How to Learn Kanji

Introduction

Hey! You’re here. Well, welcome to Beginner. I'm glad you’re here, because today’s discussion is an important one. Shh, shh, just listen. Be still… And take a deep breath. Can you feel that? You’re right on the edge of beginning a momentous journey—a journey into the world of kanji. And I’m not exaggerating!

Behold, Mt. Kanji

If you’re serious about learning (a lot of) kanji, it’s not going to be a few-week task, or even a few-month one. Likely, before you know it, it will have been a year, then two, and then somewhere along the line you’ll realize that you never stopped learning kanji; you’ll realize that learning kanji has become an integral part of your very life.

I’m not gonna lie, it will be challenging. In fact, you will think about quitting at times, but for those who don’t, the payoff is immense. You will feel your mind shift and transform as the way you think about the world around you is intrinsically altered, all while your memory continuously improves. You will be able to bask in the satisfaction that you committed thousands of characters to memory when so many stopped at just a few. And more importantly, you will be able to read.

If it’s not obvious already, I really want you to succeed with kanji. They are so much more than just another writing system. They are magical and challenging and indispensable if you’re serious about learning Japanese. And yes, learning them is no easy feat, but luckily for you, I know a few tricks. Some of them are ancient knowledge, passed down through the generations. Some are cutting-edge creations, tailored to expedite your learning. I have no secrets! So gather round, and let me tell you what I know.

Part One: The Body

You’ve learned what kanji are. You know where they come from and what parts construct them. You may have seen some of them in your lessons so far, but I want to show you what they look like. What they really, truly look like.

万

Can you see it? What does it look like? What do you think it means? Maybe it looks like nothing, maybe it looks like meaningless scribbles. But I promise it is so much more. This is a real, living, kanji. It has a meaning, it has a story, and it has a body. What you can see here, is the body, put together, and complete. But we can dismantle it, and when we do, each part will whisper to us a story.

Part Two: The Story

Are you ready to hear what story will come out when we pull apart this character? I should warn you, that once you dismantle this kanji, you can never turn back. Once you realize the power you have, you can never un-know it. Ready? Okay.

㇐

㇓ ㇆

We’ve done it! We’ve pulled it apart. See the “stick” above? And below, there, to the left, that’s a “warped stick”. And to the right, a “hook”. Now shh, be quiet, and let’s listen to what they have to say.

For ten thousand years, the giant hook has hung from a simple stick, suspended over a deep ravine. The sun and the rain and the elements of those ten thousand years beat down, but the stick and the hook never wavered. The only change in ten thousand years is that the wood of the stick has become warped, and twisted. Now both the hook and the stick that hold it hang vertically—impossibly suspended in the open air, as if held by a giant, invisible hand.

Not the most pleasant story, was it? Sometimes the story the parts give us is scary, and sometimes it is full of joy. The important thing is that we listen and remember. The parts are kind, and will always tell us what is most important in the story they tell. This will be what gives the character its meaning.

Part Three: The Meaning

What was the most important detail from the story above? Check the bold text above. That’s right, ten thousand… This character means ten thousand. Each character will have a meaning. Sometimes, the meaning of a single character is enough to form a word, all by itself. Sometimes, it needs another character’s help. What is important to remember is that every kanji has a meaning, hidden in its parts, you only have to listen to the story they tell you, and you will know it too. Hold on! There is one more thing this kanji has left to tell us…

Part Four: A Reading

Behold this character’s parts again. See the stick, and the hook, and the warped stick of ten thousand.

㇐

㇓ ㇆

Can you hear the parts whispering again? They want to tell us one more thing. You see, each kanji has a meaning, and each kanji has a name, or a reading. Some of them are known by many names. The parts can tell us another story to reveal these names…

See the cruel hook dangling from the warped stick over the ravine. See its twisted steel, rusted yet still impossibly sharp after ten thousand years. What is the hook waiting for? Feel the question burn within you. Hear the very earth rumble as the hook’s rusted steel begins to reverberate a sound… At first only a ringing, it begins to coalesce into a single word. It sounds like… “man”. The hook waits for a man. Who, we do not know. But some poor soul will spend ten thousand years upon that cruel hook above the ravine. Some man… man… まん.

The parts have given us a name for this kanji: まん. Be sure not to forget it! Or you’ll have to read this rather frightening story again.

What Was this Storytime For?

These stories are how we learn and remember the kanji. Without them, it would be like trying to memorize a mass of jumbled names and meanings, all disconnected and ambiguous.

You may hear a kanji’s parts called “radicals”, but we will call them elements. After all, it is elements such as carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen, that make up me and you. Kanji are no different. Using these elements, we will teach you each kanji’s story: one for meaning, one for reading. You can refer to these as you wish, but the best way to ensure you do not forget a kanji is to see it over, and over again.

We will also use kanji as parts themselves. For example, the kanji 日 (sun) is found in many other kanji, and so when you're learning their parts "sun" will be one of them!

Kanji Vocabulary and Context

A kanji is not a word. This is important! You will be tempted to think that kanji are words. After all, some of them, like 万まん, form a word all by themselves. But kanji are not words! Kanji form words.

This is an important thing to realize for two reasons:

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  If you operate under the assumption that kanji are words in and of themselves, you might mistakenly think that by learning kanji, you are automatically learning vocabulary. This is wrong. Learning kanji may make it easier to learn vocabulary, but learning kanji does not equal learning vocabulary.

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  Understanding that kanji is not the same as vocabulary, makes the importance of learning through context crystal clear. If you truly understand this distinction, you will shudder at the thought of learning a kanji without learning the words it makes up, and the context those words are used in. We will always teach you a kanji with context in mind.

Why is context so important?

I’m glad you asked! The difficulty you’ll have when trying to learn kanji without context is probably similar to learning English words without context. Imagine learning a word like “lead”, with no other info given to you. Without a containing sentence, even native speakers wouldn’t know if it was pronounced “leed”, or “led”. Are we talking about guiding someone? Or are we talking about a poisonous metal?

Kanji takes this issue of context and makes it 10 times more important. Why? Because kanji can compound with one another; kanji can warp and shift meanings and readings depending on what surrounds them. For example, the kanji 万 may make up the word 万まん, meaning ten thousand, but it is also in the word 万歳ばんざい (”banzai”). See how its reading changed? See how 万 on its own may mean ten thousand, but after it has joined another kanji, it now means something completely different? Without context, learning kanji will be like trying to catch a fish with only a line, and no hooks.

Another reason why context is so important is that kanji can have many, many different readings. For instance, you will learn the kanji “sun” 日, which can be read as ひ、び、か、じつ、or　にち, depending on what word it’s used in. And 日 is not a rare exception. There are many, many kanji like this. So, you could try and memorize every reading for every kanji, or you could learn them in words, like a sane person.

In Conclusion…

If this all seems like a lot, don’t worry! It is. If you don’t feel a bit overwhelmed at some point learning kanji, then something is wrong. But don’t worry, Maru and I will be there with you all along the way to guide you. We will always teach you kanji through parts, and stories, so that you can remember them. We'll give you context through associated vocabulary so you learn each kanji's most common words, and you’ll then use an SRS (spaced repetition system) to repeatedly study these until they are cemented in your mind. Trust me, it works. Are you ready to dive in? Awesome. I’ll let you be free of exercises today so you can hop right into learning your first set of kanji!

Summary

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  Learning kanji is a long, hard journey that will get easier as you go, but can’t be accomplished in any short amount of time.

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  Kanji can be broken into “elements” and we will use these elements to create mnemonics, or “stories” to help you remember their meanings and readings.

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  You will also learn kanji in context, so that you know how and when they are used in real-life Japanese.

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  You will use SRS to repeatedly study the kanji until you remember them… forever!