How do you learn Classical Japanese?

[jovan]

@B.B.Fuller

Kanbun is something else that I’ve been curious about, jovan-how, exactly, does kanbun differ from Classical Chinese? Is it just a matter of learning the weird punctuation and knowing enough Classical Japanese to recognize the non-sinitic words, or is learning kanbun after learning Classical Chinese like learning a totally new language?

I think that coming from a SVO language like english, it’s probably just easier to learn classical Chinese than to worry too much about kanbun punctuation.

I forgot to mention that good (and expensive) editions of classical works will have both the original text and a translation in modern Japanese, along with grammar and cultural notes. This is very important because lost cultural references are one of the most difficult parts of reading and comprehending classical Japanese. For instance, when Yoshida no Kaneyoshi talks about “leaves of the bamboo garden” in Tsurezuregusa, just knowing the vocabulary won’t help you. You have to also know that the phrase means “members of the imperial family”. That’s where good annotations are essential.