19 messages over 3 pages: 1 2 3
Captain Haddock Diglot Senior Member Japan kanjicabinet.tumblr. Joined 6767 days ago 2282 posts - 2814 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: French, Korean, Ancient Greek
| Message 17 of 19 06 January 2007 at 10:01pm | IP Logged |
Raincrowlee wrote:
Journeyer wrote:
What are four-character idioms? |
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There are a large number of idioms in Japanese and Chinese that are four characters long. Apparently, in the two languages, four is thought to have a "balanced" sound. There are also idioms with more characters, but four is the most common number. |
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Wikipedia has a decent article on Japanese four-character idioms here.
In Japanese, they often work like a single word with a complicated meaning, and it helps to learn them as such. Sometimes they come directly from Chinese, and sometimes they're condensed from well-known proverbs.
Side note: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, well-known to Westerners as the title of an excellent film, is an example of a Chinese four-character idiom. The meaning isn't exactly obvious to Westerners, but communicates a load of information to a Chinese person.
I didn't mean to narrow this thread down into any single language. I think anyone can divide up his target language into stages, where progressively difficult aspects are mastered. For my own purposes, I also like having a roadmap of where I'm going, not only so I can stay on course, but also so I don't miss any important stops on the way. :)
Edited by Captain Haddock on 06 January 2007 at 10:03pm
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| tujiko Senior Member United States Joined 6532 days ago 140 posts - 144 votes Speaks: English*
| Message 18 of 19 14 January 2007 at 6:21pm | IP Logged |
I agree that an advanced fluency is not the same as a basic or conversational fluency. However, in terms of a line being drawn, I don't think such well-defined boundaries exist. I figure as long as you make every effort to reach your desired level, you'll figure it out along the way (in other words, you'll know when you get there).
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| nhk9 Senior Member Canada Joined 6803 days ago 290 posts - 319 votes Speaks: English*
| Message 19 of 19 15 January 2007 at 1:35pm | IP Logged |
Going back to intermediate vs advanced fluency, here's my take on it.
Most intermediate textbooks should cover all the grammar structures that are used in daily life. Studying these books should allow one to pass JLPT level 2.
Notice that there are not that many so called "advanced" Japanese language textbooks for foreigners. What you will see often are so called "upper intermediate heading toward advanced level". Actually I have taken my fair share of advanced Japanese language courses and I have to say that there is really no such thing as an "advanced level" textbook for foreigners. In more advanced courses, students are expected to be exposed to many types of writing, such as novels, newspapers, classics; thus, these students would be reading many books instead of one consolidated "textbook". Moreover, advanced students will use the same grammar reference books as the ones used by natives. Becoming an advanced student takes a lot of time and is troublesome, that's why it's not easy to pass the JLPT 1, especially for a westerner.
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