A little context: In the past I learned around 2k Kanjis and sth around 1k words. Then university life hit me, I had no time and forgot everything. After finishing university I took up studies again and learn via Anki and so far I’ve learned around 1k Kanjis and 1k words.
The problem: I already feel burned out from learning Kanji, it’s getting more and more boring BUT I love learning new words and further working on my vocabulary. Is there a legitimate way to focus more on vocabulary and learn kanji next to it instead of vice versa?
Also on a smaller note, any recommended sites where you can work on learning japanese grammar? I read that Imabi is recommended, any experiences?
Greatly appreciate every answer!
6 comments
I don’t understand. Vocabs contain Kanji, so how were you planning to learn them without learning Kanji?
Yes, it works. Unless you can’t actually tell kanji apart (especially if they’re similar-looking), it’s not absolutely necessary to study individual kanji in-depth out of context (i.e., actual common, useful, real-world vocabulary).
Why don’t you just try to learn vocabulary without individual kanji study and see if it works for you? Even if you determine that studying individual kanji helps you, you still don’t need to learn 2,000 kanji upfront. Depending on the exact content you study with, for your first ~10K words you typically only need to know 1,500 -2,000 kanji. So there really is no need to study 2,000 kanji for your first 1,000 words as you apparently did in the past. Just learn them as they show up and only to the extent necessary to help you remember vocabulary.
You’re comfortable enough with the concept of kanji, drop them and do only words. Kanji by themself don’t mean anything. They, in my view, are almost always a waste of time to do separately, maybe with the exception of when you’re just starting out. You are bound to “”learn kanji””, whatever that even means, if you learn words which contain them.
**Stop learning kanji** – you’re wasting your time. Why? Because it’s boring you and you’d rather learn vocab.
The Japanese language (like any) is made up of words. So learn words. The written form of those words will often use kanji and you can learn to recognize them with the word and get the right reading via the pronunciation of that word. As a bonus, you’ll soon see patterns of kanji usage in words and get more familiar with the individual kanji anyway.
I think the only time you need to study kanji in isolation is when you are learning to write them by hand. If you never intend to do that then you never need that level of study.
Concentrate on vocab and grammar. When you have a basic vocab (~1000 words) and a basic grammar then start reading. Reading is your easiest route into learning the language.
As for grammar – [here’s some resources and guidance](https://www.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/comments/s5mtva/comment/ht1lo0x/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) I put together – it may help you.
Do whatever you think will keep you interested. No reason to take the “best” route if you’ll abandon the language one week later because it’s boring. I find kanjis interesting so I take my time with Wanikani. It has both kanjis, radicals and then related vocabulary in its srs. Maybe not the fastest way to learn, but it’s the only thing that managed to keep my interest high enough to use it everyday