How can i learn Japanese kanji?

Question

Write, Read, and Understand

Answer 1

If you're interested in learning kanji the way that Japanese school children learn and you're already comfortable using hiragana and katakana then I suggest you avoid studying from any books written in English and concentrate on only those books written in Japanese. Studying kanji in English might be helpful at first but eventually you'll find that it's holding you back.

Japanese children study kanji in groups that our divided up by school year starting from Level 10. (Kanji levels work from Level 10 to Level 1 with 10 being the easiest). By time they have finished Junior High School they will have finished studying all 1945 (Level 2) of the Joyou Kanji.

Which characters fall into which level is determined by the Japanese Kanji Appitude Testing Association in conjunction with the Japanese Government. This list is occasionally revised and adjusted but this is not some thing that happens alot.

You can find out more about these different levels at

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanji_kente...

or about the Nihon Kanji Nouryoku Kentei Kyoukai at

http://www.kanken.or.jp/index.html (sorry they have only Japanese page)

So, Japanese school children work through these various levels learning easier and more common characters first and working on towards harder ones. The learn correct stroke order, both the on-yomi and kun-yomi, how characters are catogorized and how they relate to other characters. This might seem like alot of useless stuff but it is very useful to know if you're seriously going to study Japanese.

Go to a Japanese bookstore near your house (if there's one) and ask about Kanji Kentei (Kanken) study guides. Start with the most basic levels because these are written many in hiragana and work your way up.

This will not only help you with the technical aspects of kanji but will also indirectly improve your reading comprehension and grammar because they books are entirely in Japanese and loaded with examples. These books can be relatively cheap and they are some many different companies putting them out that you'll should find something that works for you.

Here's an example of one such book put out by the Japanese Kanji Appitude Testing Association for Level 10

http://www.amazon.co.jp/exec/obidos/ASIN...

And some books for other levels as well

http://www.kanken.or.jp/tosyo/gradelist_...

Don't let the fact that such books are written only in Japanese discourage you. The lower level books are written for younger kids so they use easier to understand Japanese. As you advance through the various levels the Japanese gets harder but your Japanese will also be getting better so it should be OK. I really think you will gain a deeper understanding of kanji if you study this way than you would using books written in English.

The other key is to just practice. You have to teach your hand how to correctly write each character. If you keep at it, eventually your hand will be able to feel when you're writing

a character incorrectly. This might seem silly but remembering the correct stroke order of characters helps you remember how each character is broken down, which helps you remember how it's classified, which helps your remember it's readings and meanings.

This method of study worked really well for me. At first, I learned from books written in English but eventually in became confusing because I found out that Japanese people to talk about kanji in the terminology those books use. My understanding of kanji (and Japanese in general) really improved after I switched to Japanese only texts. I am certainly not a kanji expert but I have passed Level 2 of the Kanji Kentei (currently studying for Pre-Level 1) so I do know a little bit more than some people perhaps.

In the end, you have to go with whatever books work for you. If that means using English books then that's OK. But, if you want to learn kanji the way that the majority of Japanese people do then try one of those Kanken study guides. I can't say for sure but I think you'll find it helpful.