Hi! Ive been learning kanji by using WaniKani and while it has been good, Im about to reach the maxim level you can reach without paying subscription, and Im not sure if Ill be able to afford it. So I was wondering, is there a good way for learning kanji without spending money in a proper way? I was thinking on using Anki but Im not sure.
2 comments
Anki is honestly a really good alternative; there are even some (unofficial, but practical) “WaniKani” decks that have the same material as WaniKani.
As for learning kanji properly, I’d say take your time for each one. Don’t just go through the cards quickly and only guess them the next day because you vaguely remember the shape of a certain kanji and associate it with its meaning and readings.
Pick a kanji, learn its meaning, its readings and the words that most commonly use it. Pay attention to the stroke order and, when possible, actually write them out a bunch of times. Make up some random mnemonic to help you remember the readings and how it’s written (e.g. radicals).
It’s better to master 10 kanji than to vaguely learn 100 of them and getting them mixed up all the time, forgetting their readings etc.
Seriously the mnemonics from wanikani are so odd to me that I rather come up with my own mnemonic.
Interestingly creating your own mnemonic make it stick MUCH better anyway. Probably because you have to even come up with the story in the first place, so your brain can remember it better.
I would go with a simple kanji deck that also shows you the radicals and develop your own mnemonic.