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[clav]

Could somebody explain all the differences between 知る and 分かる? I know that wakaru is "
to understand" and shiru is "to be acquainted with", but I still tend to mix them up. For example, if I'm confirming that I know a piece of information, I would say 知っている, right? What are some of the other instances in which I would use each? Nothing has bugged me more than these two words for some reason.

Correct me if I'm wrong (only been studying Japanese for two years), but my experience with using わかる　can be used for to know in a polite matter, so it's always safe to use.

If you really do know it, then you can use 知っている.

 

[tnw]

Correct me if I'm wrong (only been studying Japanese for two years), but my experience with using わかる　can be used for to know in a polite matter, so it's always safe to use.

If you really do know it, then you can use 知っている.

wakaru means 'understand', shiru means 'know'. I think it's kind of similar to the difference between comprende and entiendo in spansih

Do you understand what I'm saying? 'itteiru koto wa wakarimasu ka'

Do you know what lotus root is 'renkon tte shitteimasu ka/gozonji desu ka?'

etc.

 

[YYZ]

I just started on the Remembering the Kana book. I'm on lesson 3 (done 17 hirigana).

I have a question, for the hirigana KI and SA, do you guys connect the bottom stroke with the rest of the character like in some stylized typefaces? Would it be considered completely incorrect to do this when writing by hand?


Oh, and the book is pretty damn good. My only complaint would be that some of his mnemonics are pretty outrageous and silly. Takes imagination to keep them in mind.

 

[Hitokage]

I have a question, for the hirigana KI and SA, do you guys connect the bottom stroke with the rest of the character like in some stylized typefaces? Would it be considered completely incorrect to do this when writing by hand?

Keep in mind that while Japanese is traditionally written by brush, you're using a pen or pencil and don't need to recreate ink trails or worry about various cursive stylings.

In other words, it's best to leave them disconnected.

 

[sasimirobot]

"Japan is the greatest country in the world"

"Japanese girls are super hot"

etc..

OK. lets not get stupid. Yes we like the country, and the women, and the games, but really...

The fact that most of the people in this thread have never been to another Asian country longer to renew a visa is shit obvious.

It is not the end all be all of Asian countries by far. Japan has alot of pock marks that are glossed over by people that have not lived there...and even by people that do live there.

I give Japan a 6.8

 

[tnw]

"Japan is the greatest country in the world"

"Japanese girls are super hot"

etc..

OK. lets not get stupid. Yes we like the country, and the women, and the games, but really...

The fact that most of the people in this thread have never been to another Asian country longer to renew a visa is shit obvious.

It is not the end all be all of Asian countries by far. Japan has alot of pock marks that are glossed over by people that have not lived there...and even by people that do live there.

I give Japan a 6.8

I'd give Japan a 7.0. It get high marks for its transportation, good social services, excellent food, and pretty good products.

It gets crap marks for its society and people as well as being particularly ugly.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

"Japan is the greatest country in the world"

"Japanese girls are super hot"

etc..

OK. lets not get stupid. Yes we like the country, and the women, and the games, but really...

The fact that most of the people in this thread have never been to another Asian country longer to renew a visa is shit obvious.

It is not the end all be all of Asian countries by far. Japan has alot of pock marks that are glossed over by people that have not lived there...and even by people that do live there.

I give Japan a 6.8

I honestly don't even consider Japan part of Asia personally.

Sure Japan has a lot of shitty aspects too, but what country doesn't? "Perfect" is also completely subjective and the country that best suits a person is their "perfect" country.

By the way, since when was staying in other Asian countries for long periods of time a pre-requisite to appreciating Japan?

 

[bigmit3737]

Is the form of adding N desu....such as

Itta n desu used frequently?


I am just learning about it...It's a less polite form no?

 

[Zoe]

I am just learning about it...It's a less polite form no?

I'm blanking on examples right now, but I wouldn't say it's less polite because you'll either see it as "n desu" or "no de." The latter would be less polite because it's not being conjugated.

 

[Kilrogg]

wakaru means 'understand', shiru means 'know'. I think it's kind of similar to the difference between comprende and entiendo in spansih

Do you understand what I'm saying? 'itteiru koto wa wakarimasu ka'

Do you know what lotus root is 'renkon tte shitteimasu ka/gozonji desu ka?'

etc.

Well, a better way to translate わかる would be "to be clear". That's because

1) Unlike "understand", which can be a transitive verb (which means it requires a direct object), わかる requires が, not を. For example, you shouldn't say 「わけをわからない。」, but 「わけがわからない。」.

2) I find it easier to get the difference between わかる and しる if you keep "to be clear" in mind as the translation for わかる. The sentence I typed earlier translates as "I don't understand the reason (...why he did that, why it happened, etc.)", but if you were to translate it literally, it would go like this: "The reason isn't clear (to me)". Hard to confuse "to be clear" and "to know", isn't it? I guess you could say that "to be clear" is the clearer translation .

Also, to use tnw's れんこん (lotus root) example, suppose someone tells you something about the lotus root. If they then ask you 「わかりますか。」, they're basically asking you if you understood what they've just said, the sentence as a whole. They ask you if what they said was clear. Now, if they tell you 「しっていますか。」, I guess they either want to know if you know the lotus root, or if you know the information they just gave you about it. Well, I'm not too sure about that last one, maybe they'd use the past tense, so if a j-gaffer thinks I'm wrong, I'll gladly stand corrected.

Anyway, I'm really sorry to insist, but, to those of you who have trouble understanding these concepts, just read Making Sense of Japanese by Jay Rubin, it tackles all those issues. It's actually in that book that I found out the difference between the two verbs and why "to be clear" is a good way to "get" わかる.

@bigmit3737: "n desu" is also explained in the book I mentioned. To put it in a nutshell, you use it when speaking about a shared experience with someone, something you just noticed, or ascertained. It's kinda hard to explain, really. Say you see a friend reading a book, and they look engrossed (example from Rubin's book). If you tell them "omoshiroi desu ka", which means "Is it interesting?", you don't seem to have noticed how engrossed they look. On the other hand, if you tell them "omoshiroindesu ka", which also means "Is it interesting?", it's a bit like saying "you seem to enjoy this book", or "Is it interesting? Because you it sure looks like you're having a good time". Of course, I assume you can't completely get "n desu" unless you've encountered it countless times, but I think that's a good start. Also, please note that "no desu" is exactly the same thing, just a bit more polite. It's found in written language especially (not necessarily though). Also, as a general rule, remember that n(o) desu is used a lot more in spoken language than in written language.

 

[sasimirobot]

I'd give Japan a 7.0. It get high marks for its transportation, good social services, excellent food, and pretty good products.

It gets crap marks for its society and people as well as being particularly ugly.

Some parts of Tokyo are kinda ugly I agree, but the nature in Japan is some of the most pristine I have ever seen.

Sure visiting other parts of Asia will give you an appreciation and a different outlook of alot of things in Japan.

I love Japan and the language and parts of the culture, but I don't put it on a pedestal. Who knows I may end up living there for the rest of my life, and maybe that scares me...

 

[zoku88]

I'd give Japan a 7.0. It get high marks for its transportation, good social services, excellent food, and pretty good products.

It gets crap marks for its society and people as well as being particularly ugly.

For a second there, I thought you were saying that Jpn people were particularly ugly. I was thinking: wow, what a mean thing to say. :lol :lol

Is the form of adding N desu....such as

Itta n desu used frequently?


I am just learning about it...It's a less polite form no?

I thought n desu was just more like saying an explanation or something. Like

Tokee nakattan desu is saying "It's that there wasn't a clock." I think?

 

[Zoe]

I thought n desu was just more like saying an explanation or something. Like

Tokee nakattan desu is saying "It's that there wasn't a clock." I think?

In his example, you can think of it as "<are you reading it so intently> because it's interesting?"

Japanese is the king of implied fragments x_X

 

[Hitokage]

Some parts of Tokyo are kinda ugly I agree, but the nature in Japan is some of the most pristine I have ever seen.

Not for long if China has its way. :/

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Some parts of Tokyo are kinda ugly I agree, but the nature in Japan is some of the most pristine I have ever seen.

Sure visiting other parts of Asia will give you an appreciation and a different outlook of alot of things in Japan.

I love Japan and the language and parts of the culture, but I don't put it on a pedestal. Who knows I may end up living there for the rest of my life, and maybe that scares me...

Visiting anywhere will give you an appreciation and a different outlook of the place you live in, but I don't think you need to see the world before you can appreciate a certain country.

I don't know if your initial "perfect country" remark was directed at me or not, but I do not place Japan on a pedestal necessarily. I think it's an awesome country and I will probably live here for the rest of my life, but that doesn't mean I turn a blind eye to its faults. It's just that for me, personally, the negative things about Japan are far outweighed by the positive aspects.

 

[zoku88]

In his example, you can think of it as "<are you reading it so intently> because it's interesting?"

Japanese is the king of implied fragments x_X

Haha, I see. I actually had no idea what itta meant :lol

 

[tnw]

Some parts of Tokyo are kinda ugly I agree, but the nature in Japan is some of the most pristine I have ever seen.

There is almost no part of japan that hasn't been plagued by the govt's cedar plantings. I find them particularly ugly. That and half of the country side has been covered over with concrete from a glut of gov't Big Deal-ish gov't projects.

I can understand where you might think it's pretty, but it's certainly not pristine.

I still give japan a 7.0 though. There are a lot of good things here.

 

[Hitokage]

Haha, I see. I actually had no idea what itta meant :lol

Now, here's the fun part

iru -> itta
iku -> itta
iu -> itta

 

[Deleted member 17706]

There is almost no part of japan that hasn't been plagued by the govt's cedar plantings. I find them particularly ugly. That and half of the country side has been covered over with concrete from a glut of gov't Big Deal-ish gov't projects.

I can understand where you might think it's pretty, but it's certainly not pristine.

I still give japan a 7.0 though. There are a lot of good things here.

There are plenty of places in Japan that are absolutely pristine.

If you give Japan a 7.0, I'm curious about what other countries you have lived in and what scores you give them. It would help to put your score in perspective :lol

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Now, here's the fun part

iru -> itta
iku -> itta
iu -> itta

iru -> ita (or "otta" in some regional dialects)

 

[Hitokage]

iru -> ita (or "otta" in some regional dialects)

Not that iru. "iru" as in "to need".

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Not that iru. "iru" as in "to need".

Ahh... gotcha.

I didn't think of that because of how rarely the past tense of &#35201;&#12427; is actually used.

 

[Hitokage]

Yeah, and it's pretty obvious in context, but I was having fun.

 

[YYZ]

Can you guys read a Japanese text as proficiently as an English one? So far I'm moving along this learning kana book and it's a little overwhelming that in the future I'm supposed to be able to look at these characters and know almost instantly what sound they stand for (assuming I don't give up).

What about speaking? Do you guys speak as proficiently as a native speaker after X number of years?

 

[tnw]

Can you guys read a Japanese text as proficiently as an English one? So far I'm moving along this learning kana book and it's a little overwhelming that in the future I'm supposed to be able to look at these characters and know almost instantly what sound they stand for (assuming I don't give up).

What about speaking? Do you guys speak as proficiently as a native speaker after X number of years?

i mean besides colloquial expressions/rarely used words that I might have to look up, of course you can.

If you give Japan a 7.0, I'm curious about what other countries you have lived in and what scores you give them. It would help to put your score in perspective

Well, I lived in rural japan for 3 years, and I certainly can't say I saw anything pristine. The only place I've seen really pristine is in Okutama on a broken down maintainence road. Since that's where Tokyo's water comes from (in part) they didn't do any of those horrible cedar plantings, etc, so it all looks very pretty. No concrete hillsides either.

I would give Minneapolis an 8.5 overall. (it only lacking the density that I really like living in Tokyo) Boston/Cambridge would also be an 8.5. DC gets an 8.0

I don't really like saying this, but my main beef with Japan is the people, as I just don't mesh with them (and it's certainly not for a lack of trying over the years) It drags down the score considerably. The overall scores for the other cities are raised by the people, so that's why they're a little higher.

 

[Hitokage]

Can you guys read a Japanese text as proficiently as an English one? So far I'm moving along this learning kana book and it's a little overwhelming that in the future I'm supposed to be able to look at these characters and know almost instantly what sound they stand for (assuming I don't give up).

There are some in this forum who think romaji is of the devil and will mess you up for life. I happen to think that's only if you tightly associate roman lettering with english. If you've taken another language like german or are otherwise used to changing the rules for how letters are to be pronounced, it's not that big of a deal at all.

The true damage of romaji though, is that you're wasting time that could have been spent getting used to kana. Proficiency in reading comes through reading, and it's even better when you're writing it too. You'll get used to it, not totally unlike how you got used to all the acronyms and jargon used in internet conversation.

(Banishing romaji titling from my music library was a great move, looking back on it...)

 

[okno]

It took me just about three months to become comfortable with reading kana. I can, after having now taken about seven months of Japanese, read almost as fast as I can in English. The Kanji slows me down mostly, because that's what I'm learning now and things like "go" and "hana", which have just a slight discrepancy, tend to slow me down. It also becomes easier as you start to recognize words, because then you can kind of predict what's coming next.

 

[YYZ]

Wait what exactly is romaji? Is what I'm studying now called romaji? Besides the explanatory text, the only English I see are approximations for how each hirigana sounds like since this book is meant for students who know English.

 

[okno]

Wait what exactly is romaji? Is what I'm studying now called romaji? Besides the explanatory text, the only English I see are approximations for how each hirigana sounds like since this book is meant for students who know English.

Romaji is the english equivalent of japanese characters. It's a rough, but fairly accurate, way to translate japanese to english, but obvs it has its problems.

 

[YYZ]

oh it's a shortcut then. I don't see the usefulness though??

Are you guys writing Japanese with romaji or are you using software keyboard program?

 

[zoku88]

Now, here's the fun part

iru -> itta
iku -> itta
iu -> itta

O crap, this sounds familiar. I think I'm supposed to know that >.> I blame Spring Break >.>

 

[okno]

oh it's a shortcut then. I don't see the usefulness though??

Are you guys writing Japanese with romaji or are you using software keyboard program?

I just use the native Japanese font on my Mac, which I'm assuming is what the others are doing (PC+MAC). Romaji is fine, but it's so much better to use the actual characters, otherwise you're only doing half of the learning.

 

[tnw]

oh it's a shortcut then. I don't see the usefulness though??

Are you guys writing Japanese with romaji or are you using software keyboard program?

it's not a shortcut. it's romanization of japanese so that people using the roman alphbet can read it. They do the same thing with greek or Cyrillic alphabetic languages

when you type in japanese, you spell things out in romaji. The computer will then change it to hiragana as you type. If you press space bar, the computer will guess at the changes you want to make and turn it into kanji/kana. If it doesn't give you the kanji/kana you want, press space bar again, and a sub menu will pop up where you can choose from a list of kanji or just convert it to whatever kana you want.

There are some keyboards that have kana imput as there basis, but I've never used them. I think it would be really frustrating to use.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Can you guys read a Japanese text as proficiently as an English one? So far I'm moving along this learning kana book and it's a little overwhelming that in the future I'm supposed to be able to look at these characters and know almost instantly what sound they stand for (assuming I don't give up).

What about speaking? Do you guys speak as proficiently as a native speaker after X number of years?

I do so much more reading in Japanese than English that I think my Japanese vocabulary might actually be bigger than my English vocabulary.

I've been studying Japanese since 2002 and I am pretty much at a native level. My pronunciation is definitely at native level and my reading speed / comprehension skills are up there as well. My handwriting skills still leave something to be desired, though. Because I have always been using computers and electronic devices, I have little opportunity to write using a pen / pencil and thus my skills have suffered in that aspect. I'll often find myself unable to remember a particular Kanji when writing with my hand even though I would instantly recognize the Kanji if I saw it. I notice that my younger Japanese friends experience similar problems as well.

If you make an effort and immerse yourself you can learn any language to fluency. It just takes a lot of time and dedication.

 

[clav]

I do so much more reading in Japanese than English that I think my Japanese vocabulary might actually be bigger than my English vocabulary.

I've been studying Japanese since 2002 and I am pretty much at a native level. My pronunciation is definitely at native level and my reading speed / comprehension skills are up there as well. My handwriting skills still leave something to be desired, though. Because I have always been using computers and electronic devices, I have little opportunity to write using a pen / pencil and thus my skills have suffered in that aspect. I'll often find myself unable to remember a particular Kanji when writing with my hand even though I would instantly recognize the Kanji if I saw it. I notice that my younger Japanese friends experience similar problems as well.

If you make an effort and immerse yourself you can learn any language to fluency. It just takes a lot of time and dedication.

I'm close to the end of my junior year in college and am going to complete my second year in Japanese. How much did you study every day to become at least fluent in speaking?

I also have trouble finding the right words to say when I speak in Japanese. Mostly, my vocabulary is limited. What tools did you use to help you in that area? When did it come to a point for you that you could express anything you wanted in Japanese?

 

[bigmit3737]

Can you guys read a Japanese text as proficiently as an English one? So far I'm moving along this learning kana book and it's a little overwhelming that in the future I'm supposed to be able to look at these characters and know almost instantly what sound they stand for (assuming I don't give up).

What about speaking? Do you guys speak as proficiently as a native speaker after X number of years?

I think it just takes time...I started about a few weeks ago...and the more time I spend reading thing in Japanese (In my case decoding Japanese)...the faster I recognize things.

Certainly words like Desu, I pretty much recognize instantly...
Also getting used to words like Koko, Kore, Sore etc etc

I am also slowly getting used to basic greetings...

I mix it up with learning Kanji as well...and the best part was when I watched some Japanese channel on tv, I was able to recognize some characters that were part of the subtitles..

I am slowly getting faster and faster...

Another happy note is I am able to catch words in anime that I learned...even break down sentences.. It's not Gibberish anymore..

Back to learning.

 

[bigmit3737]

I do so much more reading in Japanese than English that I think my Japanese vocabulary might actually be bigger than my English vocabulary.

I've been studying Japanese since 2002 and I am pretty much at a native level. My pronunciation is definitely at native level and my reading speed / comprehension skills are up there as well. My handwriting skills still leave something to be desired, though. Because I have always been using computers and electronic devices, I have little opportunity to write using a pen / pencil and thus my skills have suffered in that aspect. I'll often find myself unable to remember a particular Kanji when writing with my hand even though I would instantly recognize the Kanji if I saw it. I notice that my younger Japanese friends experience similar problems as well.

If you make an effort and immerse yourself you can learn any language to fluency. It just takes a lot of time and dedication.

That's what is happening to me. I can't write for the life of me...firstly even my english handwriting is pretty messy... So you don't want to imagine my Japanese..

I figured I will not worry about writing too much at this point..since my handwriting in general sucks and I will be using the computer to write out anything needed...Though, I am practicing writing..but barely.

 

[Zoe]

I have to wonder if it's even possible for a westerner to be able to read Japanese as well as a native can. One of my professors said that there have been studies done that show native speakers use a different part of their brain to recognize kanji than non-natives do. That's how they can process kanji so quickly.

I figured I will not worry about writing too much at this point..since my handwriting in general sucks and I will be using the computer to write out anything needed...Though, I am practicing writing..but barely.

Writing it out really will make it easier to learn and remember though.

 

[clav]

That's what is happening to me. I can't write for the life of me...firstly even my english handwriting is pretty messy... So you don't want to imagine my Japanese..

I figured I will not worry about writing too much at this point..since my handwriting in general sucks and I will be using the computer to write out anything needed...Though, I am practicing writing..but barely.

If you ever take a class in Japanese with a really strict sensei, oh man, you're going to take a whipping for bad handwriting. I sure have. Every time I get back a Kanji written assignment, I'm happy I get a 4.5/5.0. Usually -0.5 because one tiny stroke doesn't match up correctly.

The irony is that I have taken a bit of Chinese back in my early childhood days for six years. I went to Chinese school every Saturday and most of the time hated every bit of it.

My handwriting has improved greatly ever since I had such a teacher, but then again at the same time, since the language is so difficult and the teacher sets high expectations, it's been killing my GPA a bit.

Supposedly engineers take easy classes to boost their GPA. Well, I took Japanese as an interest. Hopefully, it'll pay off.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

I have to wonder if it's even possible for a westerner to be able to read Japanese as well as a native can. One of my professors said that there have been studies done that show native speakers use a different part of their brain to recognize kanji than non-natives do. That's how they can process kanji so quickly.



Writing it out really will make it easier to learn and remember though.

Your professor is not correct. Maybe most native speakers use a different part of their brain than him, but that doesn't mean others can't learn to use the same part of the brain to recognize Kanji fast. Personally I think your professor's theory is complete bullshit, because I read Japanese faster than some of my Japanese friends and I know there are other highly proficient westerners who can read very fast.

 

[Hitokage]

There are some keyboards that have kana imput as there basis, but I've never used them. I think it would be really frustrating to use.

It's just learning a new keyboard layout, but the real dealbreaker for some would be the work involved in getting set up right in windows(you have to reinstall the main keyboard driver with an alternate, among other things) and linux(have I ever mentioned how much I hate SCIM?).

Dealing with japanese in general is much easier on a Mac. :/

 

[Deleted member 17706]

I'm close to the end of my junior year in college and am going to complete my second year in Japanese. How much did you study every day to become at least fluent in speaking?

I also have trouble finding the right words to say when I speak in Japanese. Mostly, my vocabulary is limited. What tools did you use to help you in that area? When did it come to a point for you that you could express anything you wanted in Japanese?

My situation was probably fairly unique. I was able to go to Japan for a few months right when I started studying and while I was over there I picked up a bunch of elementary school-level text books and Kanji "drill" books. When I returned to the U.S. (Seattle) I made friends with a bunch of Japanese students at my local community college and pretty soon I found myself using Japanese more than English. I also grabbed an electronic dictionary when I first went to Japan and that proved to be invaluable in my studies.

I didn't really do much conventional studying, however. My Japanese was learned almost entirely through context. I read a lot of Manga, novels and other books, watched a lot of television shows (I worked part time at a Japanese video store in Seattle), bought a Japanese PS2 and played lots of RPGs, and spoke a ton of Japanese on a daily basis. I managed to immerse myself in an almost entirely Japanese environment even when I wasn't living in Japan.

I have no idea how many hours I "studied" Japanese, but if you are able to immerse yourself in an environment where you can use the language then you should be able to improve at a rapid pace. I can't stress enough the importance of a good electronic dictionary, as well.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

It's just learning a new keyboard layout, but the real dealbreaker for some would be the work involved in getting set up right in windows(you have to reinstall the main keyboard driver with an alternate, among other things) and linux(have I ever mentioned how much I hate SCIM?).

Dealing with japanese in general is much easier on a Mac. :/

It's really easy if you can just get a copy of Japanese windows and a Japanese keyboard. Depending on your location this might be difficult, though.

 

[Hitokage]

Yeah, I don't have japanese Windows XP.

 

[Brofist]

For all it's faults Vista makes using various languages very easy. Within a minute you can completely change the OS default language to whatever you want, making the need for multiple versions of Windows from different regions obsolete, unlike XP.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Yeah, I don't have japanese Windows XP.

Yeah I know, but the driver comes preinstalled with Japanese XP so it's simple to use a Japanese keyboard if you so desire. It's totally doable on English XP too, but it might be hard to set up if you're not so proficient at messing with computers.

For all it's faults Vista makes using various languages very easy. Within a minute you can completely change the OS default language to whatever you want, making the need for multiple versions of Windows from different regions obsolete, unlike XP.

That's pretty cool. I had no idea that Vista offered support for all regions.

 

[clav]

For all it's faults Vista makes using various languages very easy. Within a minute you can completely change the OS default language to whatever you want, making the need for multiple versions of Windows from different regions obsolete, unlike XP.

Stupid question. How would you go about doing this?

In the language and accessibility options?

 

[Brofist]

That's pretty cool. I had no idea that Vista offered support for all regions.

Yep. And even nicer you can associate a profile with a language. So when you boot Vista you can choose to log into your English profile, Japanese profile, or any other languages.&#12288;

 

[Brofist]

Stupid question. How would you go about doing this?

In the language and accessibility options?

Control Panel --> Under Clock, Language, and Region click "Change display language"

On the next screen there is an option "choose display language" with a drop down box. Change to the language you want, and it will prompt you to log out and back in to your user profile (no need to restart)

BTW you have to have downloaded the language pack from Windows Updates of the language you want.

 

[Hitokage]

Your professor is not correct. Maybe most native speakers use a different part of their brain than him, but that doesn't mean others can't learn to use the same part of the brain to recognize Kanji fast. Personally I think your professor's theory is complete bullshit, because I read Japanese faster than some of my Japanese friends and I know there are other highly proficient westerners who can read very fast.

I think that guy misheard reports that people use a different part of their brain to interpret kanji, which is conceptual, than they do kana, which is phonetic.