Here is a list of reasons I stayed away from Kanji. Its from misunderstanding Kanji learning. I hope someone who isn’t still learning Kanji or new to Kanji may read this and learn from my mistakes.

(I hope this post meets the rule criteria.)

​

* Getting demoralized because of this phrase; 2000 important Kanji and an additional around 1000 commonly used Kanji.

\-I forgot that learning Japanese is something no one forced me to do, that means I can learn at my own pace, I wasn’t at a school setting where there were always deadlines.

\-Forgetting Kanji meaning and appearance is a normal thing. I may forget those things but all I would have to do is relearn it, it does get easier and easier. (Learned from another person on this sub)

​

* Not knowing the proper way to learn Kanji

\-Because I learned a lot of vocubulary, Hiragana, and Katakana from Anki, I stubbornly stuck to the app and just downloaded some decks on it.

The problem isn’t Anki but the decks I used. One deck provided meaning but no ways to read it in Japanese. The other deck provided the ways to read it in japanese and it’s meanings. Only problem is that it had no Furigana text, so on the examples on how to read the Kanji, I had no clue what the various Kanji meant, because its always different.

\-I went ahead and finally got myself a book on learning Kanji and I finally got myself progress on the matter.

​

* Getting demoralized from this phrase; A single Kanji has a lot of different readings.

I thought it was only Onyomi and Kunyomi, found out later that there were a lot of different readings.

\-I then read a comment on this sub, they were talking about their learning method; memorizing how that specific Kanji is read along with those specific other characters. Something like that Kanji mixed with that other Kanji or hiragana makes that Kanji get read that way.

\-One helpful and related thought from Japanesefromzero; he explained about using deduction in identifying Kanji meanings. He explained something like; 2月 is mostly used for representing Febuary. It can be read as 2 moons, but that wouldn’t make sense in ordinary Japanese life.

​

* Taking a break from learning Japanese

\-I shouldn’t have done that, because I personally lost motivation and interest from Japanese on this break. I got motivated again after a year or 2, but that was after I got desperate from the lack of translated Japanese media, I had to get motivated for an entirely different reason.

​

* Naive mindset of being content with understanding spoken Japanese

\-This idea just seems ridiculous to me now, I wouldn’t be able to enjoy Japanese media without understanding Kanji.
Imagine if someone showed me some Kanji and I’d respond with I don’t understand what that means. That person would probably be dumbfounded, because I would probably claim that I have been learning Japanese for years.

\-It would probably negatively impact a Japanese speaker’s opinion of me, if I ever do meet one irl.

​

That’s all of the reasons I can remember for now.

​

TLDR: Just get a book on Kanji learning. / Just pay for Japanese learning classes.