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Hallo all.
I've not been using this site for long and I, like ,most, have simply solicited help with translations etc (I submitted another yesterday!). I notice there are a few people (I Nagy, MikeOz, Rat, etc) who are great sources of help in answering members questions and I wonder whether any of you could let me know how one begins to contribute rather than just be a recipient of your knowledge. Is there a source (i.e. book) which could help a beginner like myself start to understand how to interpret Japanese/Chinese character? I appreciate this is a huge subject, but one must start somewhere.
Thank you for the expertise you bring to this forum.
Jack.

It might be easiest to contribute information about things you are already good at. There are plenty of books, but which of them will be useful to you depends on your goals. Is there some specific kind of thing you want to be able to read? (painting inscriptions? marks on ceramics? seals?) Some background on Chinese language and characters: Oliver Moore, "Chinese" (part of a U Cal book series called Reading the Past) is a short book (70 pages) that discusses the language early Chinese script types. A longer paperback that talks about the Chinese language in more depth (and doesn't focus on early history) is Richard Newnham, "About Chinese". Some information about marks on Chinese porcelain is here: http://gotheborg.com/marks/20thcenturychina.shtml

A compendium of information on traditional China and resources for studying it is found in Endymion Wilkinson, "Chinese History: A Manual". It's a great reference but is likely more than what you are presently looking for. You don't have to get the most recent edition, an older one will keep you plenty busy.

Finally a very entertaining article that is nonetheless full of truth: "Why Chinese Is So Damned Hard" http://pinyin.info/readings/texts/moser.html

Hi Jack,

My story is simple. 65 years ago I was a student at technical college with some Japanese boys. One day I asked one how to write my name in characters. I asked him the meaning of the four characters he gave me to phonetically match my name. That started a quest. I bought a Japanese English character dictionary. I probably now have 20 or 30 dictionaries covering Japanese, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Seal script and even older forms.

I also took up calligraphy and seal carving with a Chinese teacher, and exhibit my work in exhibitions around the world. I also have many Chinese friends with whom I discuss the language and how it works.

There are also a few books in English about Chinese characters - seek them out and start your own journey.

MikeOz/Rat, thank you both for the information you provide.

Rat, you succinctly summarised the enormity of the subject. I suppose I need to look at this from a basis start-point. The fact is i am often interested in oriental art/artefacts and they are inevitably stamped and/or signed. As i do not have even the rudiments to distinguish between Japanese and Chinese, I suspect the Oliver Moore book will be my start point. Thank you.

MikeOz, what an interesting 'career' you have had! Tis not unlike my career in software writing...I game myself a challenge (about a 1000 years ago) to make a micro computer do something I instructed and ended up writing low-level software (Assembler) for a corporation. In short, you make a good point...there is no better way to learn than by 'doing'. Very inspiration...thank you.

Dear Jack,
Omne pricipium difficile
Maybe my story is the simplest.
I spent most of my life in Japan, maybe I am better in Japanese than in my native language (Hungarian) A few decades ago I got a degree in Orintal Culture from the Department of Literature of the Japanese Waseda University. During my university years I had to learn classcal Chinese and Japanese literature,history, religion (Buddhism) art etc. Beside of my principal job for decades I have been working as interpreter and translator(English was not envolved) Now after getting retired I do have moore time to refresh my long learned and forgotten knowledge e.g. calligraphy. PC and the web certainly is a great blessing, without it would be impossible to find many things - but without the basic knowledge of the involved languages
it does not help much.
I hope my example will not deter you from learning.
Ad astra per aspera.

With regards,
I.Nagy

Hi I.Nagy.
What a wonderful education you have had, and immensely beneficial for those of us who flounder with comprehending the myriad Japanese symbols/characters. Your history serves to highlight the difficulty of the subject...so I shall start slowly.
Thank you.
Jack

To the starts indeed...

I. Nagy,
Did you feel, as you were learning Japanese, that it was more similar to the Hungarian language then might be expected given the differences between the two countries and cultures? A Canadian with Hungarian heritage whom I knew in Japan a number of years ago used to say that the two languages shared similarities, perhaps in grammar or in pronunciation, I can't remember now. We thought this was strangebut didn't know how to determine if it was anything other than coincidence

Hallo Jack,

Perhaps you can use these 2 links to help you on your way with Japanese Kanji:
To find and compose Japanese Kanji characters:
https://jisho.org/#radical
(and you can also partly use this tool to compose Chinese characters as well).
For the meaning and translations of the Kanji characters:
http://www.romajidesu.com/kanji/
You can also google Katakana and Hiragana to find the tables with the meaning of those Japanese characters.
Good luck.
Martin.

Thank you for your suggestions Martin.
I have ordered the small Oliver Moore book (as suggested by Rat) and will look at the sites you have suggested.
Regards
Jack.

Jack: I recommend that you get a copy of "List of 500 Kanji" printed by the University of California Press. This is a large-print text book in a handy 6x8 inch size, and includes hiragana and katakana as well as 500 kanji, all with stroke order and with running script equivalents. I believe used copies are available. The book is very valuable in learning the basics of Japanese writing.

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