It's alive, it's aliiiiiive!

I had a thought that now would be a good time to write in a little intercession post, and low and behold, it's been precisely 3 months to the day since I started this blog! With over a dozen movies under the belt, can I say this method has helped my ability to read and retain Japanese on-yomi? The answer is a resounding Y E S!!!

I remember reading on a forum (perhaps the RTK ones) something about how "the only good way to memorize on-yomi is through vocabulary. I couldn't disagree more! At least in my experience. For example, sometimes I have tried to remember them via cross-referencing vocab in my mind However, since they're all compounds, (2, 3, 4 characters) they are easily confused this way! If I think, ok, it's the けい from 経験... but god, which kanji was pronounced けい again?!? It can lead to lots of problems. And, as is the whole PURPOSE of the life-changing book "Remembering the Kanji," I wanted to break out of just boring, repetitous rote memorization. Yaaawwwnnn.

Some tips in execution of the method that I've worked out recently:

-Whenever you find a scene where you want to associate the image with a character, pause the movie. Watch that scene while writing the character and repeating the on-yomi to yourself 10 times or so. Remind yourself of it later, after the movie is finished.

-Don't worry about learning every character! As I've mentioned before, partial retention is all we are going for here. Naturally, some templates (lists of on-yomi groups) will contain not so memorable stories from not so memorable scenes. When the vocab comes up (I do 100+ flashcard through anki a day, myself) take a look at the template, remind yourself of the scene. Eventually, it will stick! And, as with RTK, eventually the story/movie scene will be long forgotten, whilst you retain the on-yomi!

I know this site only has a handful of followers, but for those who are trying this experiment with me, keep it up! I plan to keep this going strong as long as possible.

Over and out,

-Ben

P.S. Star Wars is next, I think. ;)

Beetlejuice シュ

"シュ Beetlejuice, shoo!"


particularly
殊
The Deitz's are particularly hellbent on remodeling the house.

hunt
狩
Sandworms hunt people. Beetlejuice hunts suckers.

take
取
Take a number and sit down... 5,440,003

neck
首
Juno, the caseworker, has a gaping hole in her neck!

discipline
修
The Maitland's must learn discipline to haunt properly! (the bedsheets scene)

species
種
What species IS Beetlejuice?

gist
趣
The Maitland's try to scare 'em, and the Deitz's got the gist... of the CALYPSO!

guard
守
Beetlejuice is here to help guard the house?.... (by turning into a snake)

vermilion
朱
"Dante's Inferno" [Otho's little chant also beings with "Hands vermilion"]

masses
衆
The masses of dead-people who go through that after-life office.... like the football players.

pearl
珠
pearly-white eyeballs... on fingers...


lord
主

hand
手

sake
酒

RTK3

tumor
腫

holly
柊
imagine every tree in Adam's model is a holly tree.

advise
諏
Lydia advises against the use of sheets to scare the Deitz's.

Silence of the Lambs チョウ

チョウ

"ちょう怖くて，超ハイテンション"



bird
鳥
The very first scene, with birds chirping around the trees.

morning
朝
early morning exercises!

challenge
挑
early morning obstacle course challenge!

heavy*
重
Heavy security to keep Hanibal underwraps. Cross-reference: Borat's fat assistant made a meal of by Hannibal.

portent
兆
Lecter portents future murders: "Bill's probably already looking for his next victim..."

symbol; indicator (indications)
徴
the symbols carved onto the bodies

tune
調
"Take it easy baby, make it last all night" [note: this kanji can also mean investigation.]

notebook
帳
Clarice re-writing "Lewis Carrol" to look for an anagram, hint or clue, in her notebook

penal
懲
a legalistic word...

tide
潮

stare
眺
Hannibal Lecter's intense stare.

intestines
腸
"I ate his intestines with some fava beans."

lucidity
澄
lucidity... clarity... CLARece....

place on the head
頂
What Clarece hits when searching for Buffalo Bill.

government office
庁
FBI office.

carve
彫
What Bill does to select parts of his victims' bodies.

listen
聴
The very end of the movie, Clarece is saved by her "listening" skills

condolences
弔
Send my condolences to the family of the victim.

dilate
脹
A lot of eye-close ups in this movie.

hop
跳
hop, or jump... something this movie will make you do quite a bit.

butterfly
蝶
See movie poster.

angling
釣
Angling... making measurements when carving up bodies and stitching them together.

long
長

lengthen
張

street
丁

village
町

transcend
超

RTK 3




wilt
凋

derision
嘲
Lecter's attitude toward Clarice?

chatter
喋

dangle
吊

quire
帖

counter for tools
挺
lots of them in this movie: jaws of life, flashlights, the little ones Hannibal uses as murder weapons...

secret agent
挺
Clarice.

keg
銚

sea bream
鯛

carefree
暢

founding
肇

label
牒

patronage
寵

Godzilla & Godzilla VS. King Kong トウ

トウ

"トウtal destruction in トウきょう"


T'ang
唐
The "exorcism ceremony" being performed on the island... came from, Buddhism, came from China... hence T'ang.

arrival
到
At last! The arrival of Godzilla!

rice plant
稲
All the poor farmers of the village first terrorized by G-zilla... have veritably 1000s of rice plants.

transparent
透
Radiation, (a big theme of this first film) is transparent, and left behind in the wake of Godzilla.

escape
逃
"IT'S COMING OUT OF THE MOUNTAIN!!" The first great escape scene (of many, many many more to come).

hot water
湯
Godzilla often appears from some hot bubbling water. (underground volcanoes)

board
搭
People boarded the boat and now fear Godzilla, who appeared from the hot, bubbling water.

party
党
All of the political meetings that surround the Godzilla problem... there are political parties involved.

chastise
討
The Prof. chastises everyone for trying to kill Godzilla.

step
踏
Godzilla steps on the train!!!!

overall
統
overall, plans to defeat Godzilla fail miserably.

lamp
灯
Don't use lights! They'll only make him angry!!!!! In numerous scenes, lamps provoke GZ.

cylinder
筒
Cylinders = tank barrels, gun barrels, and everything else that NEVER WORKS to kill Godzilla.

etc.
等
Godzilla destroys buildings, people, temples, etc.

solution
答
There seems to be no solution to this problem.

lament
悼
The post-Godzilla lamentation scene. Very reminiscent of WW2, no?

ascend
登
Finally, the young doctor with the eyepatch refuses to ascend after using his "Oxygen Destroyer" on Godzilla.

Godzilla VS. King Kong

frozen
凍
Geiger readings coming from a frozen iceberg? What could it mean....

winter
冬
The scenes with subs crashing into glaciers in the beginning.

settlement
納
The native villagers "settlement"

pottery
陶
Though rustic, it looks like the natives have pottery down.

facsimilie
謄
The main character thinks that the native's "God" is merely a fascimilie.... boy was he wrong!

pox
痘
The main character's partner getting sick

steal
盗
The Japanese steal King Kong from the island!!

overthrow
倒

fight
闘
Godzilla VS. King Kong!!

throw
投
King Kong loves to throw boulders...

inflation
騰
The inflated balloon that lifts a sleeping King Kong!!



General Godzilla

read
読
Always lots of newspaper headlines flying around in these movies. "GODZILLA DESTROYS TOKYO, READ ALL ABOUT IT"

pagoda
塔
It's on the list of things Godzilla destroys.

ridgepole
棟
^^

beans
豆
Fart.

sugar
糖
cake.

wisteria
藤
As for these 3 trees, let's imagine Godzilla squashing all of them.

paulownia
桐

peach tree
桃

island
島

east
東

hit
当

head
頭

road-way
道

sword
刀


RTK3

prodigal
蕩
standstill
逗
downspout
樋
beseech
祷
helmet
兜
hackneyed
套
inch
吋
lamp [old]
燈
island [alt]
嶋
mandate
掟
mandate: EVACUATE THE CITY, GODZILLA IS COMIN!!!

From here on, anything I already know from experience I will leave story-less for you to fill in the gaps. (Only 2 or 3 people follow this blog anyhow, I mostly just do this for my own records.)

Weird Al - Dare to be Stupid ヘン

My first music video post. And nothing fits ヘン better than Weird Al.

[Video link] - sorry it's a little out of sync, only one I could find.

ヘン
compilation
編
This song is in Weird Al's video compilation. It's also a compilation of utter nonsense.

partial
偏
I'm partial to this song.

everywhere
遍
stupid stuff going on everywhere.

unusual
変

return
返
"stick your head in the microwave and get yourself a tan" - and never return!

environs
辺

one-sided
片
the stupid side.

RTK 3

livraison (installment)
篇
Just one livraison (installment) of Weird Al's wackiness.

cheat
騙

Notes: Short groups not fit for whole movies can be done with music videos, and possibly other creative methods. :) Also note obvious pattern in radicals here.