Memorizing Kanji

Sep 15, 2007 3:02 AM

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Aug 2007

348

How do you do it? ^^

I'm still learning Hiragana atm, and I memorize them by writing them over and over again in a whole page. ^^ So far, it's been working but my hand gets crampy after a while. =_=

Not really related but one thing I'm hesitant about my Japanese writing is that I'm not sure if it's legible. ^^ The strokes might not be right.

Oct 17, 2007 2:38 AM

susonauta

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Sep 2007

158

may be you find this useful http://www.kanjistep.com/

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Oct 18, 2007 7:24 PM

gothicpsyche

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Aug 2007

348

Thanks for the link. ^_^

Oct 23, 2007 3:12 AM

susonauta

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Sep 2007

158

I used to learn hiragana, now I'm learing kanji with similar method and stroke order is very important because helps to memorize.

I hope you find this also useful http://www.coolest.com/penpen/ is a game to learn kanji hiragana and katakana is very childish and you may get tired very easy but you don´t have to write all time.

"Suso no tabi" cycling around Japan

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Nov 11, 2007 6:21 AM

nico

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Jun 2007

thanks for the sites. penpen is kinda funny^^
i also learned kana by writing them over and over. it's the best way to get used to it. to learn kanji i use cards (writign them with the right order, the readings and so on), but it's sometimes annoying... thus i appreciate other methods^^

Nov 11, 2007 8:06 AM

susonauta

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Sep 2007

158

penpen helps you to read much faster but the moment you have to write you'll be clueless

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Nov 12, 2007 8:18 AM

nico

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Jun 2007

mh that's not bad, cause i anyway don't intend to learn only that way. but only learning by writing is boring^^

Apr 20, 2008 6:46 AM

Juliab

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Oct 2007

279

gothicpsyche said:
How do you do it? ^^

I'm still learning Hiragana atm, and I memorize them by writing them over and over again in a whole page. ^^ So far, it's been working but my hand gets crampy after a while. =_=

Not really related but one thing I'm hesitant about my Japanese writing is that I'm not sure if it's legible. ^^ The strokes might not be right.

I read a book called "Remembering the Hiragana", which sometimes had helpful tips, like へ is shaped like a pile of 'hay', so it's 'he', and き looks like a 'key' going in a keyhole, so it's 'ki'. But sometimes it's not so helpful, for example the book wants you to remember that あ is 'a' by visualizing an otter floating in a pool whilst throwing daggers at "No-Parking" signs, or it tries to convince you that か looks like a car. So I kind of make up my own rememberies, like よ is a guy saying 'YO, wassup, guys.' and ほ is a pimp, slapping one of his HO's.
あ and か , I just have to remember them.

May 29, 2008 12:39 PM

ChiisuNoYo

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May 2007

257

I'm still memorising katakana and hiragana, but I'm dong exams at the moment.

Btw for, よほ。　How come when you put it into Kanji　四歩　That it looks like 4 and something esle? 0_o

Jun 10, 2008 4:46 PM

#10

wakka9ca

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Nov 2007

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ChrisCaboose said:
I'm still memorising katakana and hiragana, but I'm dong exams at the moment.

Btw for, よほ。　How come when you put it into Kanji　四歩　That it looks like 4 and something esle? 0_o

that is not exactly right. Shiho would be better.
ho/bu is step

wakka9caJun 10, 2008 5:31 PM

bla bla bla

The endless debate between fans and haters. At one point, after spending a lot of time on MAL, you just realize it's totally pointless.

Niko-kun said:
On MAL, everyone who has used the lame rating system becomes a critic and an intellectual by default, haven't you heard?

Jul 7, 2008 4:20 PM

#11

koitsu

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Mar 2008

I memorize by converting what it looks like to Englsih lol. katakana mo looks like english mo to me. Yeah its weird but it works. Na-sa Ta-Ku, etc.

"If it is possible to manipulate this thread, then it will be possible to control everything in the world." -Luminous Arc

Oct 6, 2008 11:20 AM

#12

removed-user

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Jul 2018

564127

777 Kanji memorized in about a month~

I'm using a book called Remebering the Kanji 1.

It's written by Dr. James W. Heisig, and he's quite an inspirational person. He managed to come up with this method and memorize the 2042 Kanji in this book (which include all of the 1945 General Use Kanji). All of his feat was done in one month. And he says that it's equally possible for anyone to do it. If you devote enough time each day, it is possible to learn 100 new characters every day and finish in under a month. I know this is possible because in my first sitting I finished 126 of them. On other days it was less because of being busy. But I still managed to pull off another 108 in a day once after that.

The book works with "imaginative memory" instead of just rote memorization through repetition using visual and muscle memory. Each Kanji is supplied with a story in part one for you to become familiar with the way one should learn each character, and then in part two it slims down to just the plot and allows the student to come up with details, and then in part three (which is about 1500 of the 2042 characters) just uses the primitive elements. (Primitive elements is a term that is used in the book, and it is better explained by the author than myself).

Each Kanji also is given onep meaning, which is referred to a keyword which one should be able to recognize and produce the character from that. Heisig writes of how this method only pronounces each step of learning the Kanji. And describes that your memory will first need the entire story to remember each character, then only the plots will be necessary. Later the primitives, then the keyword alone are enough, and at any moment one is able to retrace their steps back to the story. As time goes on, the Kanji will begin to recall all the story and meaning you put into each one and the English meaning given to each will fade and hence the substitution of a Japanese word.

I saw here that someone tried using Remembering the Hiragana (Which, is part of a book called Remembering the Kana, now). -- The same person that write Remembering the Kanji, wrote these books as well. Heisig is not trying to convince you, at all. The images that he tells you to remember are strange, cruel, vulgar, and at times will make sense to you. Those stories you think are a stretch, I've found them to be the most help because it's a unique image to associate to the characters. It's something I'd never expect from the real world. For instance, I recently learned this Kanji: 流 I remember this because of a story I came up with (in part three of Remembering the Kanji). The story I wrote involved a twist on evolution of infant children living on another planet. Does this make sense when you look at the Kanji? Probably not. It's uniquely my story, and when the primitive elements that I mentioned before are: water, infant, and stream and the keyword meaning is current it makes a little more sense. Here is my respective story for remembering this Kanji:

This Kanji suggests the idea of evolution. It is said that on a distant planet, nothing but huge expansions of water for miles. Long ago the planet used to be a desolate place until it became flooded by a raging current (of water). As a result, the people living there began giving birth to infants that evolved and adapted to being surrounded by water. And, they are able to swim freely through the currents.

Again, this may seem like a stretch, but I remember it with perfect recall every time I see it in my SRS (Spaced Repetition System) Anki. So, when the stories seem stretched, it's a healthy amount. And, it is more effective for memory. You just have to accept them instead of saying that they are too much of a stretch and denying them a chance to really help you. The story for あ is, surprisingly, such a perfect story for this. But, then again, I am quite used to Heisig's style, and to me, learning the Kana is a cake walk compared to all of the Kanji I've memorized. I am confident I could sit down with Remebering the Kana, and memorize ever character with perfect retention in a day. I think Heisig says each half (Hiragana and Katakana) can be done in 3 hours each.

The people that put down Heisigs method are in for a rough ride through Japanese. I for one, want fluency without much pain at all. And, Heisig is may way through the characters of Kanji and the Kana.

Jun 18, 2009 11:32 PM

#13

buwieshingo