed’ desu yo ne.

Dakara ‘speed ga decrease’ no imi desu. ‘genzē,’ kore wa ‘zēkin,’ ‘tax,’ so ‘tax reduction’ no imi desu.

Ato, kun reading de ‘heru’ to iu yomikata.

‘he’ desu. ‘heru.’ Tatoeba, ‘jinkō ga hetta,’ ‘the population decreased’ to iu imi desu.

Tsugi no kanji desu.

Kono kanji, imi wa ‘complete’ to iu imi desu.

Component nan desu keredo mo, kono part, kono radical wo mitara, kore, think about the meaning of roof of a house.

So roof.

Sore de, tsugi no kono part nan desu keredo mo, kore wa, this part, this kanji, character itself means ‘origin,’ to ka ‘base’ no imi desu.

Tatoeba, ‘genki,’ ‘the origin of your spirit.’ So ‘genki desu.’ De, you can imagine a story so the base was attached to the roof so the house is completed.

So complete.

Complete no imi desu.

Yomikata desu keredo mo, on reading de ‘kan.’ Tatoeba, ‘kansē, kansē shimashita,’ ‘completed.’ Sore kara ‘kanryō shimashita,’ kore mo, ma, ‘complete’ ariwa ‘finish’ no imi ga arimasu.

Sore kara ‘kanzen,’ kore wa ‘perfect’ no imi desu.

Hai, tsugi no kanji desu.

Kono kanji, imi wa ‘to climb,’ ‘climb’ no imi ga arimasu.

De, component nan desu keredo mo, kono ue no part desu yo ne.

Kore wa you can imagine outspreaded legs, tatoeba, departure no imi ga arimasu.

Yoku tsukau no wa ‘shuppatsu,’ ‘to depart,’ ‘shuppatsu suru’ desu yo ne, ‘departure’ no imi desu.

Sore kara, naka no kanji.

Kore wa mame, ‘bean’ desu.

So you have to bring beans in order to climb a high mountain to iu no de, kore dochira mo awasete, noboru, ‘climb,’ nan desu keredo mo, ‘noboru.’ Tatoeba, ‘fujisan ni noboru.’ Particle kore ‘ni’ wo kyōtsukete kudasai. ‘to climb.’ Sore kara, on reading de desu ne, tatoeba, ‘tōzan’ kore wa ‘yama ni noboru koto’ desu.

Sore kara ‘tōkō.’ Kore wa gakkō no desu.

Dakara, gakkō ni iku koto desu.

Sore kara, ‘tōjō’ kore wa desu ne, tatoeba, ‘kono geki ni tōjō shimashita,’ ‘to appear’ no imi desu.

Kore wa bashō no ba, place no imi desu.

Dakara, sono bashō ni itta to iu imi desu, to appear.

Hai.

Hai. De wa, tsugi no kanji desu.

Kono kanji desu kedo, imi wa ‘public,’ sore kara ‘official’ to iu imi ga arimasu.

De, kono kanji, there is no story associated with this kanji but this is simply just katakana ha, and katakana mu.

And you can concatenate those two characters.

De, yomikata nan desu keredo mo, On reading de ‘kō.’ Tatoeba, ‘kōen,’ kore daijōbu desu ne, ‘park.’ Sore kara, ‘kōritsu daigaku,’ kore wa ‘public university.’ Sore kara, ‘kōkai suru.’ Kore wa ‘to present something to the public’ to iu imi desu.

De, kun reading nan desu keredo mo, amari tsukaimasen keredo mo, ‘ōyake,’ to iu yomikata mo arimasu.

Tatoeba desu ne, ‘sono jiken wo ōyake ni shita,’ kore wa, sono jiken wo kōkai shita to onaji imi desu.

Hai, de wa, kono kanji desu keredo mo, kanji no imi wa ‘low’ to iu imi desu.

De, component nan desu keredo mo, kono radical daijōbu desu yo ne, kore wa ‘hito,’ ‘person’ no radical desu.

Sore kara, kono part, kono part desu keredo mo, kono kanji by itself means ‘tribe’ or ‘clan.’ So this is the person who is the lowest in one clan.

Or in some tribe, to iu imi de ‘low’ nan desu ga.

Yomikata, mazu, kun reading de ‘hikui.’ Daijōbu desu ne, ‘se ga hikui desu’ sore kara ‘ondo ga hikui desu.’ ‘low’ to iu imi desu. ‘the temperature is low.’ ‘se ga hikui desu,’ ‘it’s short,’ to iu imi desu.

Sore kara ‘tē,’ kore wa on reading de ‘tēon,’ ‘low temperature,’ sore kara ‘saitē,’ kore wa ‘the worst’ kore wa ‘motto mo’ no imi desu kara ‘saitē,’ ‘the worst.’ Hantai, opposite wa ‘saikō,’ ‘the best’ to iu tsukaikata ga arimasu.

Hai, tsugi no kanji desu.

Kono kanji no imi wa desu ne, ‘reverse,’ toka ‘contrary’ to iu imi ga arimasu.

De, radical, kono component nan desu keredo mo, kono radical, kono bubun desu yo ne, Kore wo shinyō, shinyū dochira demo iin desu keredo mo, imi wa ‘legs’ no imi ga arimasu.

Or something to do with legs.

Tatoeba, chotto kanji no list wo mite kudasai.

‘michi,’ ‘street.’ ‘tōri,’ ‘street, road’ desu yo ne, ‘chikai, tōi.’ So this is something to do with legs.

Sore kara, you can imagine this person in a handstand.

So he must be going opposite or reverse.

Sonna story ga daijōbu ka to omoimasu.

De, yomikata desu keredo mo, on reading de ‘gyaku.’ Tatoeba, ‘gyaku,’ ‘reverse,’ aruiwa ‘opposite.’ Sore kara, ‘gyakusetsu.’ Setsu tte iu no wa ‘explanation’ to ka, iu imi ga arun desukedo ‘gyakusetsu’ toiunode, ‘paradox.’ Sore kara ‘gyakuryū,’ ‘counter current,’ kore wa ‘current’ no imi ga arimasu.

Ato desu ne, amari tsukaimasen keredo mo, ma, kun reading de ‘sakadachi.’ ‘sakadachi wo shite kudasai.’ ‘to do handstand’ to iu imi ga arimasu.

Hai, tsugi no kanji desu.

Kono kanji desu kedo, kono kanji no imi wa ‘point’ desu.

So kono part nan desu keredo mo Kono ue no kanji by itself means ‘uranau,’ ‘to fortune telling’ to iu imi ga arimasu.

Sore kara, shita no kono radical, kore wa yoku mitemasu keredo mo, ‘fire’ to iu imi ga arimasu.

We don’t have a good story to make for this character, but this component, this character, means fortune telling, and this radical always means fire.

Yomikata, desu kedo, on reading de ‘ten’ to iu yomikata desu.

Tatoeba, ‘ten,’ test no ten.

The score, the point of the exam of the test.

Sore kara ‘tensū,’ kore mo points, grade, test no tensū, test no ten, kore dochira mo onaji imi desu.

Sore kara ‘genten,’ kore wa ten, ‘point wo herasu’ deduction of points desu yo ne.

Sore kara ‘ketten,’ kore wa ‘defect.’ ‘ano hito no ketten wa yoku hanasu koto desu’ sono, nani ka, sono ‘defect’ to iu imi ga arimasu.

Sore kara desu ne, densha nanka de yoku miru kanji da to omoimasu.

Kore wa ‘shūten,’ kore wa ‘last point.’ Kore ‘owaru.’ So ending point, last point.

Tatoeba, ‘shūten wa Tōkyō desu’ to iu no wa ‘ichiban saigō no eki wa Tōkyō desu’ to iu imi desu.

Hai, tsugi no kanji desu.

Kono kanji desu kedo, imi wa ‘normal, regular’ sore kara ‘always’ to iu imi nan desu keredo mo, chotto shita no kara ikimasu.

Component nan desu ga, kono component, ichiban shita no tokoro desu keredo mo, you can imagine some banner or flag to iu no de, ma, imi toshite wa something to do with cloth.

Sore kara tsugi no kono mannaka no, kore wa daijōbu desu yo ne, mouth.

So you can imagine, under normal circumstances you always have to wear a mask.

So this is perfect for our pandemic period.

Yomikata nan desu keredo mo, On reading de ‘jō’ to iu no ga arimasu.

Tatoeba, ‘jyōji,’ kore wa ‘itsumo’ to iu imi desu.

Sore kara ‘jōshiki,’ kono shiki tte iu no wa ‘knowledge’ to ka ‘sense’ to iu imi ga arun desu kedo, jōshiki, common sense.

Sore kara ‘ijōna,’ kore wa ‘always’ nan desu keredo mo, kore wa ‘not,’ to iu, ‘different’ to iu imi ga arimasu.

So ‘abnormal.’ Sore kara ‘hijōshiki’ kore no negative desu.

So ‘lack of common sense.’ Ato desu ne, hijōni, tte iu no wa, ‘totemo’ to iu imi desu yo ne. ‘hijō ni samui desu’ ‘kyō wa hijō ni samui desu.’ ‘kyō wa totemo samui desu’ to onaji imi desu.

Ato yoku, tatemono no naka de ‘hijōguchi’ to iu no wo mimasu.

Kore wa ‘emergency exit’ to iu imi desu.

Ato, kun reading de ‘tsune ni’ kore wa ‘itsumo’ to iu, ‘always’ to iu imi desu.

Hai. Tsugi no kanji desu.

Kono kanji, imi wa ‘copy’ to iu imi ga arimasu.

De, kono kanji I don’t have a story, but this one, kyōtsukete kudasai.

There’s no dot on top of this.

Sore kara this part, this kanji itself means ‘ataeru’ to give no imi ga arimasu.

Yomikata nan desu keredo mo, kore ‘sha,’ on reading de ‘sha.’ Tatoeba, minna yoku shitteiru, ‘shashin.’ ‘shashin wo totte kudasai.

Shashin wo torimasu.’ Ato, ‘shahon suru,’ kore wa ‘hon’ desu yo ne, dakara, ‘to hand-copy a book.’ Tatoeba, ‘bukkyō no oshie wo shahon shimasu’ to ka.

Ato, ‘fukusha suru,’ kore ‘to copy’ to iu imi ga arimasu.

Ato, kun reading.

Kore de ‘utsusu.’ Kore mo ma, ‘to copy’ nan desu keredo mo, ‘tomodachi no notebook wo utsushimasu,’ ‘to copy a friend’s notebook, note,’ to iu imi desu.

Hai. Tsugi no kanji desu.

Kono kanji desu kedo, imi wa ‘true’ to ka ‘genuine’ to iu imi ga arimasu.

Chotto component wo mite mimashō.

Kono ichiban ue, ii desu ne, ‘jyū,’ ‘ten,’ sore kara, kore, ‘me,’ ‘eyes,’ so ten eyes are standing on the podium to find out the truth.

To find out what’s really going on.

De, kono kanji ‘true,’ sore kara ‘genuine’ to iu imi ga arimasu.

Yomikata desu keredo mo, on reading de ‘shin’ to iu yomikata wo shimasu.

Tatoeba, ‘shashin’ kore wa ‘truth wo copy’ wo suru, ma, ‘photo, photograph’ desu keredo mo, ‘shashin wo toru.’ Sore kara ‘shinjitsu’ kore ‘truth.’ Sore kara ‘shinmi’ ‘real intention.’ Kore wa ‘intention,’ ‘imi.’ Shinmi de real intention desu.

Sore kara, kun reading de ‘ma’ to iu yomikata wo shimasu.

Kore wa ‘mannaka,’ ‘right in the middle.’ Sore kara ‘masshiro,’ ‘really white.’ Sore kara ‘maue’ ‘right above.’ ‘masshita,’ ‘right under.’ iu tsukaikata wo shimasu.

Hai, tsugi no kanji desu.

Kono kanji desu keredo mo, imi wa ‘certain, verified’ no imi ga arimasu.

De, component nan desu keredo mo mazu kono ichiban hidari no tokoro kore wa ‘stone.’ Sore kara kono part nan desu keredo mo this part has something to do with a bird.

So you can make a story saying that make sure, verify, that this bird can be safe by putting a protection, or a roof, and then putting a stone on the left.

De, yomikata nan desu keredo mo, on reading de ‘kaku.’ Tatoeba, ‘kakujitsu na’ kore na adjective desu. ‘certain.’ Sore kara ‘kakuritsu’ kore wa sūgaku, math, de yoku tsukaimasu yo ne ‘probability.’ Sore kara ‘mēkaku na’ kore mo na adjective desu.

‘clear,’ tatoeba ‘mēkaku na setsumē,’ ‘clear explanation’ wo shite kudasai.

‘sēkaku na’ kore ‘accurate.’ Sore kara ‘kakushin suru’ kore wa ‘to believe firmly.’ Sore kara ‘kakunin suru’ ‘to confirm.’ Yoku ‘jikan wo kakunin shite kudasai,’ ‘please confirm the time’ konna tsukaikata wo shimasu.

Ato, kun reading de ‘tashi,’ ‘tashikameru’ ‘to verify.’ Tatoeba, ‘jikan wo tashikamete kudasai.’ Ma, ‘please verify the time’ to iu imi desu.

Hai. Tsugi no kanji desu.

Kono kanji, lesson hachi no saigō no, last character desu.

Kono kanji desu keredo mo, imi wa ‘village’ no imi ga arimasu.

Component, kore daijōbu desu yo ne, ‘tree.’ Sore kara, kono migigawa nan desu keredo mo, kono kanji, we used to have a counter called ‘sun,’ which more directly corresponds to English ‘inch’ but you can think about the meaning like ‘chop off.’ So in order to build a village, you have to chop off lots of trees to iu imi, sonna imi desu.

De, reading nan desu keredo mo, on reading de ‘son.’ Tatoeba, ‘nōson’ kore wa ‘farm, farm village.’ Sore kara ‘gyoson’ kore wa ‘fishing village’ Ato, kun reading de ‘mura’ ‘village.’ And sore kara ‘murabito’ kore ‘villager.’ Mura no hito to iu imi desu.