Guidance 指導　しどう

指 = finger   導 = guide     指導　is a word from my last post and it means guidance. You can imagine a finger pointed in the right direction, guiding you down the right path.

Here is another use of the kanji 指.   指輪　(　ゆびわ　）= ring ( for your finger )                                 

Example: ダイヤの指輪 = diamond ring　                                                                                                              

輪　=  wheel, ring

浮き輪　( 　うきわ　)　means inner tube or floating ring.   浮　=  float    浮かぶ　(　うかぶ　）　means to float.

宇　is a kanji that shares the same sound, う　, with 浮.    宇宙　( うちゅう ) means universe or space.                   宇 = universe  and  宙　=  space. 

So now that a finger with a diamond ring guided us to an inner tube that we used to float all the way out into space, lets get back down to earth and look at the other kanji from guidance, 導.

I want to move on from 導, so lets look at 堂 ( hall ). It is a kanji that shares the same sound, どう , with 導.    食堂　( しょくどう ) means dining room, dining hall, or cafeteria.    
食　=  eat, food. 　食堂　a hall where you eat food.

A kanji that shares the same sound, しょく, with 食　is 植.  植　=  plant. 
植物　( しょくぶつ ) means plants or vegetation. 
That wonderful green stuff we eat in the 食堂 ( しょくどう ).

物　＝　thing

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I am studying for the  Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) level 2 that is  coming up next December. So I welcome any comments, questions, or suggestions, and since I am not a Japanese or English language expert and I welcome corrections for any of my mistakes in both languages.

Judo 　柔道　　じゅうどう

柔　means soft.   text to be colored

道　means way or path.  Judo uses a soft and fluid style for combat.

Lets move on to another use of the kanji 柔.

柔らかい　(　やわらかい )  is the adjective meaning soft.

和 shares the sound やわ and can mean peace.

The word 和らぐ　（　やわらぐ　）is a verb that means to soften or ease. For example, 痛みが和らぐ. Ease pain.

Lets go back to Judo and look and the kanji for way or path. 道

水道　（　すいどう　）means waterworks. The path water takes to get to your house. 水　of course means water.

Now lets look at a kanji that looks similar to 道　and shares the sound どう.

The kanji 導　means guide. Quite similar to path or way.

The word 指導　( しどう ) means guidance. Another example, 導入　( どうにゅう ) means to introduce or innovation.

指　= finger or point.

入　= enter or put in.

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I have been studying Japanese in this lackadaisical kind of way off and on for awhile and now that I have put my studies in a blog, I can use it as a way to keep myself at it. At least once a week I will put up an example of what I have been studying. I will try to keep it at the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) level 2, but it is a stroll through Japanese so who know where I’ll end up. My study method will be to pick a word and forge a path from that point using the kanji, sounds, or meanings that are associated with it. Each post will be related to a word in the past post unless I hit a dead end or go on some weird tangent.

Since I am not a Japanese or English language expert and I welcome corrections for any of my mistakes in both languages.