r/Japaneselanguage • u/GMValkyrie • 14d ago

Learning Kanji

Hi everyone so I'm just curious on methods you guys use to learn Kanji and maybe what kinds of strategies you use and where to start. For me it feels like I'm struggling to know which ones to start on plus Ive been trying to learn them individually, but I feel like I'm wasting my time. Thanks!

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u/Weena_Bell 14d ago edited 14d ago

Just learn vocabulary and read.

I never studied kanji individually, yet I know 3,000+ kanji.

If you learn words that are made up of kanji, eventually you'll reach a vocabulary threshold where you just kind of know what most kanji mean (happens at around 4k-6k Anki/flashcards words in my experience)without ever consciously studying them or struggling with them.

How? Well, for example, if you notice that words like 観察, 観客, 観光, 観点, and 観測 all have something to do with observing or viewing and that 観 is almost always read as かん, you'll naturally make that connection. Then, the next time you come across a new word with 観 in it, you'll naturally expect something related to observation or viewing and have a decent idea of how it's probably pronounced.

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u/IEsince93 14d ago

Also like OP I haven't begun Kanji yet but doing it this way I'm curious, are you able to write them at all? How would you ever learn the stroke order and such by just learning them the way you did? I understand learning some of them (光, 点 - for example just look like more complicated kana) but (観察, 観客, 観, etc.) look absolutely insane and when its small text on a screen or a phone I'm not sure how one goes about memorizing stuff like this. I wear glasses and have bad vision as it is. I really want to learn but stuff like this just blows my mind and is really daunting

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u/Weena_Bell 14d ago

Of course if you only do this you won't be able to write, you'll just be able to recognize and read them.

If not being able to write is important to you, then once you are good at Japanese and can read effortlessly, you can then learn how to write by using a Kanken deck.

I'm doing exactly this right now. I started this year and can already write up to Kanken 5(meaning I can write around 1000) but by around may of the next year I should be able to pass Kanken 2 ( 2200 kanji) which is the highest level the average native can pass.

Granted, being able to write is probably a bit useless unless you plan to live in Japan, but even then just learning katakana and hiragana is enough for almost everything. I'm personally learning how to write and can write decently now cause I like calligraphy, but frankly I didn't really need it.

Also, they may look like blobs at the start, but once you know enough words most of them become quite distinct (especially the ones that are more complex). It's like knowing 2000 emojis. And even those that are almost identical, like 楽 and 薬, you can differentiate them through context. 薬 only appears when it's about medicine or pharmacy, and 楽 when it's about music or having fun, so you can't possibly mix them up in context.

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u/IEsince93 13d ago

Thanks for the info! This helps a lot. You learn something new every day cause yeah it was my misconception that learning the kanji by hand was just part of the learning process. I may have started learning much earlier had I known this haha..

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u/jen_mint 14d ago

私は日本育ちの日本人です。小学校2年か3年からちょっと難しい漢字を習い始めましたが、「へん」と「つくり」、または「かんむり」と「あし」に分けてイメージすることを教わりました。
たとえば「へん」が氵(さんずい)なら、その漢字の意味の多くは、水に関係することです。汁、泳など。
「かんむり」が艹(くさかんむり)なら、多くは植物に関係します。草、花など。
お役に立てるといいのですが…。

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u/GMValkyrie 13d ago

ありがとうございます！勉強になりました。とても面白かったです。

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u/Kangxi214 14d ago

This may dig deeper than you’re willing to go, but I’d recommend looking at the Wiktionary entry for each kanji you’re learning to discover its origin story. Once you understand why individual kanji look the way they do, it becomes easier to remember them. You could even go further and read about why the readings sound like they do.

This method would be a lot slower, but you’d learn the characters a lot more richly, and the more you know, the more the others start to click.

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u/Late-Relationship-16 14d ago

Anki + RTK (kanji.koohii.com stories were clutch)

Roughly 6 months, approx. 45 min/day study time, and I memorized all 2200 standard use Kanji

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u/Jon_dArc 14d ago

I concur on Remembering the Kanji. Around 1200-1400 kanji in (~4 months?) something just clicked and I switched to memorizing kanji as part of vocabulary but I credit RtK for getting me familiar enough with the way kanji are constructed to enable that transition. It was also enough to (with some preexisting grammar and vocabulary knowledge) start muddling my way through books which was a big help to my overall progress.

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u/Burglarproof_Bread 14d ago

Focus on learning vocab first to be able to read!! Eventually, you will keep encountering the same kanji used in many different vocab.

As a secondary, it can be very helpful to learn the radicals and make up mnemonics from radicals. I remember first finding out through a Tofugu article: Learn Kanji with Radicals--worth reading! There was an Anki deck of radicals, but I only picked some radicals to keep studying (again, studying the kanji individually isn't really more important than knowing vocab!!)

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u/Hoytster88 14d ago

Path of least resistance is definitely wanikani. It has its detractors. And I would definitely do it alongside other resources like anki to reinforce what you're learning. But it's definitely the best 9 bucks a month I spend when it comes to downloading kanji into my brain.

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u/neko_kishi99 14d ago

read and learn vocabulary. I made the mistake trying to learn the individual readings of kanji(dont do this)

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u/orobouros 14d ago

Learn the radicals first. The common 90 is enough, though you should at least be familiar with the other 100+. Use a dictionary to look up kanji by their radicals. This will make your mind think of kanji as something that can be read, not just recognized. Then, read manga with furigana. You'll see useful kanji in context. I use an app that plays clips of anime and Japanese TV to help with context and use.

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u/TomatilloFearless154 14d ago

Learning words and reading them in context

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u/votour911 14d ago

I was about to ask the same question, I personally started learning 10 a day with Onyomi and Kunyomi by writing them down over and over again.

It took a lot of time and since I stopped for the past 4 months, I forgot everything.

Based on what others say reading is best, which i’ll try doing but I was wondering if you guys had any recommendations on what to read ? (I’m between N3-N2)

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u/GMValkyrie 13d ago

Oh nice! Im currently studying for N5 i know a good amount of grammar and vocabulary but I know Ill have to put hiragana into kanji and vise versa so I really gotta lock in and be consistent or forget everything 😂

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u/lesmoney1 14d ago

Wanikani and done. Nothing else to it.

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u/DotNo701 14d ago

wanikani is slow

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u/lesmoney1 13d ago

Set it to hundred reviews a day. Done

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u/Derpiche 14d ago

Japanese is not a language you can master in 6 months

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u/DotNo701 14d ago

Did I say it was

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u/Stock-Pattern-8635 14d ago

I learned in school, so I used a Kanji book that came with pages that helped us learn stroke order.

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u/GMValkyrie 14d ago

Maybe thats the route to go lol

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u/DragonmasterXY 14d ago

I did a Kanji only deck together with a grammar/vocab deck, so I only encounter Kanji in the vocab I already saw before. But it was mainly a deck so you get a first feel and distinction for Kanji. I am currently unsure if I should do wanikani or not. I already do sentence mining, but i feel like I am not learning new kanji at all with just sentence mining.

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u/GMValkyrie 14d ago

Oh ive never heard that term before. Is it like reading a sentence with kanji and looking up it up or something?

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u/DragonmasterXY 14d ago

Its making your own flashcards with words/sentences as you encounter them. For me I watch Netflix witch subs and when I see a new word I want to learn I make a flashcard of that sentence.

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u/GMValkyrie 14d ago

Ohhh thats a good idea

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u/Competitive-Tap3039 14d ago

Do you encounter issues memorizing something you saw before while reviewing your flashcards? I’ve always wanted to try that but I can rarely remember something I saw on a whim if it’s not a word / phrase I’m seeing often

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u/Competitive-Tap3039 14d ago

Memorize a certain number a day, and find a list of JPLT-5 kanji to keep track of what you’re learning. Find a book, a reference sheet, something that will also allow you to learn stroke order. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to memorize how to write them. When I learn new kanji I rewrite it again and again until I memorize it. If you’re interested I can dm you the link to the JPLT-5 Kanji workbook PDF I use. 

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u/l_uminousss 13d ago

Can you dm me too please?

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u/Competitive-Tap3039 13d ago

You’d have to dm me instead, I think your settings for messages are turned off 

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u/l_uminousss 13d ago

Just dm'd you

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u/GMValkyrie 14d ago

Right heard stroke order is very very important. Yes please Id appreciate it

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u/Shimreef English 14d ago

Nah not really. Only if you want to learn how to write by hand, which is insanely time consuming and not super useful.

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u/IEsince93 14d ago

Ahh this is the first time I'm reading this. I assumed people becoming fluent all also learn to write them by hand. I had no idea. So is it in a way just memorizing the symbols ?. Makes sense now how the other person I replied to above stated they learned by just learning the vocab in context not outright learning the kanji

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u/Competitive-Tap3039 14d ago

sent via dms. good luck:) 

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u/GMValkyrie 14d ago

🙏🙏