Thanks to excessive downtime at work today...

[akujunkan]

...I find myself reading Kodansha's Effective Japanese Usage Dictionary cover to cover. (Yes. I am a geek. Be quiet.) The dictionary's purpose is to clarify the difference between various Japanese words and phrases which have seemingly interchangeable English definitions.

More often than not, I find myself reading the various explanations and example sentences and saying, "Of course you would never use that word like that!" Considering these reactions, I often find that I can't say why, a certain usage sounds wrong, just that it does. This means that I've come to have a decent intuitive grasp of how to use these expressions, which is very gratifying.

That will be all.

Comments

[sara-tanaquil.livejournal.com]

I love that book! My only complaint is that it doesn't have ENOUGH entries. I should pick it up and read it again, now that I've gotten further into 2kyuu territory.

I envy your intuitive knowledge with a passion approaching the murderous. ^_~

[akujunkan.livejournal.com]

Amen to that! And to the fact that it doesn't handle some of what I consider to be the most confusing and easily misused word pairs.

Don't get too murderous, for I am over here lamenting the fact that I am never going to make significant inroads into my Korean study. At least JSL students have resources to hand. (;.;)