Learning kanji is an essential part of mastering the Japanese language, and it’s not as big of a challenge as you might think. When observing written Japanese, you’ll encounter a mix of kanji, hiragana, katakana, and romaji (Latin alphabet words) that express various sentences. It’s often the more complex-looking kanji characters that stand out.
As you delve deeper into your Japanese studies, you’ll naturally find yourself asking questions about kanji, such as, “What is it? How many kanji should I learn? Where do I start?” I think I can give you a hand in answering some of these questions.
If you’re a beginner, it might be beneficial to review our articles on hiragana and katakana before you dive into the realm of kanji. However, if you’re prepared to grasp the concept of kanji characters and their significance in your language studies, let me help!
What is Kanji?
Kanji are Chinese characters that were incorporated into the Japanese written language around the 5th century AD. Each Kanji represents a word or concept, unlike English letters, which represent sounds that form words when combined.
For instance, the English letters “e,” “a,” and “t” individually represent sounds, and when combined, form the word “eat.” In contrast, Japanese has one kanji for the concept “eat” or “food” – 食. This kanji has various associated pronunciations depending on its usage, but the symbol itself represents the idea or word.
So, how does one pronounce written language that doesn’t comprise sound-indicating letters? Here’s where kana comes in. Kana, which includes hiragana and katakana, represent the syllables and plays a crucial role in Japanese language writing, differentiating it from Chinese. Kana is used to represent the pronunciation of kanji characters or replace them when not known or necessary, and to add to kanji characters to represent additional syllables needed to complete a word.
Kanji is integral to learning Japanese, as it not only makes reading comprehension easier but also enables you to quickly distinguish parts of speech. For instance, with kanji, it’s easy to identify verbs and particles in a sentence.
How Many Kanji Do Native Japanese Speakers Know?
Native Japanese speakers typically know around 2,000 to 3,000 kanji, but as a Japanese learner, you should aim to learn around 1,000 kanji for relatively fluent reading.
But how do you start learning kanji? One effective way is to use online tools to gradually memorize kanji as you progress. In the following section, I will introduce five effective strategies to practice when learning kanji.
5 Effective Strategies for Learning Kanji
- Learn Kanji at Your Own Pace
Tailor your learning pace and sequence to suit your individual needs. While it’s useful to study the set of kanji taught to Japanese schoolchildren, don’t feel obligated to follow the exact order. Whatever order you want to do it in, make sure you are spending sufficient time learning all the aspects of a kanji, like pronunciation and meanings, as well as words you might see it in.
- Learn Kanji in Sets
Learning the most frequently used words and practicing with thematic sets, such as foods, colors, numbers, common verbs, etc., can make kanji learning more efficient. That way your brain can group together the kanji relevant to a particular subject. This can help you later when you run into similar-looking kanji.
- Blend Traditional and Technological Methods
The tried and true method of learning Kanji involves repeatedly writing each character until it’s ingrained in your memory. This could be done on scrap paper, or you might prefer utilizing free Kanji writing templates available online.
While this traditional approach has its merits, including a solid understanding of stroke order and a tangible testament to your hard work, it may be time-consuming and less productive for enhancing visual recall and reading comprehension of Kanji. Moreover, as we live in a digital age, the ability to read and type holds more relevance than handwriting.
Hence, a balanced blend of traditional and technological means could be more effective. Start by manually writing the initial hundreds of kanji characters to get a feel for the stroke order and basic radicals. In parallel, employ visual recognition drills via educational apps and games for effective learning and recall.
- Focus on Radicals
Radicals are recurring components seen in multiple kanji characters. They can hint at the meaning or pronunciation of the Kanji. For instance, the kanji 水 symbolizes “water” and also serves as a radical found in characters like 氷 (ice), 泉 (fountain), and 泳 (swim). Moreover, certain radicals are associated with specific pronunciations. A case in point is the radical 門, which is part of kanji like “gate” (門) and “question” or “problem” (問), frequently pronounced as “mon” in several compound words.
- Learn Kanji in Context
Your kanji learning should always align with your overall Japanese language studies. Learning characters in context enables you to memorize their meanings and pronunciations more effectively. Given the multiple possible pronunciations for each kanji, categorizing them into two primary classes—kun-yomi and on-yomi—could be helpful.
Kun-yomi refers to native Japanese pronunciations, often seen in verbs that include hiragana (like the “ta” pronunciation of 食べる). On the other hand, on-yomi are Sino-Japanese readings, where the pronunciation is derived from the original Chinese pronunciation and is usually seen in compound Kanji (like the “shoku” in 食事 (shokuji) meaning “meal”).
Aim to learn each Kanji in context as part of the vocabulary, including at least one instance of a kun-yomi reading and one on-yomi reading. For example, understanding that 小 is the Kanji for “small” is an excellent first step. But learning it in the context of the i-adjective 小さい (small) pronounced as “chiisai” and the noun 小学生 (elementary school student) pronounced as “shо̄gakusei” will offer more opportunities to apply and practice common pronunciations.
30 Most Used Kanji
- 人 (Person) – 人々 (hitobito) means people.
- 日 (Day) – 日曜日 (nichiyoubi) means Sunday.
- 年 (Year) – 新年 (shinnen) means New Year.
- 大 (Large) – 大きい (ookii) means big.
- 中 (Middle) – 中心 (chuushin) means center.
- 十 (Ten) – 十日 (tooka) means the tenth day (of the month).
- 二 (Two) – 二つ (futatsu) means two (things).
- 本 (Book) – 本棚 (hondana) means bookshelf.
- 出 (Exit) – 出口 (deguchi) means exit.
- 三 (Three) – 三人 (sannin) means three people.
- 上 (Up) – 上手 (jouzu) means skilled.
- 下 (Down) – 下手 (heta) means unskilled.
- 一 (One) – 一人 (hitori) means one person.
- 八 (Eight) – 八月 (hachigatsu) means August.
- 入 (Enter) – 入学 (nyuugaku) means admission to school.
- 万 (Ten Thousand) – 万年筆 (mannen-hitsu) means fountain pen.
- 文 (Sentence) – 文章 (bunshou) means a sentence or article.
- 四 (Four) – 四季 (shiki) means the four seasons.
- 五 (Five) – 五つ (itsutsu) means five (things).
- 六 (Six) – 六日 (muika) means the sixth day (of the month).
- 七 (Seven) – 七月 (shichigatsu) means July.
- 何 (What) – 何時 (nanji) means what time.
- 九 (Nine) – 九月 (kugatsu) means September.
- 千 (Thousand) – 千葉 (Chiba) is a city in Japan.
- 東 (East) – 東京 (Toukyou) means Tokyo.
- 子 (Child) – 子供 (kodomo) means child.
- 了 (Complete) – 了解 (ryoukai) means understanding or acknowledgement.
- 女 (Woman) – 女性 (josei) means woman.
- 小 (Small) – 小鳥 (kotori) means small bird.
- 外 (Outside) – 外国 (gaikoku) means foreign country.
Keep in mind that many of these Kanji can have different meanings depending on the context, and they often combine with other characters to form different words. Make sure to study these Kanji in context to get a sense of their multiple uses!
