For most people who are suffering the pain of memorizing Kanji, the amount of characters is terrifying and makes you feel desperate for any shortcuts you can find.  I’m not going to sugar-coat it, memorizing all 1945 of these little buggers is going to take some work.  In the whole process of learning Japanese, memorizing Kanji may be the most difficult aspect.  But here, I’d like to share some tricks to make Kanji learning faster, so you can deal with Japanese newspapers, Managa, or those confusing subway signs better.

Tactic #1: Throw the traditional learning order out the window:

The first step is to get familiar with the first 100 to 200 Kanji which are commonly used in Japanese, so that you can get started.  But what you should do next is to learn the advanced kanji as you see them or encounter them when you try to read something in Japanese, and do not worry about how uncommon they are.  When you begin to do this, it will probably not feel easy, but you cut out the part of you that says “Oh that’s a tough Kanji, I’ll wait till later to learn it,” so you will actually find that you learn Kanji much faster this way.

Tactic #2: Memorize the composing parts:

In the dictionary, there are 20 or 30 of the 214 radicals that are used more commonly than others.  Memorizing them means knowing most of Kanji, or at least being able to see the big picture.  You will become quick at recognizing new kanji with less effort.  The radicals which make up the new Kanji will help you figure out what the Kanji means.  This tactic can be named “chunking”, and learning 3-5 radicals is easier than learning 15 Kanji.  Piecing the radicals together to make new meanings and words is the next step.

Tactic #3: Get the tough stuff out of the way first

This tactic focuses on the written Kanji.  Even if you just started, you should try to set aside time for daily readings in Japanese.  This will help you learn the conventional combinations of Kanji and their everyday uses.  With a little practice you should be able to start picking up things naturally.

Tactic #4: Speak Japanese out loud :

Identifying the word, knowing what it refers to, and correct pronunciation are the 3 essentials to learn Kanji.  As long as you aren’t studying in the library, go ahead and practice reading out loud. If you read aloud, you handle the three key components at the same time.

Kanji learning is tough, but you can manage it with some determination.  Follow my advice, and your learning speed will increase.
 


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01/10/2011 17:29

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