So I am working through Genki 1 and the text is starting to introduce Kanji. I understand Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji are all required for fluency in Japanese. I am pretty comfortable with both Kana but now Kanji seem… daunting.
Is there some type of approach to learning kanji that makes it easier? or is it simply just rote memorization and practice until it clicks? I could not find anything on the FAQ page, so I hope this post doesn’t break the rules. Any pointers/helpful advice is appreciated.
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Using an SRS like Anki will help with Kanji.
I’m a beginner, so grain of salt here.
I’m using Genki as well but ignoring their kanji lists because they do a bad job of introduce kanji IMO. If Genki was your only resource you would just be left with rote memorization from their list. Instead for my vocab + kanji I’m using JPDB as my studying tool. They have flashcard decks built from the Genki lessons. It also has a “locking” option that means you will learn radicals and components first, then the kanji, then finally the vocabulary word.
Example: the word library from chapter 2 is 図書館 . It’s made of 図書 (books) and 館 (public building) . Public building contains the component 飠. That itself is made up of 人 , 白 , and 厶 . And even 白 is made up of 丶 and 日 .
JPDB takes care of managing all that for me so I don’t need to know about the right way to study the radicals. It started by teaching me those basic components first. Then when I knew them it starts adding the more complex ones. Then finally it can begin to introduce vocabulary like 図書館 . And because I already know 飠 it can also start teaching me common words like 飲 and 飯 that use that component.
All I have to do is say “teach me genki vocab” and it handles the rest in terms of what to show me and when. I know I’m doing it slightly out of order or missing some things in Genki. For example I don’t think 川 even shows up in the vocab for Genki in its entirety although it’s in one of their early chapters kanji practice. But to me that just means there’s no point learning it yet. Once I need to learn “river” I’ll also end up learning 川 for it.
Other common resources include Anki, Memrise, Wanikani, Kanji Garden, and Remembering the Kanji. I believe they follow similar approaches in terms of building blocks and mnemonics and locking to build you up gradually.
Each chapter offers about 15 kanji. If you’re looking to write them. Practice writing them about 50 times each.
Even if you don’t want to write them, I’d take some time to learn the vocabulary words for those kanji (on top of the vocab for the chapter) through flashcards or what have you.
Some people have had luck with mnemonics and using sites like [wanikani](https://www.wanikani.com/), others have had luck with [RTK](https://www.amazon.com/Remembering-Kanji-Complete-Japanese-Characters/dp/0824835921). I personally just used anki and a ton of repetition….worked fine for me…but feel free to try the mnemonic approach…I have heard its easier to get into 😁
It only seems daunting cuz you are looking at it as a never ending list…if you take it piece by piece it will get easier…i know wanikani paces you..so that may help it feel less daunting. Just because genki is popular, it doesnt mean You have to stay with it… if it doesnt work for you, find something else…you could always do genki and wanikani together or just wanikani and input together, just as an example 😁
My recommendation is to learn at least up to elementary school grade kanji using words.
Once you know the words associated with each kanji, then start studying them individually.
For reference, I was studying kanji individually from the beginning. I learned how to write about 100 one of them, but the newer ones were just not sticking because I didn’t have any word to associate that kanji with.
I stopped writing kanjis and focused on jlpt n2 vocabulary for one year. I passed n2 last December and now I am back to writing them. It is sticking so much faster now.
You will also notice that many kanjis are just composed of easier level kanjis / radicals arranged in a different way.
For example, 懲 is actually composed of彳山 王 攵 心 which you will learn how to write (a lot) from previous kanjis. So after a while, it feels like you are just studying the arrangements of radicals.
The only shortcut you could take regarding Kanji is to skip learning to write them. For everything else there is no way around
The memory techniques involved in memorizing strings of numbers helps. They don’t make your memory better, but teach you ways to interpret plain information in creative and sticky ways. Memory partially is focus and creativity.
You don’t even need a memory palace since most likely you won’t learn kanji in an indexed format. You can use a simple white room with a stage, if you’re that visually inclined.
Personally I can’t memorize anything without visualizing a place and have things happening there.