HomeLearn JapaneseAs a beginner, is it better to learn Kanji by doing them independently and memorizing all potential readings, or more proactively through vocabulary + pronunciation?
As a beginner, is it better to learn Kanji by doing them independently and memorizing all potential readings, or more proactively through vocabulary + pronunciation?
So for example, should I just learn words and how to pronounce them/ the kanji associated with them, or should I go to a popular Kanji dictionary type resource and manually learn each one, and its given kun/on readings?
Just jump to Korean where it all makes some logical sense.
Learning readings in isolation is a waste of time. Some people do only words, some learn the meaning of a kanji then a few words with it, some stockpile kanji meanings then learn words, some learn meaning and most common reading then learn words. My personal preference is in that order
>more proactively through vocabulary + pronunciation?
This
>should I just learn words and how to pronounce them/ the kanji associated with them
Yes.
Studying kanji isn’t bad per se, but it can be inefficient for beginners. Just learning the Joyo kanji (2136 of them) is a big task and will likely take several months to complete. After that you’ll still not really know any Japanese words or how to read them (some simple words are single kanji though). Worse still, you’ll probably forget a lot of what you learned before you have chance to use it. Finally, learning all the readings is way too much work – not all of them are used and sometimes kanji are pronounced in a way that is not in the normal list of readings.
This task usually puts off beginners (understandably so). The much much easier way is to learn kanji through vocabulary. You can (and should) mix in some kanji study with vocab study. You don’t need to be an expert in every kanji you come across, but when you learn a new word with new kanji in it, take a few moments to look up the new kanji.
Some very basic vocabulary might be good to learn on its own (for example, you won’t learn 私 through vocabulary) buy once you get past the N5 kanji I feel like it’s much better through vocabulary. You learn different ways to read them, remember what type of words they show up on, what meaning they have, and you learn some vocab at the same time. What really helped me was vocabulary flashcards without furigana. That increased my kanji by a ton in not a lot of time.
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Just jump to Korean where it all makes some logical sense.
Learning readings in isolation is a waste of time. Some people do only words, some learn the meaning of a kanji then a few words with it, some stockpile kanji meanings then learn words, some learn meaning and most common reading then learn words. My personal preference is in that order
>more proactively through vocabulary + pronunciation?
This
>should I just learn words and how to pronounce them/ the kanji associated with them
Yes.
Studying kanji isn’t bad per se, but it can be inefficient for beginners. Just learning the Joyo kanji (2136 of them) is a big task and will likely take several months to complete. After that you’ll still not really know any Japanese words or how to read them (some simple words are single kanji though). Worse still, you’ll probably forget a lot of what you learned before you have chance to use it. Finally, learning all the readings is way too much work – not all of them are used and sometimes kanji are pronounced in a way that is not in the normal list of readings.
This task usually puts off beginners (understandably so). The much much easier way is to learn kanji through vocabulary. You can (and should) mix in some kanji study with vocab study. You don’t need to be an expert in every kanji you come across, but when you learn a new word with new kanji in it, take a few moments to look up the new kanji.
Some very basic vocabulary might be good to learn on its own (for example, you won’t learn 私 through vocabulary) buy once you get past the N5 kanji I feel like it’s much better through vocabulary. You learn different ways to read them, remember what type of words they show up on, what meaning they have, and you learn some vocab at the same time. What really helped me was vocabulary flashcards without furigana. That increased my kanji by a ton in not a lot of time.