Kanji Kanji Kanji – How many do you know?
Just a quick random post today about Kanji. I’ve been doing Kanji for about nearly 9 months or so now and am using Heisig RTK (Remember the Kanji) . I’d just like to show some pictures of Kanji I’ve written (not to brag, althoughI feel like it a bit XD) I’ve only started writing it these past 2 months to help remember them somehow^^” My Kanji writing is messy but I can make it pretty when I want to^^”! I still don’t remember all the 2000+ Jōyō kanji. I probably know only around 500-700? not really sure^^” For those of you who don’t know what Jōyō kanji is, here’s a little explanation from Wikipedia.
- The jōyō kanji (常用漢字?, literally “regular-use Chinese characters”) is the guide to kanji characters announced officially by the Japanese Ministry of Education. Current jōyō kanjiare those on a list of 2,136 characters issued in 2010. It is a slightly modified version of the tōyō kanji, which was the initial list of secondary school-level kanji standardized afterWorld War II.
Source: Wikipedia
It’s good to come up with stories which are known as mnemonic stories to help you remember them, I think Danny mentioned this in his post, How Discovering Japan Changed My Life
Ah for those of you are wondering how I try to retain them, I use a SRS (spaced repetition system) called Anki, which is free. This was the first SRS I’ve used and I really liked it, simple and easy to use. So I do recommend it! very beginner friendly. Of course there are other SRS out there such as Mnemosyne, Surusu (online).
Then you rate yourself on how well you remember the Kanji
When I started, I had it the other way around, the story at the Front of the card and the Kanji at the back. After a few months, I decided to flip it around, having the Kanji at the Front and the story at the Back. What I’d do is look at the kanji and try to remember it and if I don’t I press the show answer. I found this to help me remember the Kanji better. I knew how to write the Kanji with the help of the stories but decided how I’d remember them without the story.
So my question is to all you Japanese learners out there and also people who have just started. Did you write a lot of Kanji, Hiragana and Katakana on paper to help you remember them? Has writing them helped you?
One piece of advice I’d like to offer is to never give up and keep trying, you will definitely get there. Kanji is intimidating at the start but after a while, you will become best friends^^ Yes sometimes you will forget the Kanji but if you use an SRS, it will help you in remembering them.
Ah one last thing, for those who are wondering if I made up these stories, I didn’t^^” Although I really think it’s best to come up with stories by oneself.
Anyways, I do hope you enjoy todays quick and random post!
Yes! i everytime i learn a new kanji, i write it on paper. And also when doing SRS.
And thru time, i saw improvement of what my writing looks now compared when i started doing RTK. keep doing it.
And story-wise, most of my stories are based on RevTk, but i have a higher retention rate to the stories i created so i suggest you create or modify the ones you found interesting.
ahha I’ve also started doing that a few wmonths back.
Ah, that’s good to hear! I write really messy, so yeh
ah me too, I use the RevTk one. Yeh, it would be better if you came up with your own stories but I”m just too lazy^^”
I know maybe 100-200 basic kanji. xD My friend in my Japanese class suggested I use Anki to help me memorize additional Kanji… maybe I should go get that program. o.o”
Basics are always good! ahha you should listen to him and give it a go ! if it doesn’t work for you, then just drop it
Everytime I try to remember a basic kanji, i also try to write it down and try out sentences with it as well. Lots and lots of sentences =P
ooo that’s a good idea. Wow, you must write a lot
Wow you sure wrote a lot there. these programs look very interesting maybe I’ll give it a try^^
Haha my comment turns out quite unrelated to kanji, but In school I always learned like this, writing the stuff down really helps to memorize things better and get them in your brain XD
ahahah yeh but some people might of written more XD ahhaha you should!
hahaha it’s ok! I’ve stopped writing stuff down after high school. And yeh, it does help