Learning Japanese

2 comments

1. If you’re learning hiragana and katakana, definitely learn the characters first. If you’re learning kanji, learn the words instead.
   Each kanji has an onyomi and kunyomi pronunciation depending on the preceding or proceding kanji and even the context. This is why learning kanji words or words with kanji is so much more practical. If you find it easier to learn words by using individual kanjis, you can learn and study multiple words with that same kanji.
   I.e:
   – 行く　旅行　行政　(Kanji 行)　
   いく　りょこう　ぎょうせい
   To go Trip/trip　Administration

   I recommend AnkiDroid for this

2. Remembering words was super hard for me at first, I think it’s probably because I had no reference at the time. The more you learn the easier it gets to learn more, I guess you get a feel for how they tend to sound and work in a sentence. You’ll often find yourself using words you can’t even remember learning.

   Long story short – if you just keep trying you WILL improve. Not giving up is the hard part, but as long as you can do that you’ll be set.

   Believe in the process and keep going, a breakthrough is always right around the corner.

   Edit – Just something else I wanted to add, I started learning Dutch after studying Japanese for a while and it was the same situation, words just wouldn’t stay in my head at first. But once you learn enough words to get your foot on the ladder you’ll start learning words in context, which is when your brain will really activate and you’ll take off.

   頑張れ！