I read recently that you never know how much you don’t know until you have to answer questions on a test. I find that true. I thought I was good at Japanese. I thought I was ready for more advanced study.
I’m not. KanKen has helped me in learning this.
I’ve had problems with 左 and 右 for the longest time. But I never actually devoted much energy to memorize the stroke order differences. I figured they didn’t matter that much. And while they may not, it’s a fun fact to know.
Here’s a mnemonic I developed for the difference between the two kanji:
For 右, the first stroke is the slanted stroke in the cross. In Rtk, a smaller version of such a mark is called a “dot” or a “drop”. The primitive “mouth” is in this kanji. So, “A drop of spit comes out of the mouth”.
And voila.
All you have to do to remember the difference is know that 左 is the opposite of the spit drop (the vertical stroke is first). If you want, you could develop your own for this one too, such as “The ceiling (vertical) has the wire (slant) nailed through it to hold up the decorative craft (the “I”).
Simple. Yes it is very simple. But you don’t know how hard simple things are until you face them and are held accountable for them.
