Best way to learn (and stay motivated with learning) Kanji...

I'm still a newbie when it comes to learning Japanese, it's only been a couple of months of self-study for me thus far. I learned the hirigana table in a little under 3 weeks and working on katakana (proving much easier). I've learned about 20 kanji as well as the "important" words/phrases for every day life.

The problem is I work very weird hours and don't really have much time to take any classes, thus I'm limited to self-study. The kanji are proving to be a bit tough...the simple ones are fine but once I get to more complex ones it just seems to be overwhelming. I can make out the primitives in the complex ones (sometimes) but still baffles me at times.

To those who have learned the language (or are progressively ahead of where I'm at) what is your strategy? How long did it take you? What kept you from just giving up?

Life in Japan thus far is still going great, I just feel I'd do better with knowing the language, and I WANT to learn. Thanks in advance for any tips/hints

 

You live in the country and want to understand the language, what more motivation do you need You really can't have any "strategies" as far as motivation goes. Really, you just use what you learn all the time through reading or seeing it places. Whether you can keep your motivation in it or not probably can't be fixed through any sort of strategy.

And as far as "how long did it take you", that's not a good question. If you're gonna learn something you can't wonder how long it took others. In the case of Kanji, there's not a set amount of time for anyone to how long it takes. I imagine in your case you'd probably pick up fast enough since it's around you all day. Just don't think about how long it takes.

Hopefully this little bit will help you. Just try not to stray the path of many for all subjects from playing an instrument to learning languages where they fret over how long it takes or how to keep motivated. If you keep making comparisions that itself just will put you down.

Bottom line: you're in Japan for gods sake, what more motivation do you need

 

Living in Japan is the best way to learn japanese, but continue studying how to write and read it, there are some people who speak japanese, but don't know how to read or write it.

PD: Kanji are a very hard to learn, but a friend of mine told me that when you recognize a certain number, you start seeing them as "blocks" that compose another blocks, and its a bit easier.

 

That much is true, you start seeing other kanji make up more complex ones.

And yes, I do live in Japan, so it's easier than let's say living in the States. But I am a teacher and speak English all day. I try to study on my lunch breaks when I can. I get discouraged at times when speaking because every time I try to speak I just get weird laughs from people...not very motivating when the natives laugh at you.

Not making excuses, I love it here and love learning the language. Someone said "get a Japanese girlfriend and you'll learn fast". Well, the problem with that is I'd be learning how female Japanese talk and that's not what I need

But thanks for the advice. And yes ASSEMbler I'd appreciate the scans, I find children's books to read whenever I can (I also heard the Dragon Ball Manga is good for beginners to reading Japanese? I'm not into manga so it was new to me) so any help would be appreciated

I have a book called "Remembering the Kanji" and it basically just helps you with stroke order and getting the english meaning behind the kanji, not the actual pronunciation itself...so it's so-so.

Thanks again for the help, I'm keeping a positive attitude about it so far

 

Did you have any classes in the US? Basically, you really just need persistence. Kanji are ass whores, and they will drive you nuts. Especially these days since you almost never write by hand (always typing). I can write a mean email... but my hand writing looks like a fucking kindergarten drawing.

For me, it was flash cards. Just go through them daily. But, don't focus on one thing. Japanese, as everyone knows, has many "worlds" to explore. You need a good balance of all areas. Don't be one of these dorks that can write 5000 kanji but can't verbally string a sentence together.

 

Same problem with me, just that I don't have the great circumstance of actually living in Japan :110:

I did a one-year university course in Japanese in 2006-2007, was really helpful. I learn something new every day though, mostly through games and youtube/niconico. Everytime I see an unknown Kanji (or one whose meaning I forgot), I look it up. That makes a 10-100 "looked up" kanji a day and keeps me pretty fit in at least reading basic Japanese. I guess I currently know about 250 Kanji by heart (read, not write though. that'll be just about ~75), but grammatically and word pool-related, I'm not really so advanced.
That's mostly due to my lack of practice as I mostly read Japanese and never speak (=think) it. Doing exercises is hard to realize as school is taking a lot of time these days (6 more months .. ) and the motivation is not always to strong after a 9hr schoolday.

But a big part of the Kanji/language I have learned thus far is a result of my trip to Japan. Everyday more words and Kanjis to explore&learn. Just take a Kanji and word dictionary and go to your local games dealer. Try to find titles by looking at the spine or start a conversation with the assistant.^^
The Japanese laughed at me as well, but because of their original mix of politeness and weirdo-behavior I could never take them amiss :lol:

 

Yeah I basically had no formal training in Japanese at all. I bought a textbook before I left and have been doing self-study from it. It's a good book though. But before I left I knew maybe three or four words and that was all (didn't prepare well did I?

Buuut I figured I'd be living there and I'd pick up fast, and I have picked up a lot. I can order food/drinks, and know what to do at the end of a business transaction pretty much but other than that...not so great shakes. I guess being I'm LIVING here I'll mainly focus on speaking but I want to at least have an elementary school level of reading while I'm at it.

Since I mastered hirigana in a short time, the katakana is coming VERY quick. I must have learned half in about 2 hours but some is still tricky.

But since Kanji are still every damn place, I want to at least read the damn things...writing can come later. And basic grammar is all I have...so "私は英語の教師です” is kind of the most advanced type of grammar I know heh.

 

No worries, I found a blog that provides some good materials for download

By the way, I'm not a real big manga fan, but I hear some manga is good for beginner Japanese because of the simplicity in the writing, as well as introducing some slang. For instance, I hear Dragon Ball is very good for beginners. Again, not a manga fan, but I'd be inclined to check it out if it helps me with reading.

 

One thing I like about manga is that it has furigana. If you know how to speak japanese, and how to read kana, you can read manga, and at the same time, learn kanji.

 

I'd focus on conversation more than cramming kanji, to be honest.

 

Yeah, I figure Kanji will come in time. I think right now, since I can read kana so well, I'll focus on vocabulary. I know basic grammar and how to read kana but without vocab it doesn't really work that well haha, same goes with speaking. So now I have a good project to work on

 

Doraemon is a good manga for starters; also, you can go to almost any library, and buy some children books.

 

Get the bilingual Doraemon! Very good, easy Japanese and bilingual is sure to help you a lot. I know I used it .

 

Mnemosyne (free program found at http://www.mnemosyne-proj.org/)is a program I've been using to help me with vocabulary and kanji.

http://www.wired.com/medtech/health/magazine/16-05/ff_wozniak?currentPage=all - An article about the creator of SuperMemo, the program Mnemosyne is a clone of. It explains the principle of how it works.

It's up to you to find stuff to put into the program, but I've found it helpful.

 

Oooh thanks for that Stupid Dufus, and I've also heard good things about Doraemon...

 

Thanks for link, dude - that's just the kind of application for which I was looking.

 

try this: http://www.nanzan-u.ac.jp/SHUBUNKEN/publications/miscPublications/pdf/RK4/RK4-00.pdf

 

Thanks! I already have that "book" on my HD hehe...works great with the program above too