When would you suggest to start learning kanji?

[gentiangsh4291]

Konban wa min'na-san!

I started learning japanese about 2 months ago. I started at the Absolute Beginners level, and almost finished the 2 absolute beginners seasons. I know hiragana, and recently I started learning katakana. What would be a good time to start learning kanji?

Gentian Gashi

[mewes6190]

Gentian-san,
こんいちは。

Actually, I wouldn't recommend to learn Kanji on their own at all. It's good, that you learned the Kana first - they're THE most essential thing you'll ever learn in Japanese. In my opinion at least.

After that, I would simply learn the language and study the Kanji as they come. It's kinda useless, IMO, to cram 2000+ Kanji in all their readings and meanings, when you never meet them in a text, especially since a lot of them are context-sensitive when it comes to their reading. I also doubt that a standard person even CAN learn them in their entierety without any contextual work.

For me, I learned their MEANING and Writing with the Heisig-Method. It's not for everyone, but worked good for me. (And it really takes away any fear of anji you might have.) At the Moment, I'm simply learning the Kanji by learning vocabulary. That way, I only learn Kanji in context with real text and real vocabulary. Which makes it much easier. Also, knowing the meaning makes it easier to remember the vocabulary.

So, I would simply learn them as you go along, in the context as you meet them. The most frequent ones you'll know soon enough, the more exotic ones are, in my opinion, kind of easy to remember, 'cause they're so idiomatic. It's the ones that look similar to other ones, or unspecific, that are the hardest (like 繰 and 操) and will need the most time to learn.

Best
くろくま

[gentiangsh4291]

Arigatou gozaimasu.

I'm getting the hang of what you are saying and it makes perfect sense. I'm learning Japanese because it's fun, but even though it's something taken lightly, I'm kind of looking forward to getting advanced in this language. Who knows, maybe one day I will take the JLPT tests.

Gentian

[community.japanese]

Gentian-san, くろくまsan,
こんにちは
Thank you for the brilliant tips, くろくまsan!
That's all true; first hiragana and katakana, because those are essential and then learning
kanji as a part of vocabulary. This would be the best.

Gentian-san, you're right; "who knows?"
You might be working in Japan someday speaking Japanese fluently

Natsuko (奈津子),
Team JapanesePod101.com