Question

Question about the efficiency of an approach to learning Japanese.

I'm currently familiar with basic vocabulary, hiragana and katakana. I'm thinking of really learning Japanese this year, and thought a good start would be to tackle kanji. I'm not bad at memory techniques, I know I can learn most of it within a year, including the multiple meanings. I figure that by the end of my kanji endeavors, my Japanese vocabulary will be a bit impressive, though will probably need a lot of practice thereafter to achieve fluency.

I welcome opinions on this approach, and go New Years resolutions.

Answer 1

Came across this article: http://www.tofugu.com/2010/03/25/the-5-biggest-mistakes-people-make-when-learning-kanji/

Seems I'll be learning the 'building blocks' of kanji first - the radicals.

Answer 2

I think learning a reasonable amount of building blocks is necessary at a rather early stage.
Learn to read and write numbers, days of the week and some of the first grade Kyōiku kanji first, but start immediately afterwards with the building blocks.
Being able to identify and distinguish 又、夂, 夊,欠 for instance helped me a lot learning more kanji.
I like this website: https://kanjiportraits.wordpress.com/
It is emphasising the 90 most common radicals.

Answer 3

My gratitude for the suggestions and affirmations.

Answer 4

You're welcome :))

I recommend Asahi Kanji too: I had stopped using this app on my smartphone, but since they introduced a two-part list of the radicals, I have found renewed interest.
Presentation of the 'radicals & elements' is here:
http://www.japanese-kanji.com/ios/english/radicals-bushu-ios.htm

As I also want to be able to write the kanji, I now use Kanji LS Touch, available for iOS or Android (not free though). My writing and memory of the kanji has improved tremendously since I started using this app :)

Answer 5

Thanks for the share, looks like a very powerful learning tool.

I also picked up this popular dictionary: http://www.amazon.com/Kodansha-Kanji-Learners-Dictionary-Expanded/dp/1568364075/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1451417842&sr=8-1&keywords=kanji+learners+dictionary

I think it fits what I'm looking for since it has meaning(s), on/kun, and jukugo for the updated 2010 jouyou kanji (it also has jinmei kanji, but I'm not sure if learning those is fruitful yet or not).

regards

Answer 6

Aye, if you really need help just ask me. I'm japanese so.

Answer 7

まゆのすけさん、Open Study へようこそ！

Answer 8

Hello mayunosuke, thanks a lot. I may take you up on the offer sometime.

I've made pretty good progress since my post, I've learned a lot of radicals since then, and will probably be jumping into kanji soon.

じゃね