Is it OK if im getting all the kanji very wrong and I have a hard time remembering them even using Anki? I’m new to anki so I’m not entirly sure how it works yet but I’m getting them wrong CONSTANTLY. I even write the kanji down and repeat it over and over but it takes me so long to finally get it. Is this normal or am I just really bad at memorization? (P.s. this is like my 3rd day using it lol so maybe thats why, I just wanna know other peoples experiences when their first started) Maybe it gets easier the more you continue? I do 7 new cards a day. Thank you and \~sorry if this is a stupid post
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Maybe share some memorization tips if you have any?
4 comments
how many total are you cycling through, if you’re just starting? focus on a core few hundred first total, max
rote memorization of letters and their vague meanings and out of context possible pronunciations is of limited value, you need to use these in context in real vocab. read, write, speak, and listen to sentences that use the vocab you learn, including the kanji in their native word context
also, just making sure, this isn’t literally the first thing you’re doing as a learner, right? you’re following grammar in genki or tae kim and learned the two kana syllabries first?
An early mistake I made when I started learning was using 2k/6k right off the bat. It was too advanced for me. After going through genki 1 and half of genki 2 and moe way N5 anki I now feel I’m at a level where I can handle 2k/6k. 2k/6k was like jumping in the deep end.
If it’s only your third day, just be patient. The whole reason flash cards as a concept exist is because these things aren’t learned by just seeing/hearing them a single time. If most people could just learn instantly and not forget, flash cards/anki/wanikani wouldn’t exist in the first place.
Feel free to ignore these ideas, they just were helpful to me so they might help you.
If you have zero prior experience with kana (hiragana and katakana), please read a web page going through katakana and hiragana or download a free app that teaches them with mnemonics (stories to help you remember them like here’s an example: あ a – it looks like a person with arms up spinning and falling shouting “ahhhh”). That will make the kana parts easier.
If you have zero prior experience with Kanji before this, give yourself a few weeks or a month to study some Kanji. You don’t even have to learn a lot. Just learning some super common ones beforehand will help you learn How to learn Kanji, and give you something to lean on. I recommend the Tuttle book [Read Japanese Today](https://www.amazon.com/Read-Japanese-Today-Practical-Language-ebook/dp/B00Q3FLLAO) it’s free as an ebook in most college ebook libraries. It teaches 400 Kanji through stories to help you remember. Also I recommend you read some article about radicals that make up kanji, here’s [one](https://kanjialive.com/214-traditional-kanji-radicals/). Radicals are the pieces put together to make a kanji, sort of like letters put together to make words. Knowing radicals exist will help you figure out what the scribble of lines is when you see a kanji. For example 明 is the radicals sun and moon put together.
It’s also nice to know there’s a few kinds of kanji: ones that are picture representations of something like 木 kanji is a picture of a tree, one’s that are 2 symbols combined for a new meaning like 明 sun and moon combine for “bright”, ones that are symbolic of concepts like something drawn over something else for “above’ 上, and ones where a phonetic part of the kanji came from it’s pronunciation at some point (perhaps in chinese) and a semantic part of the kanji indicates meaning like 話. Here’s an article on phonetic semantic [kanji](https://morg.systems/Kanji-with-a-semantic-and-phonetic-component). This [article](https://morg.systems/Kanji-Classification) goes over all the types of kanji. Being aware kanjis are made by combining radicals, or combining an existing kanji with another one/another radical, makes recognizing kanji easier. 話 (speak) is easier to recognize when you know it’s just a combination of kanji words+tongue. When you start learning Kanji generally, on your own or using some lessons, you may want to look into how to make up mnemonic stories. This is using the components a kanji is made of like 明 I’d made of sun and moon meaning bright, and making a story using sun and moon and bright to help you remember. [Kanji.koohi](https://kanji.koohii.com/) site is full of mnemonic stories written for kanji if you just want to read someone’s pre-made stories to help you remember. That site also has built in SRS flashcards to study the kanji. I think if you even just start studying 100-300 Kanji, not even fully memorized just a bit more familiar with them, the core anki deck will feel a bit less daunting.
You can also make up your own mnemonics when you see new Kanji in the anki decks. Or make mnemonics for the pronunciation of words, not just the recognition of Kanji. Like “chisai” is small I might think of a story “jeeee Sally that dress sure is small on you” to remind me of the pronunciation “chisai”. Be aware Kanji have multiple pronunciations and pronunciation depends on the word.
You may want to read a little grammar explanation before continuing. If grammar is confusing you. If it’s just Kanji again feel free to ignore this lol. I like [Sabukis guide](https://sakubi.neocities.org) since it’s very short and simple, Tae Kim’s is another one.
Basically, I think just a little more familiarity with some super common Kanji could help. The core deck may still be hard for a while though. That may be why Tango decks are popular, there’s a lot more beginner level only material in that deck before another one increases in difficulty. I didn’t do Core 2k deck til after Genki 1.