Kanji, the Japanese alphabet, looks very sophisticated and is equally challenging for some enthusiasts to learn the language. If you are a beginner and have an interest in the language, then we can take you through a walkthrough as how you can achieve the flow to the process of learning Kanji. It, however, depends on how much time you will be able to grasp the language, it might take years or months depending on your capability and gist to learn.
What is Kanji?
In the Japanese dictionary, Kanji is the written language that consists of nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. Japanese adapted the Chinese language and molded it along with their own Hiragana and Katakana syllables. Kanji is not phonetic as compared to its counterparts Hiragana and Katakana. It is a string of words and ideas in which it can be either a full word in itself or with the help of another symbol; the same word can form a different phrase.
These are symbols that each represent a word accordingly. Kanji seems to be originated in China initially but later on, adopted by Japanese too. To pronounce the Kanji symbols, one needs to be prepared as every symbol has a different pronunciation, which are called ‘readings.’ The readings consist of both Chinese and Japanese origin amalgamated to form the Kanji symbols. Memorizing what symbol stands for what in Kanji is a bit tricky part. It is the reason why it takes so much time for people to be perfect in this language. There are over thousands of Kanji with no definite number, so even if one learns 100 kanji, then they have the grasp on basic Kanji.
There is no definite steps or guide through on how one can learn Kanji. One doesn’t need to learn Kanji to speak fluent Japanese alphabet. One can learn to talk to the Japanese even through their drama series. Many Japanese people don’t even bother to learn Kanji at all. However, Kanji should be determined for a better understanding of the Japanese dialect.
- If you want to learn Japanese, learn to read it as well- You don’t know the language until you learn to read it as well. Just speaking a fluent language doesn’t mean you are an expert in the dialect, you should also know how to read the symbols as well. English has always been taken as granted, but if one doesn’t know how to read it, one is not considered as literate. But, not all languages are as easy to understand as the primary English language that has only 26 syllables. Asian languages are much more complicated, as the Japanese dialect. So, in order to learn to be fluent in spoken Japanese, you need to wrap your head around the complicated Kanji.
- Kanji helps you to understand Japanese vocabulary in a better way- Kanji helps you in a better understanding of new words. When you are learning new words to read, then the next step can be their pronunciation. Symbols in Kanji are like words in the English language that has adverbs or pronouns or nouns. These are affixed to your common words in the Japanese language, which helps you better understand the phonetic words that you hear. Each word has a meaning that can be deciphered only if you have a stronghold on Kanji.
- If you are moving to Japan, it is a survival skill for you- Have you recently been transferred to the Japanese country? If yes, then learning Kanji is a survival skill. It will be easier to convey your messages to the local people over there if you know Kanji. Also, it would come in handy when you are reading a menu, for example, or a billboard over there and mix you with the local crowd very quickly.
If you are on this page, it means that you want to learn the language and are looking for a way to know how you can learn Kanji more naturally. Needless to say, learning a foreign language is no cup of tea. However, we break down the essential steps that you need to know to memorize Kanji symbols.
- Break down the radicals- When a small symbol of Kanji gets associated with a more significant logo to create a word or a phrase, that is known as radicals. So, start from the beginning and identify your radicals. The radicals consist of 214 in number in the Japanese language, which helps to build more complex characters in Japan. As compared to the thousands of words that Kanji has, radicals are only a few in numbers, so once you start identifying radicals, most of your work is done, and you would have a basic understanding of Kanji.
- Write it down- Practice the Kanji symbols by drawing them down. You should have an understanding of how the strokes work. There is a particular stroke order where Kanji is written line by line. So, while practicing the symbols, you should know how different strokes are drawn. There is a specific pattern of how they work, and Japanese dictionaries dictate you how this works. One should memorize the strokes as when you bring one stroke wrong; then, it can change the word’s meaning.
- Know which Kanji you want to learn- As we mentioned earlier, there are thousands of Kanji types. The exact number is unknown, but it can be confirmed that there are more than 50,000. It is said that Jouyou Kanji is the easiest of all. It is the Kanji that kids in Japan learn in their school. The Jouyou Kanji is the most common of all, and if you learn this, then you have gained 80% of the Japanese language. Once you start learning the Jouyou Kanji, you will notice that most of Japan use this Kanji type only. So, that’s the step you should take in your learning.
- Start using Jouyou Kanji in everyday dialect- Your day to day practice has to be ensured when you start learning a new language. Whatever your mother tongue is, start replacing the words in written and spoken dialect with Kanji. It would help you to memorize your Jouyou Kanji, and it all depends on how often you use it in your daily conversation. There are also test papers available in the market and online that you can use for your regular practice sessions. As rightly said, practice makes a man better, so practice hard as learning Kanji is not a child’s game.