How to pretend reading Kanji 

by Toshi

Yes, here is my method in feigning an ability to read Kanji (out loud). By calling it Kanji, of course I meanChinese characters in JAPAN, not in PRC (where they are called Hanzi), or in Korea (where they are calledHanja).I’ve applied this method numerous times, but I must remind you that before you start applying this trick,you have to realize that this method isn’t completely foolproof.Here are the steps:· You must have completed mastery of Kana (Hiragana and Katakana), no exception allowed.· Make sure that the whole text of Kanji, whether it is from a children’s magazine, children’s book,or Japanese beginner’s text hasRuby Characters (Furigana)on them,

including therepetitions of the characters

. Hence, if you see the character

山

in the beginning of thetext has transliteration of 

やま

, make sure that when you find the same character in latter partof the text, the

山

would still have its furigana of 

やま

 · It would be better off if you can speed-read Kana.· Under any circumstances,

NEVER 

attempt this whole method in front of a real Japanese speaker,otherwise you would be laughed off straightaway. A real Japanese speaker would recogniseyour “kanji-reading” as a fake one directly, because beginners in Japanese language tend toemphasise their “speaking” in the

accents

, not in the

intonation

as a real Japanese speakerwould do.· Practise the reading-out-loud of the text concerned in private before you try demonstrating it infront of your relatives/colleagues/friends/acquaintances, in order to minimise the possibilityof stumbling in several Hiragana/Katakana characters.· The people whom you demonstrated the “Kanji-reading” method to would certainly applaud yourability to be able to read such complex characters. Sometimes, they would ask you to give themthe summary of the whole text. In order to ready yourself for such a case, open your Japanesedictionary and look for the vocabularies and get a grip on what the whole text is about.