Zahlen, bitte! In Japan, children learn 2,136 characters in school

Contents

In Germany, children usually learn to read and write the Latin alphabet by the end of the second grade at the latest. It's different in Japan: Japanese children acquire new characters, so-called Kanji, throughout their entire school career.

Zahlen, bitte!

In this section, we present amazing, impressive, informative and funny figures ("Zahlen") from the fields of IT, science, art, business, politics and, of course, mathematics every Tuesday. The wordplay "Zahlen, bitte!" for a section about numbers is based on the ambiguity of the German word "Zahlen." On one hand, "Zahlen" can be understood as a noun in the sense of digits and numerical values, which fits the theme of the section. On the other hand, the phrase "Zahlen, bitte!" is reminiscent of a waiter's request in a restaurant or bar when they are asked to bring the bill. Through this association, the section acquires a playful and slightly humorous undertone that catches the readers' attention and makes them curious about the presented numbers and facts.

• Alle Artikel zu "Zahlen, bitte!"

Japan's Ministry of Education specifies the “Jōyō-Kanji” (PDF file) (常用漢字), introduced in 1981, for the core curriculum of schools, which, according to the most recent update from 2010, consists of 2136 Kanji. Japanese children generally learn these “characters for general use” by the end of middle school (grade 9).

The Japanese writing system: three scripts instead of one

The Japanese writing system is very complex. Unlike most other languages, Japanese uses not just one script but three different ones: Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji. It all began when Chinese characters came to Japan from China via Korea at the latest by the fifth century. The writing system in Japan is still based on these today.

Hiragana and Katakana are syllabic scripts, each consisting of 46 characters. Children first begin to acquire these comparatively simple scripts before the more complex Kanji are gradually introduced into the curriculum. Hiragana is primarily used for grammatical functions, and Katakana for foreign words and non-Japanese names. Kanji, with their graphic characters, have a meaning-carrying function and therefore primarily form nouns and the root of verbs and adjectives. The meaning can often be inferred; for example, the Japanese word for forest, “mori,” is composed of three trees (“ki”, 木): 森. The Japanese verb for “to rest” contains the Kanji 休, which consists of a person (亻) leaning against a tree (木). The Kanji for “to learn” (学) depicts a child (子) under a roof.

Learning Kanji: Step by Step

By the end of elementary school, the first 1026 of the Jōyō-Kanji are on the curriculum – these are the so-called “teaching Kanji,” or “Kyōiku-Kanji” (教育漢字) in Japanese. The list of Kyōiku-Kanji was created by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT). The remaining 1110 characters are introduced in grades 7 to 9 of middle school.

In addition to the Jōyō-Kanji, there are the “Jinmeiyō-Kanji” (PDF file) (人名用漢字), which consist of 863 “name Kanji” for families and individuals, some of which are not included in the commonly used Jōyō-Kanji list. These are often taught as supplementary material.

Japanese learn new Kanji their whole lives

If you think that learning the Japanese script is completed with the 2136 Jōyō-Kanji, you are mistaken: Japanese dictionaries like Dai Kan-Wa Jiten list up to 50,000 of them. However, only a fraction of them are actually used frequently. The high number of Kanji was the reason for the creation of the Jōyō-Kanji: Reducing the number of frequently used Kanji makes reading accessible to the public. Therefore, the 2136 Jōyō-Kanji are sufficient for understanding most newspapers and official texts. However, since there are many more characters than in the official list, most Japanese people learn new characters throughout their lives, so they are never truly “finished” with them.

In addition, Japanese children acquire the Latin alphabet in elementary school, which they need for English lessons from grade 7 of middle school at the latest. The Latin alphabet is called “Romaji” in Japanese, which can be used to transcribe Japanese words. Examples include well-known brands such as “Toyota”, “Sony”, and “Nikon”. For many learners of the Japanese language, Romaji forms a bridge to the Japanese script at the beginning and facilitates learning.

Digital communication influences Kanji writing ability

Although children learn up to four different scripts in school, due to technological progress, people increasingly write digitally by typing and less by hand throughout their lives. This can have a negative impact on writing skills. As early as 14 years ago, the news site JAPANTODAY reported that, according to a government survey, 66.5% of Japanese people believe that their ability to write Kanji by hand has deteriorated due to the frequent use of mobile phones and computers.

According to the agency Translationexcellence, the Japanese education system is increasingly emphasizing the recognition and reading of Kanji due to this development and less on writing skills. This is because digital tools have made writing Kanji significantly more efficient, making handwriting less necessary.

(mki)