漢字 Versus 漢字

*Title reads: "kan ji versus hàn zi".

"Oh, so you know Chinese?"
"Yeah."
"Then, you know kanji
(Japanese Chinese characters)?"

I don't know why but people seem to have this common misperception that kanji writing is exactly the same as Chinese characters. Yes, it is derived from Chinese but they are nevertheless different.

Yeah, knowing Chinese may be an advantage to learning kanji. But at times it can prove to be a disadvantage as well. By thinking that learning kanji is like drinking water, I didn't take it seriously. And heck, I didn't do well in kanji quizzes. Besides, kanji and Chiese characters are so similar yet so different. Unless if you take extra precaution, a careless person like me is likely to make stupid mistakes.

Alright, let's play a spot-the-difference game and see it for yourself!

The characters on the left are Japanese kanji while those on the right are Chinese characters (traditional and simplified). See if you can spot the difference between those words underlined! Good luck!

黒い (kuroi) versus 黑色, 黑色
両方 (ryōhō) versus 兩方面, 两方面
単純な (tanjyunna) versus 單純, 单纯
反対 (hantai) versus 反對, 反对
大変な (taihenna) versus 改變, 改变
殺す (kurosu) versus 殺, 刹

See? The problem is, sometimes, the Japanese kanji is derived from traditional Chinese and sometimes, from simplified Chinese. Even so, most of the time, they're slightly modified.

Geez. It can be so confusing. The only way out is to study, of course...