(no subject)

A forum on which I sometimes talk about learning Japanese also hosts a site where people can submit their mnemonics for learning various kanji.

(This is neither here nor there, but I don't think the whole mnemonic thing is a particularly good idea; to me it makes less sense to focus on the meaning of individual kanji, rather than focusing on learning words. To make up a whole complicated story that has five different elements in it and doesn't actually teach you the real meaning or reading of the kanji... it seems to me like it doesn't actually save you any time.)

So, uh, today there was a debate about one of those mnemonic stories, which contained a racial slur and pretty offensive stereotyping.

And this is what people had to say.

But if you can learn it FASTER by using racist stories, of course you should do that! We're not idiots, we don't take these stories as facts, they are just memory aids.

(This is apparently not sarcasm.)

if you get offended by racist kanji stories... then you might be studying the wrong language...

If someone can't use a website without getting upset by offensive views, they shouldn't be using the Internet in the first place. They shouldn't even leave their homes, in fact. Stay at home, close your shades, cover your ears and pretend you're in a perfect world without racism, bigotry, or any other form of stupidity. That should solve all your problems.

...And people wonder why people look askance at people who are studying Japanese...