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I’m a new member to this great site, and I, in my opinion, think I’m learning everything pretty well. That being said, the one thing that has thrown me off is Kanji. I’ve finished the 1-2 stroke Kanji, and I remember everything about them, but knowing when to use which throws me off every time. I always use the wrong pronunciation, and I’m not getting any better. Any help at all would be greatly appreciated.
-Stephen
I think one of the big problems is that the kanji you learn in your kanji deck are rarely ever used in the way you see them. As ON readings are usually combined without Kanji, not by themselves. If by themselves they are usually the KUN readings. So:
Kanji+Kanji = On
Kanji = Kun
Kanji+Hiragana = KunThat’s the standard template, but there are enough exceptions to this to drive you mad. Like when you have a Kanji+Kanji which should use ON readings, but one of the Kanji is for a body part, so now they both use their KUN readings.
http://www.textfugu.com/dashboard/
Try out WaniKani. This is what Koichi made after starting the Kanji here. The first two levels are free. Even if you don’t end up using it, it may help you sort it out mentally, as they color code things.
I’m also fairly new to Japanese learning and have not concentrated too much of the kanji yet. I have been studying it but not memorizing it as much.. More skimming through it and reviewing the kanji that reappears in the Practice section of each lesson than purely rote memorization/reviewing the anki deck since in the Practice section, the Kanji always appears in context.
This is my own method that I used to get a better handle on Kanji. I do not bother with whether or not it is kun/on. Because when you say the vocabulary words, it’s spoken language and people aren’t think kun/on/kanji when they are speaking. Which is why I learn the hiragana first because learning how to say the words means my brain is registering this as new vocabulary. I do this for all the kanji vocabulary like a vocabulary drill. Hiragana first, then kanji a few days later. Once I am comfortable with the new 5-6 vocabulary words in the kanji section, I write the kanji out 10x each while repeating the hiragana in my mind or out loud. When I eventually see that kanji/kanji compound, I will be always be “reading” the vocabulary word.
Ex. You know the word “stop” in English. Say you’ve never seen a stop sign before. The Stop sign is a symbol. Kanji is a symbol. The meaning/reading associated with stop is solidified in your brain before you even see the STOP sign that is painted red with the letters. So when you see the Stop sign over and over, your brain first goes to the meaning of the word “stop” and then you read the actual sign and you are no longer conscious of reading the letters “stop” on the sign but you know what it means. It goes back to how you already knew the meaning of the word “stop”…which is why I learn the hiragana first and forget about the whole kun/on/kanji when learning new vocab.
Once you get a method down (doesnt have to be this method) on how to approach learning kanji, it will make more sense. You can always go forward a bit in the lessons and go back to kanji to revise your learning/studying method as you find new understanding on how to approach kanji.
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