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It is actually a bad analogy, because when you draw Mickey Mouse you're using your right brain. This is also the case for a beginner in kanji, because he'll be
by eloisant 12y ago
It is actually a bad analogy, because when you draw Mickey Mouse you're using your right brain. This is also the case for a beginner in kanji, because he'll be considering it as a drawing.
When you really learn the kanji (or Han characters to be more generic, kanji being the Japanese name), you end seeing them with their components, and you'll be using your left brain to write them - just like when writing English.
- tinco 12y agoI don't know what I'm talking about, but isn't that exactly what he describes? That if you forget how to write the character, you depend on your right brain to draw it which feels uncomfortable and likely comes out wrong?
- fenomas 12y agoIt's the best analogy I can think of, perhaps you have a better one. Note that when I say "draw Mickey Mouse" I mean the rote reproduction of the standard iconic character - not the creative act of drawing an original picture. A well-known corporate logo might be a better example but I couldn't think of any complex enough. As for left-brain/right-brain, I doubt that's a useful distinction here (if indeed it's useful anywhere). But that aside, I don't think it's correct to suggest that native speakers process Han characters just like English. See for example: http://brain.oxfordjournals.org/content/123/5/954.full.pdf http://brain.oxfordjournals.org/content/123/5/954.full.pdf