語学
ごがく · gogaku · JLPT N3 · noun
study
🗣️📚 語学 = language (語) + study (学)
語 is the go in 日本語 (Japanese language), and 学 is the gaku in 大学 (university). Put language and study together and you get gogaku, the study of languages.
学 — hands 𦥑 + roof 冖 + child 子
Originally 學, depicting two hands manipulating something (often interpreted as counting rods or the 爻 trigram symbols) under a roof, with a child 子 below — a child learning under instruction. The simplified form 学 replaces the top with a stylized 龸. Core meaning has always been 'to study, learn'.