How to learn 1000 kanji in 2 month

Japanese is a very unique language for several reasons. It has a different sentence order (subject object verb) than most other major languages. It has three different writing systems, too – hirgana, katakana, and kanji. For some people kanji is nightmare, I mean who like to memorize 2000+ symbols to support for learning a language ? Whatever you like or don’t like kanji, here some tips for you to learn 1000 kanji in 2 months.

How NOT to Learn the Kanji

Before we get into my system, I should clarify some ineffective kanji study methods. Your Japanese teacher, Japanese friend, study buddy, etc. may very well encourage you to do one or all of the following. Don’t listen to them.

1.Stroke by Stroke

This is how a lot of Japanese classes will encourage you to learn the kanji. That’s because they teach kanji in the same way that Japanese children learn them—stroke by stroke, over the course of 10+ years.

There’s another word for this method: masochism.

Seriously, this is torture. I’m not saying it’s impossible to learn this way. I’m just saying that it wastes an unbelievable amount of time.

Kanji are made up of parts… and those parts have meaning. So you should learn the parts first, then the kanji as a whole.

3.Using Only 1 Kanji Study Tool

A lot of people will write books and blog posts and just about anything you can think of in which they tell you about “the best, fastest, most awesome way to learn the kanji”…which, as coincidence would have it, is their way. Not only that, but pay us money for it, too.

No!

There are a ton of useful kanji study tools and methods out there. But the only way to learn kanji fast and effectively is to combine the best methods into one super-method. And that’s what this 97-Day Kanji Challenge is all about: an amalgamation of the best tools and tactics available for learning kanji.

1. Learn the Ways of the 部首(ぶしゅ)

Kanji can be pretty formidable beasts if you try to take them down all at once, but if you break them down into smaller pieces they are a lot easier to learn. A lot of kanji (but not all kanji) can be broken down into smaller pieces called kanji radicals or 部首(ぶしゅ) in Japanese.

2. Learn Kanji in Compounds

It is a lot easier for you to internalize a kanji’s meaning if you learn it through compounds (two or more kanji used together to form a word). This way it will give you a general feeling of how that kanji is used. This is especially true for more complicated (N3+) kanji that have more abstract meanings.

3. Learn Kanji Separately

Huh? Wait you just told me to learn them in compounds. Yes, I did, but taking a little bit of time to learn them separately and study their general meanings can also be beneficial. This is because it will help you be able to recognize words that you haven’t learned yet in the reading sections of the test.

New words that you have never seen before are very common on N2 and above. These words are typically glossed with a definition in Japanese, but it will be quicker and easier if you can glance at them and give a best guess. Time is really important in the reading sections of the higher tests, so any time you can shave off some time, it will pay huge dividends.

4. Practice Calligraphy or Simply just Writing Kanji

This technique is not for everyone. There are a lot of people who pick up kanji relatively well and have little need for writing the kanji because they will be using a computer or cell phone to write Japanese most of the time. It really has the biggest benefit for those who want to be able to write Japanese as well as read.

Having said that though, it can be beneficial in that it will help you see the difference between similar looking kanji or 似ている漢字, which you’ll be tested over in the second kanji section of the test.



You can go to a real Japanese calligraphy class if you happen to be in Japan. There is also Tadashii Kanji Kakitori-kun for DS (for any region) that does something similar for all 2000 of the joyo (common use) kanji.



That’s all what you should and shouldn’t learn kanji. After 2 months, you possible learn 1000 kanji or just not scared at kanji at all. But for now, why not check our websites for more learning Japanese online!

Japanese is a very unique language for several reasons. It has a different sentence order (subject object verb) than most other major languages. It has three different writing systems, too – hirgana, katakana, and kanji. For some people kanji is nightmare, I mean who like to memorize 2000+ symbols to support for learning a language ? Whatever you like or don’t like kanji, here some tips for you to learn 1000 kanji in 2 months.

How NOT to Learn the Kanji

Before we get into my system, I should clarify some ineffective kanji study methods. Your Japanese teacher, Japanese friend, study buddy, etc. may very well encourage you to do one or all of the following. Don’t listen to them.

1.Stroke by Stroke

This is how a lot of Japanese classes will encourage you to learn the kanji. That’s because they teach kanji in the same way that Japanese children learn them—stroke by stroke, over the course of 10+ years.

There’s another word for this method: masochism.

Seriously, this is torture. I’m not saying it’s impossible to learn this way. I’m just saying that it wastes an unbelievable amount of time.

Kanji are made up of parts… and those parts have meaning. So you should learn the parts first, then the kanji as a whole.

3.Using Only 1 Kanji Study Tool

A lot of people will write books and blog posts and just about anything you can think of in which they tell you about “the best, fastest, most awesome way to learn the kanji”…which, as coincidence would have it, is their way. Not only that, but pay us money for it, too.

No!

There are a ton of useful kanji study tools and methods out there. But the only way to learn kanji fast and effectively is to combine the best methods into one super-method. And that’s what this 97-Day Kanji Challenge is all about: an amalgamation of the best tools and tactics available for learning kanji.

1. Learn the Ways of the 部首(ぶしゅ)

Kanji can be pretty formidable beasts if you try to take them down all at once, but if you break them down into smaller pieces they are a lot easier to learn. A lot of kanji (but not all kanji) can be broken down into smaller pieces called kanji radicals or 部首(ぶしゅ) in Japanese.

2. Learn Kanji in Compounds

It is a lot easier for you to internalize a kanji’s meaning if you learn it through compounds (two or more kanji used together to form a word). This way it will give you a general feeling of how that kanji is used. This is especially true for more complicated (N3+) kanji that have more abstract meanings.

3. Learn Kanji Separately

Huh? Wait you just told me to learn them in compounds. Yes, I did, but taking a little bit of time to learn them separately and study their general meanings can also be beneficial. This is because it will help you be able to recognize words that you haven’t learned yet in the reading sections of the test.

New words that you have never seen before are very common on N2 and above. These words are typically glossed with a definition in Japanese, but it will be quicker and easier if you can glance at them and give a best guess. Time is really important in the reading sections of the higher tests, so any time you can shave off some time, it will pay huge dividends.

4. Practice Calligraphy or Simply just Writing Kanji

This technique is not for everyone. There are a lot of people who pick up kanji relatively well and have little need for writing the kanji because they will be using a computer or cell phone to write Japanese most of the time. It really has the biggest benefit for those who want to be able to write Japanese as well as read.

Having said that though, it can be beneficial in that it will help you see the difference between similar looking kanji or 似ている漢字, which you’ll be tested over in the second kanji section of the test.



You can go to a real Japanese calligraphy class if you happen to be in Japan. There is also Tadashii Kanji Kakitori-kun for DS (for any region) that does something similar for all 2000 of the joyo (common use) kanji.



That’s all what you should and shouldn’t learn kanji. After 2 months, you possible learn 1000 kanji or just not scared at kanji at all. But for now, why not check our websites for more learning Japanese online!

Japanese is a very unique language for several reasons. It has a different sentence order (subject object verb) than most other major languages. It has three different writing systems, too – hirgana, katakana, and kanji. For some people kanji is nightmare, I mean who like to memorize 2000+ symbols to support for learning a language ? Whatever you like or don’t like kanji, here some tips for you to learn 1000 kanji in 2 months.

How NOT to Learn the Kanji

Before we get into my system, I should clarify some ineffective kanji study methods. Your Japanese teacher, Japanese friend, study buddy, etc. may very well encourage you to do one or all of the following. Don’t listen to them.

1.Stroke by Stroke

This is how a lot of Japanese classes will encourage you to learn the kanji. That’s because they teach kanji in the same way that Japanese children learn them—stroke by stroke, over the course of 10+ years.

There’s another word for this method: masochism.

Seriously, this is torture. I’m not saying it’s impossible to learn this way. I’m just saying that it wastes an unbelievable amount of time.

Kanji are made up of parts… and those parts have meaning. So you should learn the parts first, then the kanji as a whole.

3.Using Only 1 Kanji Study Tool

A lot of people will write books and blog posts and just about anything you can think of in which they tell you about “the best, fastest, most awesome way to learn the kanji”…which, as coincidence would have it, is their way. Not only that, but pay us money for it, too.

No!

There are a ton of useful kanji study tools and methods out there. But the only way to learn kanji fast and effectively is to combine the best methods into one super-method. And that’s what this 97-Day Kanji Challenge is all about: an amalgamation of the best tools and tactics available for learning kanji.

1. Learn the Ways of the 部首(ぶしゅ)

Kanji can be pretty formidable beasts if you try to take them down all at once, but if you break them down into smaller pieces they are a lot easier to learn. A lot of kanji (but not all kanji) can be broken down into smaller pieces called kanji radicals or 部首(ぶしゅ) in Japanese.

2. Learn Kanji in Compounds

It is a lot easier for you to internalize a kanji’s meaning if you learn it through compounds (two or more kanji used together to form a word). This way it will give you a general feeling of how that kanji is used. This is especially true for more complicated (N3+) kanji that have more abstract meanings.

3. Learn Kanji Separately

Huh? Wait you just told me to learn them in compounds. Yes, I did, but taking a little bit of time to learn them separately and study their general meanings can also be beneficial. This is because it will help you be able to recognize words that you haven’t learned yet in the reading sections of the test.

New words that you have never seen before are very common on N2 and above. These words are typically glossed with a definition in Japanese, but it will be quicker and easier if you can glance at them and give a best guess. Time is really important in the reading sections of the higher tests, so any time you can shave off some time, it will pay huge dividends.

4. Practice Calligraphy or Simply just Writing Kanji

This technique is not for everyone. There are a lot of people who pick up kanji relatively well and have little need for writing the kanji because they will be using a computer or cell phone to write Japanese most of the time. It really has the biggest benefit for those who want to be able to write Japanese as well as read.

Having said that though, it can be beneficial in that it will help you see the difference between similar looking kanji or 似ている漢字, which you’ll be tested over in the second kanji section of the test.



You can go to a real Japanese calligraphy class if you happen to be in Japan. There is also Tadashii Kanji Kakitori-kun for DS (for any region) that does something similar for all 2000 of the joyo (common use) kanji.



That’s all what you should and shouldn’t learn kanji. After 2 months, you possible learn 1000 kanji or just not scared at kanji at all. But for now, why not check our websites for more learning Japanese online!