Can anyone tell me how they learn kanji? I would like to see if there's a more effective way to do… - Feed Post by Hiroshi7

• 
  ackdel

  The way I learned the most is through reading.
  When I see kanji used in actual context I feel it's easier for me to learn, and this of course applies to vocabulary as well.
  And of course, repetition also helps, and the way you've been doing it helps learn other readings, so I would suggest you keep that up as well.

  November 6, 2015 at 10:09pm
• 
  mog86uk

  I started first with drawing them on paper, as this was how I learnt kana. However I got tired of doing this before I even finished the 80 first grade elementary school kanji. I flaked away from learning Japanese after this for a long time, because I hate writing on paper even in English and my handwriting sucks.
  
  Then I moved on to learning through repetition, using online kanji/vocab quiz sites similar to JCJP. I didn't really keep up any regular studying though, because the quizzes were quite dry and boring to keep doing, so the kanji didn't stick well.
  
  Eventually I made an accont on JCJP and managed to keep up a much more regular study regime. I learned pretty slow at first on here though.
  
  Soon after this, I realised I needed to learn more about the radicals and components that make up kanji. I spent some time learning the rough meanings of all 214 kanji radicals just by repeatedly reading the list of them on Wikipedia. I then also read a book about the origins of the Chinese hanzi radicals which went into details about oracle bone script and bronze script old forms of the radicals and their meanings. After this I got interested in finding out about the history of kanji use in Japan and Classical Japanese, so read up about this too. This strong knowledge of radicals and the history of kanji drastically improved how easy it was for me to understand and learn kanji.
  
  Then last year I went back to Slime Forest Adventure, an offline PC game for learning kanji. It teaches regcognition of 1,972 kanji (all of the 1,945 kanji in the previous edition of the Jōyō kanji list), with teaching a basic meaning for each one by making use of the radicals/components of the kanji through mnemonics. It works really well, so long as your English comprehension is decent enough to benefit from the mnemonics, and so long as your keyboard typing skill is good. In three months I learnt the meanings of all the 1,972 kanji and completed the story of the game. Those 3 months of doing SFA was the biggest acceleration in kanji learning I had. I also did the kunyomi word mode, to learn 1,385 kunyomi words that make use of those 1,972 kanji (which I think covered all the important kunyomi of those kanji). It also has modes for teaching the primary onyomi of each kanji and a mode for teachings compound word readings, but I haven't made full use of those modes yet.
  
  I'm now using Kotoba-chan Android Japanese vocabulary quiz app on my phone, which is extremely heavy in kanji usage, and have completed all 7,568 N5-N1 vocabulary words on that. And, of course, now I'm on JCJP keeping up regular daily practice, and now using the Readings section where it's easy to encounter a large variety of kanji.
  (Long post again, oops...) ^^;

  November 7, 2015 at 12:39am
• 
  mog86uk

  ^ What was the most effective part?
  
  Learning the meanings of the 214 kanji radicals was the most important part:
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_of_Japanese_kanji_radicals
  (Sort it by descending frequency then work your way down from the top of the table.)
  
  SFA was the fastest and most effective way for me personally to learn kanji:
  http://lrnj.com

  November 7, 2015 at 12:44am
• 
  Darwo

  Oh, those are gem tips. Thank you for sharing.

  November 7, 2015 at 2:56am
• 
  Hiroshi7

  Ah, I agree. Radicals are very important as they help you to remember kanji easier, in my opinion. I spent quite a while learning them and the japanese names for them too

  November 7, 2015 at 8:16pm
• 
  Hiroshi7

  The way I'm currently learning is by taking a kanji like so:
  
  Learn the kanji's kun'yomi, it may be a verb, a noun or an adjective, etc.
  
  Learn the kanji's on'yomi by learning it in a compound (preferably with a kanji I already know)

  November 7, 2015 at 8:18pm
• 
  jc89

  I reviewed Flash cards containing frequently used "newspaper kanji". I also memorized the common radicals, so I can look up unknown kanji that I see in print (instead of kanji on a computer that you can just select and search for online).
  
  I learned the on/kun yomi through actual reading. Basically, if the kanji is modified by hiragana, it should use its kun reading. When the character is by itself or in compounds, it uses the on reading. I figure out any possible exceptions and alternate kun readings the more I read. Personally, I cared more about actually reading than mastering the precise rules.

  November 8, 2015 at 9:36am