Many new students of the Japanese language are often bothered about whether they need to learn kanji or not. This is largely due to the difficulty associated with learning kanji, which is an essential Japanese writing system. Without a doubt, kanji is difficult to understand and even sometimes messy to learn. Besides, mastering it requires a long learning process.
Well, the truth is that you can learn Japanese without kanji. You can just concentrate on learning hiragana and katakana. This is because as long as you have a good understanding of hiragana and katakana, you can communicate to an extent in Japanese.
Without understanding a single character of kanji, you can learn Japanese enough to communicate with other Japanese-speaking individuals daily. You can even live in Japan and also communicate with people at work, home, and even on the road.
Generally speaking, most Japanese kids don’t learn anything about kanji until they get to Grade 2. By this period, these kids are around age 6 and understand the basics of the Japanese language as they can communicate with their family, friends, and so on.
Besides, there are numerous foreigners in japan that can speak the language but have never learned kanji. Despite this reality, most of these foreigners still enjoy their time in Japan as they can converse with other Japanese speakers. All these points establish the fact that you can learn Japanese without kanji.
Why this is not advisable
Although you can learn Japanese without kanji, it is not advisable. This is because of some reasons that will be described below:
- Not learning kanji impedes your Japanese literacy level
Before you ditch kanji in your journey to learn Japanese, you should understand that kanji is still important if you want to be literate in the language. In other words, if you want to be able to write and read in the Japanese language, it is not reasonable to learn Japanese without kanji.
Based on experiences, it is near impossible for anyone to read the Japanese language without understanding kanji. The Japanese language doesn’t use any sort of empty spaces between words. Therefore, kanji is utilized for indicated the ending of a word and the beginning of another word. That is, it breaks a sentence down to make it easy for anyone to read.
Hence, as long as you have not learned kanji, reading will be a herculean task for you. Even if you try to read without kanji, there will be so many errors in your interpretation of each sentence because different words will be jumbled.
- Not learning kanji confuses the meaning of words
In English and other languages, the contexts often determine the particular meanings of many words. The same thing applies to the Japanese language. In some cases, kanji characters are the ones that will show you the context of a particular sentence written in hiragana. Hence, you will rely on kanji to determine the meaning of the words. Therefore, if you have learned Japanese without kanji, such words will look confusing to you.
In addition, if you have learned the Japanese language without kanji, there will be several instances where you will say or read some awesome phrases without understanding their real significance or meaning. Just imagine how bad that will be for you if you are saying something without even knowing its meaning.
- It will be almost impossible to pass the JLPT without kanji
Are you planning to write the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT)? If yes, you should understand you cannot do so without kanji. From the easiest and lowest level of JLPT (N5) to the hardest and highest level (N1), you will be tested on your understanding of kanji. In fact, you are expected to understand some kanji characters before taking any level. By the time you are writing JLPT N1, which is the highest level of the test, you would have understood more than 1,000 kanji characters.
Overall, without kanji, you cannot pass this test. Of course, there are tons of consequences for not passing the exam. The most significant include difficulty with getting some job opportunities as many employers will request you to submit your JLPT certification. So, if you want to get a great job in Japan, your refusal to learn kanji may be a barrier.
- Learning without kanji may be impossible in some cases
If you plan to learn Japanese from the book, it will be near impossible for you to do without learning some basic kanji. This is because kanji in most written Japanese books regularly. Therefore, you will need some understanding of kanji to be able to make sense of what you are reading in the book.
Notably, you can only learn Japanese without Japanese if you are living in Japan or around Japanese speakers that communicate with you in the language. Otherwise, it will be impossible to learn Japanese without kanji.
- Learning kanji is cool
Even though you may not agree, writing in kanji is actually cool. This is because this Japanese writing script looks awesome. Therefore, if you are crafting out any idea with this kanji, it will look beautiful. So, if you don’t want to miss out on such a sweet feeling, you should not shy away from learning kanji along with other essentials of the Japanese language.
Imagine going out and not able to read and understand signposts, restaurants’ menus, posters, etc. Well, this is what you may experience if you learn Japanese without kanji. So, although you can learn Japanese without kanji, it is not advisable.
Although many individuals are running away from learning kanji because it is generally believed to be difficult to learn, you should not be discouraged. As long as you are fully committed to learning, it could easy for you to learn kanji and even become an expert at using this awesome writing system. Join a Japanese language class, get the right resources, and continue studying until you reach the level of fluency you have always desired in the language.