Is it really effective when you just learn drawings and the pronounces? I better learn one word for every pronounce. But there is so many combos with other kanji(which I also don’t), exceptions, combos with kana… For me this information is useless, and learn all information for one kanji is insane.
Is it good method to learn just words written in kanji? To make flashcards and learn drawings of used kanjis and pronounciatin of only the word?
Or it’ll be the best if you show complete guide of learning kanji. I know there is a lot of guides but it doesn’t make sense for me…
5 comments
Learn the readings through vocabulary. It’s a waste of time learning all the readings.
At first, it’s just memorization, but in the long run, learning the kanji radicals will likely help you remember them better.
I write down the ones i struggle with in a journal, it mskes it easier for me.
Although it can be helpful to know individual kanji, they seldom appear alone as words. Language is about words and their relationships – so learn words. If you just learn words you’ll also inevitably pick up most of the important kanji readings as well.
I don’t see much benefit in learning to write kanji though. Simple recognition is good enough for reading, and they can be easily typed these days.
It would be nice to study both kanji in isolation and vocabulary, but you’ll get much more benefit from concentrating on words alone.
I second people one saying make sure you are focused on vocabulary.
Three reasons:
1. You learn tons of new words, yay! The amount of words you learn just from one character, some without even consciously learning them, is mind-blowing. Arguably one of the best attributes of the Japanese language.
2. You learn what Onyomi reading is actually used. Many Kanji have two onyomi readings if you look them up in the dictionary and on flashcards. But the kicker is that one onyomi reading is used 99% of the time and one of the readings you took time to learn is one used in one obscure word you’ll never see.
3. You explore the meaning of the Kanji. It’s a lot easier to remember 「読 」means ‘reading’ if you see it used in many different ways such as 読書(reading books) 音読み(Onyomi reading) 読者(Reader) 読み方(Way to read a word, pronunciation) beyond being told ‘it means to read’ and to remember it. Plus you won’t forget the Onyomi if you can remember words that use it.
Sitting down and looking at Kanji and the readings doesn’t teach you anything, all you are doing at that point is just memorizing pictures if you aren’t learning what to do with any of the information.