One fact about learning Japanese I’ve written about before is the odd “duality” your brain starts to perceive. In general, most kanji have two pronunciations, a Chinese reading roughly based on the original Chinese word, and a Japanese reading which has been shoe-horned in to fit that character’s meaning over the years, and knowing which to use can be a challenge. The word “cold” in French is froid, and it’s used exactly the same way as we use it in English, but this convenient 1:1 translation doesn’t always work in Japanese, where they have separate words for coldness in the air (samui) and coldness to the touch (tsumetai). Another example of a simple concept becoming more complex is “sister,” which is translatable as oneesan for an older sister and imoto for younger sister. There are quite a few English words that get split into multiple versions, too. The device used to smooth out wrinkles in clothes is an airon (iron) but the thing you hit a golf ball with is an aian, a completely different word as far as the Japanese are concerned. If you’re thirsty, you can drink drink water from a gurasu (glass) while looking through the garasu of the window — those two words have also become separate concepts. Honestly, remembering which word to use can actually make your brain tired at the end of the day.
Which is it? I’m not sure! Help me! (It’s a gurasu, not a garasu.)
