Best way to memorize WRITING kanji

[mecha okami]

i am in the point in japanese where learning words is my main priority.
i am using smart.fm and keeping a journal of "learnt" words.
but if i was to pass a note to my friend i have no computer and printer to make my words.
therefore i need to memorize writing kanji. how do i do this efficiently???


signed,
狼

[Ukryu]

When it comes to memorizing how to write kanji, repetition is the only thing you can do. sweatdrop I personally use an iPod Touch app to learn kanji, but most people don't have one of those, in which case having a book is useful. I've heard that a book called "Essential Kanji" is useful.

Also, some grammar books such as Genki have kanji sections in them that contain kanji that pertain to the lesson.

A decent site for learning kanji is http://kanjisite.com , but you'd probably be better off buying a book because they're portable. I usually practice in class lol, so it's useful having something portable that will show you stroke order.

[mecha okami]

Ukryu

When it comes to memorizing how to write kanji, repetition is the only thing you can do. sweatdrop I personally use an iPod Touch app to learn kanji, but most people don't have one of those, in which case having a book is useful. I've heard that a book called "Essential Kanji" is useful.

Also, some grammar books such as Genki have kanji sections in them that contain kanji that pertain to the lesson.

A decent site for learning kanji is http://kanjisite.com , but you'd probably be better off buying a book because they're portable. I usually practice in class lol, so it's useful having something portable that will show you stroke order.

i see. i bring journal to school from now on lol

[1LitreofTears_Sakura]

I memorize how to write them just by writing them out five times or more. If I think I've forgotten how to write a kanji, I pick up anything I can write on and write the kanji.

On the other hand, I'm looking for ways to memorize the readings. >_> Gosh, why does kanji have so many readings?! gonk

[Ukryu]

1LitreofTears_Sakura

I memorize how to write them just by writing them out five times or more. If I think I've forgotten how to write a kanji, I pick up anything I can write on and write the kanji.

On the other hand, I'm looking for ways to memorize the readings. >_> Gosh, why does kanji have so many readings?! gonk

I'm the opposite. The readings are fairly easy to remember for me, I just have to learn vocabulary that use every reading. But when I try to write them on paper, I'm never able to visualize them. emo But I'm usually able to just take a glance at a kanji and be able to tell its meaning. So I don't know why it's so hard to visualize. emo It actually reminds me of when I learned cursive in 2nd grade. lol

[1LitreofTears_Sakura]

Ukryu

1LitreofTears_Sakura

I memorize how to write them just by writing them out five times or more. If I think I've forgotten how to write a kanji, I pick up anything I can write on and write the kanji.

On the other hand, I'm looking for ways to memorize the readings. >_> Gosh, why does kanji have so many readings?! gonk

I'm the opposite. The readings are fairly easy to remember for me, I just have to learn vocabulary that use every reading. But when I try to write them on paper, I'm never able to visualize them. emo But I'm usually able to just take a glance at a kanji and be able to tell its meaning. So I don't know why it's so hard to visualize. emo It actually reminds me of when I learned cursive in 2nd grade. lol

I can only remember the reading of a kanji if I see them in context. If you just give me something like "所" alone, I wouldn't know how to read it. xD

[mecha okami]

Ukryu

1LitreofTears_Sakura

I memorize how to write them just by writing them out five times or more. If I think I've forgotten how to write a kanji, I pick up anything I can write on and write the kanji.

On the other hand, I'm looking for ways to memorize the readings. >_> Gosh, why does kanji have so many readings?! gonk

I'm the opposite. The readings are fairly easy to remember for me, I just have to learn vocabulary that use every reading. But when I try to write them on paper, I'm never able to visualize them. emo But I'm usually able to just take a glance at a kanji and be able to tell its meaning. So I don't know why it's so hard to visualize. emo It actually reminds me of when I learned cursive in 2nd grade. lol

same
except cursive came to me like that
(we had the images on our walls sweatdrop )

[1LitreofTears_Sakura]

mecha okami

Ukryu

1LitreofTears_Sakura

I memorize how to write them just by writing them out five times or more. If I think I've forgotten how to write a kanji, I pick up anything I can write on and write the kanji.

On the other hand, I'm looking for ways to memorize the readings. >_> Gosh, why does kanji have so many readings?! gonk

I'm the opposite. The readings are fairly easy to remember for me, I just have to learn vocabulary that use every reading. But when I try to write them on paper, I'm never able to visualize them. emo But I'm usually able to just take a glance at a kanji and be able to tell its meaning. So I don't know why it's so hard to visualize. emo It actually reminds me of when I learned cursive in 2nd grade. lol

same
except cursive came to me like that
(we had the images on our walls sweatdrop )

I forgot how to write cursives now. How the ******** do you write a cursive D, F, G, H, I, Q, T, or Z anyway? I totally forgot over the years! gonk

[Linh_Hoa]

1LitreofTears_Sakura

mecha okami

Ukryu

1LitreofTears_Sakura

I memorize how to write them just by writing them out five times or more. If I think I've forgotten how to write a kanji, I pick up anything I can write on and write the kanji.

On the other hand, I'm looking for ways to memorize the readings. >_> Gosh, why does kanji have so many readings?! gonk

I'm the opposite. The readings are fairly easy to remember for me, I just have to learn vocabulary that use every reading. But when I try to write them on paper, I'm never able to visualize them. emo But I'm usually able to just take a glance at a kanji and be able to tell its meaning. So I don't know why it's so hard to visualize. emo It actually reminds me of when I learned cursive in 2nd grade. lol

same
except cursive came to me like that
(we had the images on our walls sweatdrop )

I forgot how to write cursives now. How the ******** do you write a cursive D, F, G, H, I, Q, T, or Z anyway? I totally forgot over the years! gonk

Cursive D's, H's, and I's are easy.


F, Q, and Z are ridiculous. Hell, capital Q doesn't look like a Q at all, but a large 2!

[Roseflare]

Do you have a Nintendo DS? Get the 正しい漢字かきとりくん　tadashi kanji kakitori-kun game for it. you can learn all kanji from elementary 1-6 as well as some random extra. You also can practice as many times as you want with different games and such. It also is pretty strict about reading the kanji you write, so you usually have to write it correctly in order for it to be shown on the screen.

Also for more advance kanji practice, try the DS game DS bimoji tore-ningu DS美文字トレーニング, but this one focuses more on making your handwriting prettier when writing kanji instead of learning the kanji. but it does teach your random things, like the expressions you write for a new years letter or whatnot.

[i know nothing.]

漢検DS　kanken DS was also another good one to get practice with kanji, but if you don't know Japanese well enough to begin with, the amount of help it will provide you is really minimal.

[fayebelly]

I don't think repetition is the only way... =/

Repetition is boring and soul-destroying and I refuse to do it! And learning Japanese should be fun!! I've learned lots of Kanji without doing repetition!

Get yourself a paintbrush and black paint (a shodo set would be better, but they can be expensive)... Then use that to write the characters on a big sheet of paper... Learn the proper stroke order and everything. Do them as big as possible, the bigger the better. Then stick it on your wall (I used wallpaper lining sheets and do about 80 kanji to fill a wall).
By doing it on such a large scale you'll stand a better chance of your brain remembering it. Plus, the brush will form specific shapes depending on which stroke it is, which will make it so that even after you've drawn it, you'll be able to tell the stroke order.

Then, keep a diary in Japanese... Do it in the room in which you've got all the kanji on the walls. Then if you forget a specific kanji you can look for it and use them as a guide.

Using it in context is the best way to remember it...

If you're really sruggling with a specific kanji, then break it down into its radicals that you DO remember and make up a story... For example... I kept forgetting the kanji for "knowledge" 知
. But the radicals are really simple - Arrow 矢 and mouth 口... So putting arrows in your mouth gives you knowledge! And now I remember it...
Knowing the basic radicals and giving each one a vivid meaning really helps with the more complicated looking kanji.

[Ukryu]

When learning a new kanji I always try to break it down to radicals. That's a pretty good strategy. I also try to write notes to myself in Japanese when I'm bored in class, and I use my iPod Touch to check stroke order so I'm sure that I'm writing the kanji write.

Writing in paint sounds fun though... I've been experimenting with different ways to write kanji recently while I'm bored in class. I wrote all of the JLPT 4 kanji in box letters (er, box kanji?). It was pretty fun. xd It helps you remember what the kanji looks like, but it doesn't help you at all with stroke order ^^;

But there is another method that I've recently learned about (but everyone else probably knows about it lol) called the Heisig method. It's explained in the three volumes of "Remembering the Kanji." Basically you learn all of the radicals and then you make up stories to help you understand kanji made from the radicals. But it's a pretty controversial method and from what I've heard it has flaws.