Learning kanji is pretty boring. It’s a huge task that involves lot of self study and memorisation. Even if you’re in a classroom setting you are often just given lists of kanji to study between classes. Unfortunately, kanji is something most Japanese learners have to tackle eventually so how can you get through it the least horrible way possible?
To make kanji less boring you need to understand the way you learn and how to mix your own interests into the content. Allowing yourself to take breaks and setting small manageable goals is key. It’s also important to understand that this is a long term project and manage your expectations so don’t burn out early. The best way to do that is to celebrate your achievements along the way!
I failed at studying kanji in several attempts over the years, it wasn’t until I started tailoring my study habits that I managed to find a routine that I could stick to long term. Here are the tips that helped me the most!
1. Start learning kanji as soon as possible, don’t avoid it!
It’s easy to want to just stick kana once you’ve got that down. Don’t do it. The longer you rely on your kana knowledge the harder it will be to switch to kanji. The moment you’re comfortable in kana get started in kanji. To begin with, work on small things which you will use often in your every day life like days of the week, entrance/exit or items you would find on a menu.
Most of the methods mentioned in this post are SRS systems. By design they take quite a while to complete when you have thousands of kanji to get through. As an example, Wanikani suggests that if you were to go as fast as humanly possible through the levels it would still take 368 days to get through their content!
So… the sooner you start the sooner you finish!!
2. Decide what you want to learn.
Before you start you need to figure out which parts of the kanji you want to learn. This will depend on your goals but if you don’t think you will do much physical writing then there’s no point wasting time being bored to tears on stroke order. Similarly, if you don’t find that learning radicals actually helps you in remembering full kanji then don’t waste the time on it.
If you are studying for a specific test like the JLPT then it’s a lot easier to decide what to learn. There are several helpful lists around the web which rank kanji based on JLPT level. Most apps also teach you in the order of most popular. If you’re not studying with a specific test in mind then you can tailor your approach to be more interesting. Pick topics and vocabulary that you like by theme from the Jouyou Kanji list or let your app decide for you.
3. Tailor the kanji around your other hobbies and interests.
Kaitlin knew that her hobby was having over priced coffee in tall buildings so she combined that with learning kanji for easy success!
Learning kanji is less boring if you can study things that you already have an interest in. It’s also much more likely to stick in your brain if you already have knowledge relating to it. I always recommend trying to learn based around things you enjoy talking about in real life. Learning this way is more fun and you will find it easier to find words in other contexts. For example, if you like mountain biking, start with any bike or riding related kanji. If your hobby is sewing, then look for crafting related terms.
To find interesting and relevant kanji to learn, look for Japanese social media accounts in your interests. I’ll be posting my top 10 social media accounts for self study soon.
4. Trial kanji memorisation techniques before you commit.
Everyone learns differently. Some people learn visually and do well with graphics based programs that show kanji with photos or drawings, others prefer thought story mnemonics, others still can memorise straight from the text books with little issue. Personally, I find flash cards to be mind numbingly boring so I try to use the weirdest possible thought mnemonics to liven things up. The crazier the stories that go with the kanji, the easier they are to remember.
The key to happy learning is finding which of those techniques works for you without making it more tedious.
My biggest tip is to spend a week trialing different systems. Most SRS kanji apps like Wanikani, Scribe Japanese and Anki have free trial options. I suggest finding your top 3 systems then learning a few kanji with each over the space of a week. At the end of the week see which ones you remember (and which you didn’t find boring) and commit to that system.
Rob and Tracey had only 3 weeks left to finish learning kanji or this huge clock would explode and kill them all!
What to look for in a kanji memorisation system:
- Clear levels and small goals so you can see yourself progressing
- The ability to pause so revisions don’t pile up while you take a break
- A layout and design that you won’t hate staring at for the next few years
- Ideally a mixture of kanji and related vocabulary items so you can understand context
- The weirdest mnemonics possible. The weirder they are the better they stick!
- Customisation of content. Ideally you want to be able to add your own words
- Versatile testing, you want to be able to test yourself based on the kanji, the meaning, words using it and listening
Also keep in mind that the lists included in most of these apps are not exhaustive. Just because you have finished an N5 list doesn’t mean that there won’t be other kanji included in an actual N5 practice test.
If you’re stuck for some systems to test, here are some popular ones:
- Wanikani (web)
- Anki (web with app)
- Scribe Japanese (app)
- Home made flash cards with custom mnemonics (personal)
- Flash cards (printed versions)
- Remembering The Kanji (book)
Most of the above systems are variations of SRS learning which is very effective, stay tuned for the the mega post comparing kanji systems soon.
5. Find a learning system and stick to it.
I learn casually and get bored easily. After a few months I want to quit whatever method I’ve chosen and try a new one to keep it interesting. The problem with doing this is that you lose your progress and start from scratch. Most kanji memorisation apps and SRS system use roughly the same lists of words and order of learning. So if you quit one app after completing the N5 kanji and start another, you will generally be starting the same kanji over again. That’s great for a refresher but you are wasting time that you could be using for acquiring new kanji.
Instead of quitting so easily, try making your study into a positive habit. I like having afternoon snacks at a certain time every day. During that time I now do my kanji revisions daily. Having the snack I like helps make it a positive thing and doing it daily reenforces the good habit. I only do revisions for as long as my break lasts, so there’s a clear time frame and it doesn’t drag on to boredom.
6. Have easy goals and celebrate your progress
Morgan’s goal was the carry as many kanji related books as possible and she was succeeding!
There are a LOT of kanji. Even if you’re only aiming for the ~2000 on the Jouyou list each still has several readings and is used differently in various vocabulary. That’s a lot of learning. If you only celebrate your progress as the entire list being complete you will burn out early. If your app doesn’t do it for you, break your list down into several smaller levels and milestones so you can see your progress. I like the way that Wanikani does this because with 60 levels it’s easy to see how far I’ve come and how many items I’ve learned in each category.
If you feel like you’re making headway you are a lot more likely to continue happily!
7. Don’t learn kanji in a vacuum.
SRS systems and flash cards are great but using them exclusively makes learning kanji repetitive. If you only ever see the kanji within the app you will have a hard time recognising it being used in every day life. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve learned a character and can recognise it easily on the flash cards but when it comes up in a manga, my mind is completely blank. Once I look it up my brain makes the connection with the manga story and next time I can remember it easily.
The point is that you need to put your new found knowledge to use outside of your system. This will strengthen the connections in your brain and help you recall it in all kinds of situations.
Some great ways to do that are reading manga, watching tv or movies with Japanese subtitles on or reading social media.
8. If you are getting bored, don’t force it
I have run out of funny captions now.
Every few months I put my apps on “holiday mode” so the reviews don’t pile up and do something else to clear my mind. The quickest way for you to hate kanji is to force yourself to do it when you don’t want to. For my break week, instead of doing kanji revisions I read manga, watch tv, write to my friends or practice grammar. Anything that still refreshes your Japanese without looking at flash cards!
Set a time limit for the break and then go back to your kanji as normal refreshed!
Conclusion
So the main take away from this is that while kanji is hard and there’s no way to get around the sheer number of them, there are ways to make it more interesting. By being selective about the systems you use, tailoring the content and giving yourself breaks, you stand a much higher chance of not burning out.
It’s true that learning kanji the traditional way can be boring but if you are smart about how to tackle it, it doesn’t have to be anymore!
