Aug. 8, 2025
Simple but Profound Difficulty in Languages 言語の単純で深遠な難しさ
Simple but Profound Difficulty in Languages
One of the hardest parts of learning English is dealing with words that look similar. This difficulty stems from the fact that my native language, Japanese, rarely uses the alphabet. Simply put, I’m not used to recognizing words written in alphabetical characters.
My eyes aren’t yet trained to instantly distinguish one word from another. Even very simple words can appear confusing, and I often find myself pausing while reading aloud. For example: taking and talking, chef and chief, through and though, firm and film.
Sometimes I notice the mistake because the sentence stops making sense. Other times, I just keep reading without realizing anything was wrong.
Other pairs like storage and shortage, or problem and program, are also confusing. The list could go on forever.
Japanese presents a similar kind of problem, but in a different form.
I don’t think I’m the only one who has accidentally pressed the wrong elevator button — for example, pressing “close” when I meant to press “open,” almost shutting the door on someone trying to get in.
Even as an adult, I’ve repeatedly made writing mistakes with characters like 「体」 and 「休」, or 「軽」 and 「転」, ending up with things like 「自軽車」 or 「夏体み」 by mistake.
What’s fascinating is this:
In English, I tend to confuse similar words when reading.
In Japanese, however, the problem shows up when writing.
What these errors have in common, I suspect, is a kind of breakdown — a failure of coordination between what I see, what I know, and what I actually do.
英語の学習の難しさの一つは、単語である。そもそも私の母語である日本語はアルファベットで表記することはほぼないため、アルファベットの識別に慣れていない。私の眼は、一瞬でアルファベットの羅列を見極める力がないのだと思う。非常に簡単な単語でさえ、似通っているように見えるので、音読するときは一回ごとに立ち止まってしまうことがある。
例えばtakingとtalking、chefとchief、throughとthough、firmとfilm。間違えて読んで、文意が通じないので気付くこともあれば、全く気付かないで読み進めてしまうこともある。
storageとshortage、problemとprogramなども似ている。例を挙げればきりがない。
日本語では漢字で同じような問題が起こる。私だけではないと思うのだが、例えば「開と閉」。エレベーターで違うボタンを押したことは数えきれない。滑り込んでくる人を見て「閉」ボタンを押し、ドアでその人を挟みそうになってしまった。「体・休」や「軽・転」は、大人になってからも何度も書き間違えた。「自軽車」「夏体み」。
面白いことに、英語での単語の見間違いは読むときに起こるが、漢字の単語の間違いは読むときではなく書くときに起こる。共通するのは、脳がきちんと働いていないということだ。あるいは目や指の動きに脳がついていっておらず、体の各部の協調ができていないのかもしれない。
Simple but Profound Difficulty in Languages
¶One of the hardest parts of learning English is dealing with words that look similar.
¶
This difficulty stems from the fact that my native language, Japanese, rarely uses the Latin alphabet.
In Japanese, アルファベット tends to be used for specifically the latin alphabet, but in English alphabet is more generic, so it's better to specify the Latin alphabet in this context (e.g. cyrillic, hiragana and katakana are also "alphabets")
I don’t think I’m the only one who has accidentally pressed the wrong elevator button — for example, pressing “close” when I meant to press “open,” almost shutting the door on someone trying to get in.
I'm not sure what the standard buttons on Japanese elevators are, but in the west the standard icons for these buttons are <||> and >||< and people definitely confuse them here too :)
Even as an adult, I’ve repeatedly made writing mistakes with characters like 「体」 and 「休」, or 「軽」 and 「転」, ending up with things like 「自軽車」 or 「夏体み」 by mistake.
I feel you there! I've had a number of times where I've picked the wrong kanji from my IME writing on this site as a Japanese learner and didn't notice until someone pointed it out doing corrections.
Simple but Profound Difficulty in Languages One of the hardest parts of learning English is dealing with words that look similar.
This difficulty stems from the fact that my native language, Japanese, rarely uses the alphabet.
"the alphabet" is a little ambiguous, but is not incorrect. I would say "the English alphabet" or more accurately "the Latin alphabet". "alphabetical/English/Latin characters" could also work!
Simply put, I’m not used to recognizing words written in alphabetical characters.
My eyes aren’t yet trained to instantly distinguish one word from another.
Even very simple words can appear confusing, and I often find myself pausing while reading aloud.
For example: taking and talking, chef and chief, through and though, firm and film.
Sometimes I notice the mistake because the sentence stops making sense.
Other times, I just keep reading without realizing anything wais wrong.
Other pairs like storage and shortage, or problem and program, are also confusing.
The list could go on forever.
Japanese presents a similar kind of problem, but in a different form.
I don’t think I’m the only one who has accidentally pressed the wrong elevator button — for example, pressing “close” when I meant to press “open,” almost shutting the door on someone trying to get in.
Amazing use of "I don't think I'm the only one"! This makes me think of your entry about going to your friend's house.
Even as an adult, I’ve repeatedly made writing mistakes with characters like 「体」 and 「休」, or 「軽」 and 「転」, ending up with things like 「自軽車」 or 「夏体み」 by mistake.
What’s fascinating is this: In English, I tend to confuse similar words when reading.
In Japanese, however, theis problem shows up when writing.
What these errors have in common, I suspect, is a kind of breakdown — a failure of coordination between what I see, what I know, and what I actually do.
Feedback
Great job! I see tremendous growth in your vocabulary and ability to convey ideas naturally. :)
Aug. 8, 2025
It's so nice of you to connect two of my writings. Thank you!
Simple but Profound Difficulty in Languages
Simple but Profound Difficulty in Languages One of the hardest parts of learning English is dealing with words that look similar.
This difficulty stems from the fact that my native language, Japanese, rarely uses thean alphabet.
Simply put, I’m not used to recognizing words written in alphabetical characters.
My eyes aren’t yet trained to instantly distinguish one word from another.
Even very simple words can appear confusing, and I often find myself pausing while reading aloud.
For example: taking and talking, chef and chief, through and though, firm and film.
Sometimes I notice the mistake because the sentence stops making sense.
Other times, I just keep reading without realizing anything wais wrong.
Other pairs like storage and shortage, or problem and program, are also confusing.
The list could go on forever.
Japanese presents a similar kind of problem, but in a different form.
I don’t think I’m the only one who has accidentally pressed the wrong elevator button — for example, pressing “close” when I meant to press “open,” almost shutting the door on someone trying to get in.
Even as an adult, I’ve repeatedly made writing mistakes with characters like 「体」 and 「休」, or 「軽」 and 「転」, ending up with things like 「自軽車」 or 「夏体み」 by mistake.
What’s fascinating is this:
¶ in English, I tend to confuse similar words when reading.
I
In Japanese, however, the problem shows up when writing.
What these errors have in common, I suspect, is a kind of breakdown — a failure of coordination between what I see, what I know, and what I actually do.
Feedback
Great job! Just a few corrections!
Aug. 8, 2025
Thank you!
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Simple but Profound Difficulty in Languages This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
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Simple but Profound Difficulty in Languages One of the hardest parts of learning English is dealing with words that look similar. This sentence has been marked as perfect! This sentence has been marked as perfect!
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This difficulty stems from the fact that my native language, Japanese, rarely uses the alphabet. This difficulty stems from the fact that my native language, Japanese, rarely uses This difficulty stems from the fact that my native language, Japanese, rarely uses the alphabet. "the alphabet" is a little ambiguous, but is not incorrect. I would say "the English alphabet" or more accurately "the Latin alphabet". "alphabetical/English/Latin characters" could also work! This difficulty stems from the fact that my native language, Japanese, rarely uses the Latin alphabet. In Japanese, アルファベット tends to be used for specifically the latin alphabet, but in English alphabet is more generic, so it's better to specify the Latin alphabet in this context (e.g. cyrillic, hiragana and katakana are also "alphabets") |
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The list could go on forever. This sentence has been marked as perfect! This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
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Simply put, I’m not used to recognizing words written in alphabetical characters. This sentence has been marked as perfect! This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
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My eyes aren’t yet trained to instantly distinguish one word from another. This sentence has been marked as perfect! This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
|
Even very simple words can appear confusing, and I often find myself pausing while reading aloud. This sentence has been marked as perfect! This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
|
For example: taking and talking, chef and chief, through and though, firm and film. This sentence has been marked as perfect! This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
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Sometimes I notice the mistake because the sentence stops making sense. This sentence has been marked as perfect! This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
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Other times, I just keep reading without realizing anything was wrong. Other times, I just keep reading without realizing anything Other times, I just keep reading without realizing anything |
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Other pairs like storage and shortage, or problem and program, are also confusing. This sentence has been marked as perfect! This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
|
Japanese presents a similar kind of problem, but in a different form. This sentence has been marked as perfect! This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
|
I don’t think I’m the only one who has accidentally pressed the wrong elevator button — for example, pressing “close” when I meant to press “open,” almost shutting the door on someone trying to get in. This sentence has been marked as perfect! I don’t think I’m the only one who has accidentally pressed the wrong elevator button — for example, pressing “close” when I meant to press “open,” almost shutting the door on someone trying to get in. Amazing use of "I don't think I'm the only one"! This makes me think of your entry about going to your friend's house. I don’t think I’m the only one who has accidentally pressed the wrong elevator button — for example, pressing “close” when I meant to press “open,” almost shutting the door on someone trying to get in. I'm not sure what the standard buttons on Japanese elevators are, but in the west the standard icons for these buttons are <||> and >||< and people definitely confuse them here too :) |
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Even as an adult, I’ve repeatedly made writing mistakes with characters like 「体」 and 「休」, or 「軽」 and 「転」, ending up with things like 「自軽車」 or 「夏体み」 by mistake. This sentence has been marked as perfect! This sentence has been marked as perfect! Even as an adult, I’ve repeatedly made writing mistakes with characters like 「体」 and 「休」, or 「軽」 and 「転」, ending up with things like 「自軽車」 or 「夏体み」 by mistake. I feel you there! I've had a number of times where I've picked the wrong kanji from my IME writing on this site as a Japanese learner and didn't notice until someone pointed it out doing corrections. |
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What’s fascinating is this: In English, I tend to confuse similar words when reading. What’s fascinating is this: This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
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In Japanese, however, the problem shows up when writing. This sentence has been marked as perfect! In Japanese, however, th |
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What these errors have in common, I suspect, is a kind of breakdown — a failure of coordination between what I see, what I know, and what I actually do. This sentence has been marked as perfect! This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
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Simple but Profound Difficulty in Languages 言語の単純で深遠な難しさ |
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