Regarding readings: It's a messy situation-- then again, written Japanese is really messy to begin with. The general rule is that an on'yomi will be used with compound words (words containing more than one kanji), and that a kun'yomi will be used with standalone kanji, often with okurigana (kana that appear before or after a kanji but are still part of the same word. for example the つ in 一つ). Historically speaking, however, there's a
lot of Chinese vocabulary in Japanese, and many of the words using on'yomi are actually old Chinese words brutalized to go along with Japanese phonetics. (On that note, until recently I had no idea that 可愛い
kawaii came from the Chinese 可愛
ke3 ai4.
Listen for yourself!)
Regarding learning methods: Technically, any method will work (to an extent) so long as it's executed consistently and diligently. However, there are easier ways and harder ways, each with advantages and disadvantages. I'll run through the main ones here:
-Traditional grade-by-grade, Japanese-style
-Visual Recognition, graded order
-Learn by Readings
-Heisig
-Grouped by Meaning
Traditional Style
This is the method you're talking about. Take them in a graded order, 1st to 6th, then progress on remainder of the general-use set (常用漢字). Write them repeatedly and do your best to remember the readings. This is effective to a point, but learning by rote is extremely tedious and time consuming. Since it is by rote, the other danger is "fazing out" and not really paying attention to the material you're trying to memorize. The big advantage is you'll learn to write useful characters, and be able to put them to use right away. However, you'll soon find there are too many rare and obscure readings to handle for certain characters.
The Advantages
- You'll learn useful characters right away
- You'll learn readings and writings
- The writings will become reflex quite rapidly
The Disadvantages- You're working with complex, meaningless shapes
- It's easy to "faze out"
- It takes a very long time
- Too many readings for certain kanji.
Visual RecognitionI believe this is how a lot of students start out, and it is a recipe for disaster. People will go through characters and learn to recognize them visually for their meanings, and pick up the readings for words familiar to them. While this is certainly the fastest way to learn to recognize characters, it comes with some major downfalls. As with all methods lacking writing practice, you'll often not be able to remember a character unless you see it printed (infamous "know it when you see it" syndrome), and often confuse characters that look similar to one another.
The Advantages- The fastest way short-term way to learn.
- Immediate application to familiar words.
The Disadvantages- Know-it-when-you-see-it syndrome.
- Easily confuse similar characters.
- Forgotten quickly.
Reading RecognitionThis is another method I've heard people use a lot, wherein students will pick up the readings & writings of any and all new words they learn, and practice them to mastery in a way similar to the Traditional method. Immediate application and written proficiency are major pluses, but there are also big limitations. For one, as a student, you'll only learn the more common kanji (some of the general-use set are quite uncommon), and never really approach reading publications. Secondly, you'll only associate the meaning of the character with particular known word, creating a problem when encountering nuances such as those in 替える/代える, 手伝う/助ける, etc. Additionally, many kanji have multiple meanings.
The Advantages- Faster than the Traditional Method
- 100% applicable to what you know.
- Written proficiency.
The Disadvantages- Mainly limited to the more common kanji.
- Not learning the nuances of individual kanji.
- You'll reach fluency before being able to read.
HeisigAs a success story (and subsequent fan) of the Heisig method, I'm quick to endorse it, however it isn't without its own limitations. After the end of a difficult study, you won't be able to read a phonetic word of Japanese, nor will you be able to ferret out the meanings of the more difficult compound words. The method is based purely in teaching the recognition, meaning, and writing of the kanji, and it utilizes many proven mnemonic techniques to achieve it. The advantage is just that: by the end of it, you
will recognize, be able to write from memory, and know the meanings of more than 2,000 kanji, as well as have the foundation to learn new characters faster than you might believe. It doesn't work for everybody, however-- from my understanding mainly skeptics without enough patience, along with those others who abandon it 500 characters in because they were under the impression that this would somehow make the study of kanji "easy."
Still, seeing as I can now write stuff like
鼠 and
濤 directly from memory (something many native Japanese cannot), and see an unknown character for 3 seconds and still be able to look it up 10 minutes later, I firmly believe the benefits outweigh the detriments. It takes time and patience, but it is all rewarded in the end.
The Advantages- Keywords often provided nuanced meanings.
- Very high written proficiency.
- Fast. With diligence 2,042 kanji can be completed in 3-6 months.
- High long-term retention.
The Disadvantages- Tedious. Must be completed before real results happen.
- It's still difficult.
- You won't learn readings.
- The books are bloody expensive.
Grouped by MeaningThis is something I'm fooling around with on
my website, and as far as I know hasn't really been tried before. Since I don't know how well something like this will work, I can't really make a firm judgment either way. However, I do believe the grouping will be more effective for both memory and usage than the standard graded order.
The Advantages- Hey, it's free!
Whew. That took awhile! Didn't expect I'd be writing that much. At any rate, I hope those of you approaching kanji will find it helpful!
