Kanji

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Kanji (漢字) are the logographic characters used in writing Japanese (along with kana).

Learning kanji

  • Learn kanji radicals first. Study them in order of stroke count, and associate them with mnemonic meanings.1

  • Learn kanji in order of increasing written complexity. Contrast this approach with how Japanese children learn: they learn kanji with simple meanings first, e.g. learning 曜 (weekday) before 勺 (ladle).2

  • Consider the 80/20 rule: Learn kanji on the jōyō kanji (commonly used kanji) list.3

  • For pronunciation, focus on being able to read words aloud in context. Don’t try to memorise all of the on and kun readings.4

Kanji lists

  • Jōyō kanji (2,136) – the official list of commonly used kanji.
    • 1,026 kanji taught in primary school (kyōiku kanji, “education kanji”).
    • 1,110 additional kanji taught in secondary school.
  • Jinmeiyō kanji (863) – additional “name kanji”.

  1. http://www.textfugu.com/kanji/kanji-intro/1-7/ ↩

  2. http://www.textfugu.com/kanji/kanji-intro/1-2/ ↩

  3. http://www.textfugu.com/kanji/kanji-intro/1-4/ ↩

  4. https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/5797/how-and-when-do-japanese-children-learn-kanas-and-kanji ↩