Like in many places in the world, I’m not really able to go anywhere except for necessities.  This has given me a lot of time to think.  One of the things I’ve been thinking about is:  Why am I so frustrated with Japanese right now?

I have settled on an answer:  because I do not learn things the way people like to teach them.  If I can find the underlying pattern to something, I never forget it – but if I have to memorize things, it never works.

So with that said, I have the following questions, which I feel like I need to find the answers to, to progress.

1. Why is Japanese a postpositional language?
2. Why are words conjugated the way they are?
3. What are the rules for rendaku?
4. As a generalization of the above question, in Japanese, when are consonants modified?
5. What are the actual underlying patterns to kanji, and is there a way to chart those patterns in a visual way?
6. Why are some adjectives “na” and some “i”?
7. Are there patterns in okurigana?  If so, what are they?
8. As a generalization of question 1, how do Japanese people think, and how is that expressed in their language – and vice versa?

Basically, I feel like I need to learn how the language works.  And I’m sure I will have more questions as my research progresses.

Wish me luck…