As to the question of “why that works” - because the way we most effectively retain information is not by retaining standalone information in our head. When we create networks of related information (like sentences or kanjis within contexts connected to other contexts), that’s where our memory is the strongest. It’s the same approach when somebody asks you to imagine the face of somebody close to you. For some people just trying to imagine the face outright doesnt work. But if you try to imagine them while at a favorite place, or a happy memory, it makes it easier. Our brain relies on memory networks
@japanesewithniko
24 күн бұрын
That's a great way to explain it, thank you ^_^ And thanks for commenting!
@MusicRunLife
Ай бұрын
This is a concept that I've very slowly been contemplating but not able to articulate over my past few years of Japanese study. Love this.
@philbertius
Ай бұрын
There are problems with the zoomed out approach, speaking from personal experience. Mainly, you won’t know how to disambiguate similar kanji, because you unconsciously learned to recognize them by a subset of their features, which aren’t actually unique to that kanji. Take your scrambled letter example - you could learn to identify each word in your vocab list by their first and last letters alone, and it will work for that list. But once you encounter more vocabulary, you’re going to get confused, and start failing on words you thought you’d already memorized. This is exactly what happened to me when I used Anki and didn’t study a word’s kanji in detail. Once I took a class and was forced to memorize kanji by writing (not necessarily recommending this), I learned them much better, and more importantly, learned better how to study them. So my recommendation is as follows: memorize how to perfectly write a _few_ kanji, maybe 30. Then take that attention to detail you were forced to learn and apply that to kanji you learn on your own. Write them in the air. Really memorize each radical it’s made of. Then you’ll have an easier time of things in the long run.
@Matias-zh3dp
Ай бұрын
Learning kanji in isolation is a waste of time, the problem you are mentioning can be resolved easily with enough immersion and daily anki.
@philbertius
Ай бұрын
@@abirforstudy3849 To memorize 30 kanji perfectly, just learn what they mean and how to write them using whatever resources you prefer. You can easily google a free beginner’s worksheet. (I wouldn’t count numbers and similarly simple kanji here tbh.) What you do after that is up to you, so long as you’re taking that prior experience into your future kanji studies. It’s hard not to notice more about kanji after being forced to write them imo. Your brain just gets better at it, especially as a newbie. You can memorize how to write each _radical_, then memorize what radicals each kanji are made of. This is working pretty well for me currently, using mnemonics (google it). You can also draw them on paper or in the air during reviews, and fail the review if you wrote it wrong.
@philbertius
Ай бұрын
@@Matias-zh3dp Care to elaborate? Users of WaniKani would disagree.
@philbertius
Ай бұрын
@@abirforstudy3849 I wrote you a detailed response but KZitem deleted it :( Just google free worksheets for first 30 kanji, learn meaning and how to write. After that it’s up to you, but you should see kanji very differently after this exercise.
@runningriot7963
Ай бұрын
@@Matias-zh3dp learning kanji in isolation isn't a waste of time, however learning words in isolation is obsolete.
@cheesedabber
Ай бұрын
I never studied kanji in isolation and I never will. To me just learning kanji through seeing them in vocab flashcards and native material works best. I really like this method cause it pretty much removes one step from your daily schedule which is studying kanji. So your daily schedule becomes less overwhelming while at the same time you are still learning kanji automatically anyway and I don't feel like I am bad kanji either
@foilhat
Ай бұрын
Kanji in isolation called “Chinese”
@josea3881
Ай бұрын
@@foilhatI think you are right. In fact in my case, when I try to read a manga for instance, problem is not the kanji itself you can check the meaning but the "japanese characters" that go with the kanji and give all the grammar sense. You can test it easily. If you have chat GPT in your phone, take a picture of a page of manga, ask chatGPT to translate it, explain the grammar and give you an idea of what is going on in there. You will be surprise to discover a long list of insights you can take, no only from words but also from context and characters facial expressions... it is what Japanese call 空気を読む (read in the air).
@unclespooky
Ай бұрын
wow. what a concise explanation. I've been studying Japanese for about 2 years now, and Kanji and starting to become the mountain pass on my journey. I can't speak for someone else, but for me, what you said makes so much sense, particularly from someone that studies the use of English language as part of my job. Most sites would say, that's the wrong way, this is the only right way. You did not. very refreshing and very very helpful. Domo arigato.
@GrimlyAlbion
Ай бұрын
It comes down to trusting your brain to notice patterns and associate meanings with those patterns, it happens naturally without much effort.
@japanesewithniko
Ай бұрын
Basically, yeah. I think the hardest part is not letting your brain convince yourself that the approach is not working and you need some "hack" to actually learn all this stuff. Thanks for commenting! ^_^
@BastZian
Ай бұрын
You bring so much hope in this time of darkness. Currently enrolled in an intensive 2 year program at Ōsaka and every day I struggle. Have been trying everything so will try this. Makes sense! また来ます、ほんとにありがとう
@Raybben
Ай бұрын
What school are you studying at?
@aliceglass4968
Ай бұрын
yeah that sounds cool! where are you studying?
@beangate
Ай бұрын
Im glad I came to understand this concept before watching this video about 6 months ago. I was using a dedicated Kanji app for a while, but at some point (after like 1000 kanji) I had a wakeup moment, where there were multiple words in a row where I didn't know the specific Kanji but could somehow read the word. For example, 秘密、混乱 Both of these words I encountered in a specific context and was able to read it without hesitation because my brain was already in that state, but I hadn't encountered any of the 4 kanji in my app. I always love your videos though. :)
@seanlennart4740
20 күн бұрын
When I started learning Japanese of course I went through all the methods. My approach is very similar to what you describe, relax and trust the brain, I don’t use Anki anymore, I just read a lot with all the extensions Chrome can use at the same time, when I see a new word with kanji I’m not sure about I just look them up and don’t bother to make it stick, bc my reading is mostly digital it doesn’t take much time and I enjoy looking up kanji. If it is an important word it will show again, if I still don’t know I’ll look it up again. It also helps to learn the radicals and also to learn the japanese names of the kanji radicals so you can ask japanese people what a kanji is made up of or describe what you actually want to write. When you apply the approach to chinese it’s much funnier bc less confusion of how to say the word.
@GenkoKenja
Ай бұрын
Lots of truths here! As always, love the editing of the video and your calm voice. One thing to point out for everyone that cares to read my comment….there are way more than just 2k kanji…and if you read books or come across a lot of fictional content often, you will come across uncommon kanji often enough (though they usually have furigana…usually). So learning new kanji never ends, it just slows down in terms of how much you learn… Also, I learned kanji using rot memorization using a combination of a genkouyoushi, anki and an app….definitely took longer than I care to admit daily (4 hours for 1 year and 1 month)…but at the same time, kanji was one of my obsessions when i was studying the language…and nowadays I also can’t complain with the results. I do 1000% agree with so much of this video though, specially when you said that taking a zoomed out approach is the way to go…While I was learning Japanese through JLPT I was constantly studying kanji individually, studying vocab I mined using anki (vocab in isolation/one word per card) and focusing in every little aspect of the word, sentence and kanji….it wasn’t until I took a step back (after my N1 studies) that I actually learned Japanese…by looking at the sentence as a whole rather than each individual part…which also allowed me to learn from context a lot of the time. This worked so well for me I’m also using this zoomed out approach for Korean….even my anki cards are all color coordinated because 1 card can be 1 or more sentences so I keep the context intact.
@japanesewithniko
Ай бұрын
Lots of good advice in here. Also, 4 hours for 1+ year! That's intense. I don't think I would have lasted. It really shows that you must have an obsession (and hopefully a love) of (writing) kanji. That's a good point about needing to know more than 2k. The thing is, once a person has "learned" 2k or so, I think they are less intimidated by kanji as a whole, so learning more after that feels pretty easy. Especially because at that point, people are less often learning kanji from some kanji list and instead because they encountered it in a word they want to read... in a sentence, in a specific context. Are your Korean studies going well? I want to seriously learn Korean at some point, but I have had trouble committing to it. It's just not a big enough priority for me lol. Someday!
@GenkoKenja
Ай бұрын
@@japanesewithniko I got a bit obsessed with Japanese which is why I could do daily Japanese studies for 12 hours without burning out (this was during covid). True. I felt like kanji clicked for me while I was studying for N2…it was a great feeling I would never forget :) As for Korean….let’s just say it’s been a struggle. With japanese I could dedicate 12 hours a day for 2 years of dedicated studying but there is no power in the world that can make me study Korean for longer than an hour…this is because there are so many things I love about the Japanese language, culture and media and I’ve been into the media since I was little. However, Korean up until a bit ago was 100% new to me. It definitely helps that it is so similar to Japanese. I feel like now I got a handle of how to study it semi consistently…I now simply understand my limitations and don’t expect as much as I did with Japanese. I now understand it is ok to skip a day of Korean if I feel like it and just study it for 30-60 minutes….and finally I understand I won’t get as good as I am in Japanese with Korean, but it is better than not knowing any Korean :)
@Mayeloski
11 күн бұрын
Been learning japanese intensively for 2 months now, with duolingo, youtube study videos and other apps. For me, memorization works best, learned the full kana in 2 weeks, and by now I'm able to recognize and properly use over 100 kanjis ( most of them N5 kanjis but also some N4 and N3 just for fun). I'll be focusing on learning more vocabulary and reviewing the kanjis I already know. Thank you so much for your tips!
@japanesewithniko
10 күн бұрын
It sounds like you are off to a nice start! If I could recommend anything at this stage, it would be focusing on developing a study routine that is sustainable long-term. I made a video about this: kzitem.info/news/bejne/ypiam3mIaZ6QiY4 Thank you for commenting ^_^
@kingquest1068
Ай бұрын
Funnily enough, this is pretty much exactly how I learned Chinese. Thankfully, learning Japanese has been significantly easier with Kanji already under my belt. I've been learning for around 6 months and reading has been a breeze for me. Speaking at the same level I can read at is another story though 😅
@japanesewithniko
24 күн бұрын
That's awesome that you have already learned Chinese and are now moving on to Japanese. I think we all lack balance in our abilities, though the imbalances vary from person to person. No big deal ^_^ Thank you for commenting!
@johngodbey2365
Ай бұрын
What a pleasant presentation you have! Yes, even native speakers learn as you said, by familiarity. I think the cramming and suffering Japanese school children go through with kanji has more to with tribal bonding than real learning. Especially with built in kanji search on computers. Anyway, you look like you enjoy your projects. Book Seven, まー、ね。
@jacobbpalmerr5780
19 күн бұрын
I’ve found to get good at writing the kanji, I write out what ever article I’m studying from in its entirety so writing becomes second nature.
@MrApaHotel
Ай бұрын
Feels like I need to reboot my learning.
@AlisaEnochs
3 күн бұрын
I passed JLPT N2 last year and got myself a job in a Japanese office a couple months ago. Understanding the native-speed speech in the marketing meetings is hard but I catch enough to get by. However, I am struggling to get through the reports. Even if it's all kanji I'm familiar with, I just get so easily overwhelmed if it's longer than a few sentences. I imagine the only real way to improve is to just...keep doing it. But I don't like reading that much, even in my native English. I'm more of an audiobook person. I'm currently about 4 chapters into Percy Jackson in Japanese. I thought it would be ok because I enjoyed that series back in middle school, but I'm straight up just not having a good time lol. I'm hoping it will be like running, where it gets to be more fun as my stamina increases. Right now I can only do like 15 minutes in one sitting smh.
@star_b3rry
Ай бұрын
I’m still only in the beginning of learning Japanese, but the way I’ve learned most of the few kanji I know currently is from reading the lyrics while listening to japanese music! When there is a reoccurring kanji I don’t know, I search it up, and after that every time I listen to that song and read it I can understand it! I am also able to recognise the same kanji in other songs too!
@japanesewithniko
Ай бұрын
I think that learning with a native material in which you are already interested can be very good for improving your ability. For many, this can be too frustrating to do when they're first starting out, but it sounds like you've found something you can already do and enjoy, which is awesome. ^_^ Good luck with your studies! Feel free to reach out if you hit any speed bumps along the way. ^_^ Thanks for commenting, too!
@Astrid-jx5dw
Ай бұрын
My children are doing this and learned so much it surprised me a lot! Another thing I strongly recommend is reading manga in Japanese. They almost always come with furigana for kanji, situation and illustrations help you understand, and the sentences are completely natural either in casual or polite expressions.
@star_b3rry
Ай бұрын
@@Astrid-jx5dw Yes! I started reading Sailor Moon in Japanese last week! I'm still very slow at reading or I guess more slow at understanding what is being said, so I only read one page a day
@ughrockstarbaby
Ай бұрын
THANK YOU!!! Always enjoy these detailed and personal tips! Cheers!
@ahabrawgaming1289
Ай бұрын
The best way to learn kanji is to just remember what the kanji symbol means the rest comes naturally. you dont need to be wasting your time writing it or saving it in your notebook. You will encounter that kanji again it wont go anywhere
@MLin87
Ай бұрын
The best way to remember kanji is just remember it. Brilliant.
@imaankx4147
Ай бұрын
But then how do we go about like ACTUALLY reading it it as in spelling it out in Japanese? For example, he mentioned how ‘楽’ is read as ‘Raku’ meaning ‘easy’, if i spot it again in ‘音楽’ how am I supposed to know that it’s read as ‘ongaku’ unless i deliberately learn both words with both meanings?
@guillaumeaujapon5008
Ай бұрын
@@imaankx4147you can't learn everything, it is time consuming and not so effective. You wanna learn how to read kanji? Then read That's easy as it seems. Learning vocabulary list is so schoolish Read manga with furigana for practicity and they learn the meaning for words you encounter many times. That's it. For a more advanced level, you will read more specific documents and then you can use the vocabulary list from there
@Wmann
Ай бұрын
@@imaankx4147At least it’s not as bad as Mandarin… If you don’t know, then you don’t know.
@japanesewithniko
Ай бұрын
When you first encounter a word like 音楽, you look it up and learn it is read "ongaku". When you first encounter 楽天, you look it up and learn it is read as "rakuten". That's it. You don't need to worry about the kanji in isolation. You also don't need to pull out a reading like "gaku" or "raku" and store it somewhere in your brain for later use. You brain will automatically do that in the background, and eventually you start guessing the correct readings for kanji in new words you didn't know. It happens naturally by learning lots of words in sentences in contexts. Hope this is somewhat more clear.
@marksands7755
Ай бұрын
新しい映画を見るの時にワクワクしている。ありがとうございます。
@Xseleon
Ай бұрын
I think the more common word would be 動画 (どうが) which means video, instead of 映画.
@MarKeLiuZ
Ай бұрын
Yes 動画 would be the word here. Also the の before 時 is gramatically incorrect since what is before 時 is a verb
@takeititititeasyyy
Ай бұрын
what he was gonna try to say like 新しい動画を見るのを特にワクワクしている。ありがとうございます。 btw I'm a Japanese struggling with English 時に (ときに) sometimes 特に(とくに) especially
@purraultpurralta5612
Ай бұрын
I think he was trying to say something like "when I see a new video..." So 「新しい動画を見る時にワクワクしている。」- 時 being used as "when" or "at the time of"
@ucc930ml
Ай бұрын
映像
@SylvanFeanturi
Ай бұрын
I started learning Japanese 3 months ago and my goal was to be able to read HP and Philosopher's Stone in 4 years. But it would seem it was way too optimistic.
@taigalain
Ай бұрын
What? Look up AJATT, it'll take you 18 months if you do it properly.
@Daniel_McDougall
Ай бұрын
That is not too optimistic at all. I know people 12 months in making their way through Harry Potter. People think they need to learn a certain amount before they read, but the truth is that the learning comes by doing the actual reading. The first while will suck but slowly you will start to see the same vocab, grammar patterns, and kanji over and over and by book seven it will feel very different. Don’t think you need to wait four years to read a book, just learn the basics and then try the book. Language is learned one sentence at a time so just take the book the same way
@Viewsk8
Ай бұрын
Kindle + Audible at the same time is how I’m doing it. I still don’t understand most of it but I’m learning a word here and there and making progress. I would recommend it. Good luck!
@japanesewithniko
Ай бұрын
I don't think that is too optimistic either. I could have read Harry Potter after 4 years of studying (if we don't count the 2 years I "quit" after my first 2 years lol). At that point, reading was still a bit more laborious than it is now. But if you read on something like a Kindle, it has a built in dictionary, and you can just skip over sentences that are too confusing, even when you have looked up the words in it. I actually listened to the first HP audiobook when I was only about a year into my studies, and I enjoyed it. I would play it while I was sleeping. So much went over my head, but every now and then I caught some words or phrases and got excited. I could hardly imagine that some day I'd be able to listen to it and understand just about everything. Good luck!
@japanesewithniko
Ай бұрын
I think systems like AJATT and MIA can be very helpful. But in my case, at least (and in the cases of many people I've spoken to) they can lead to serious burnout. Trying to do this kind of thing was a contributor to me quitting studying after 2 years, actually. If I were starting over, and still that motivated, I might still try immersive stuff... as a fun thing I am doing to enrich my studies, not as my core study method. Basically, I might still consider AJATT/MIA as step 3, as described in this video: kzitem.info/news/bejne/ypiam3mIaZ6QiY4 Low-pressure immersion, if you will. Thanks for commenting ^_^
@BoxerDanc
Ай бұрын
Thanks for this. I would oppose a bit in favor of resources that use text stripped of Kanji though. They still teach words and if they gradually introduce Kanji then it's all good. I call the words for which I still don't know Kanji yet "naked words" and find they still sit pretty well with me. I can still use them when speaking and typing, and the ability to read will come with time. Of course if the resource ditches the Kanji completely then it's pretty worthless... I wish I knew this when I started learning (and then dropped) Japanese 20 + years ago.... I used to spend hours practicing writing Kanji daily and still could barely speak after a year.....
@davi48596
Ай бұрын
No, if you are a new student and you are trying to learn it by this way ❌❌❌❌ DON'T. trust me, it will take you SOOO much time
@japanesewithniko
24 күн бұрын
This is how everyone learns to read. Other methods can help you feel less concerned that it is taking too long, and to provide some tertiary mental frameworks for learning kanji, but ultimately everyone learns to read this way, regardless of the kanji-learning method chosen. And you're right, it will take so much time. There are other methods you can use to "learn" kanji meanings in isolation much more quickly... but then you still need to go and learn to read after that. I'm saying you could just skip ahead to learning to read, and that is done by seeing characters → in words → in sentences → in rich contexts. Thank you for commenting! I appreciate it ^_^
@moniquecolan3917
Ай бұрын
thanks niki sensei! your voice is so calming its like you are whispering the whole time hehe
@danielf.285
Ай бұрын
i used wanikani for a long time. i could not for the life of me remember the mnemonics each time. its still takes brainpower so i tended to only learn on and kunyomi instead
@Littlefrenchrobot
Ай бұрын
I have been using wanikani for a 2-3 month now . When the mnemonics are a bit difficult I try to make my own . But what helps me the most to remember the new and old kanji is to read every single sentence example given with new vocabulary.
@Dead-EyeMetal
Ай бұрын
@@Littlefrenchrobot I also make my own mnemonics. The WK ones seem terrible to me. As well as using the WK site, I have a Wanikani Anki deck, and as I go through that I'm editing cards to replace the rambling default mnemonics with my own, more concise ones. I do also use Niko's Nativshark platform but I find a mix of stuff works best for me.
@AlanJonesu
Ай бұрын
Great video! My method so far is completing RTK vol.1 (mnemonic method) while supplementing my studies with reading manga. My goal is to finish the book and learn all the joyo Kanji and continue reviewing them passively as I digest written content. I'm also quickly learning words since my brain is associating what I learned in RTK with a kanji I picked up in a manga. Even if I may not remember something, one kanji is enough to give me context. For example, I read something along the lines of "これはオレの判断だ" in Mashle and knew with the first kanji it meant something like "judgment." I chose this method personally because I don't want to dedicate 12 years of my life to learning all the 2136 joyo kanji when I can learn them in less than 100 days. It's probably not the most efficient way of learning kanji, but it is for me. I'll definitely try out the zoomed-out approach in the near future. Btw, in this video, I knew about 末, but upok realizing that it's used in 週末 and read as まつ, now remember the reading. I'm sure I'll see this kanji many places. Thank you!
@cameronburnett9679
26 күн бұрын
I went through RTK in about 3 months. It was a little bit useful but mostly a waste of time. It was impossible to cram enough real Japanese to reinforce the memories before I forgot most of them. The effectiveness of RTK will depend on the speed you're learning overall. If you learn the language in 1 year like a superhuman then maybe it's ok, but if you take your time I wouldn't recommend it at all.
@duacoss
Ай бұрын
I didn´t know the deep could speak Japanese... subscribed
@japanesewithniko
Ай бұрын
Haha, yeah... I learned it from some fish off the Sea of Japan. Anyway, thanks for commenting, and even more for subscribing! ^_^
@Pavme
Ай бұрын
6:00 no way i have JUST noticed those are two different kanji...
@japanesewithniko
Ай бұрын
lol, stuff like this has happened to me so many times ^_^ Thank you for commenting!
@ildikomelindacsabina3291
Ай бұрын
I' be just complained about romaji and kana only at my beginners book. (I'm doing revision for an exam) I'm so annoyed, I cannot wait to finish this book and start the second one cause that has kanji... I agree with everything you said. I understand much more of a text with kanji in it. thank you for this video, now I feel much better! 😊
@andrii7873
Ай бұрын
so you're saying I should just read a lot to achieve kanji fluency? makes sense...
@James-du4or
Ай бұрын
Yeah
@RikkuButterFly
Ай бұрын
thank you for this. i am always looking for new ways to learn and my brain may be smol but i am going to feed it some japanese and grow it hehe ❤
@japanesewithniko
Ай бұрын
I think we all feel we have smol brain at times. ^_^ Feeding it is the way. Thank you for commenting. I appreciate it.
@phubans
Ай бұрын
This guy is so damn relaxing.
@japanesewithniko
Ай бұрын
Thanks! When I first started KZitem, I was worried I was too low-energy to make videos, but I decided to just try being myself and keep the vibes in a way that feels natural to me. To my surprise, some people actually like Japanese-learning videos to be relaxing ^_^ Thank you for commenting
@ChristopherCricketWallace
Ай бұрын
Reading Writing Speaking are 3 different skills that engage 3 different---but tacitly related---modalities in most people's minds. Most curriculums SEEMINGLY do not address this in their methodology and rubrics.
@japanesewithniko
Ай бұрын
Yeah, I would agree. I actually get pretty annoyed that so many language-learning materials try to give the impression that they cover "the four foundational elements: reading, writing, speaking, listening". But they almost never actually teach writing and speaking (i.e. production), only reading and listening (i.e. comprehension). And when they actually try/claim to do all four, the resulting product tends to be full of major problems. It's fine to only aid comprehension. But come out and say it. At NativShark ( nativshark.com/ ), we make it clear that the platform will improve your comprehension, but that if you want to improve your production, you need to, well, produce the language. And that will usually mean interacting with native speakers via writing or speaking. And to improve your comprehension to the level desired, pretty much regardless of the student or resource, you also need to interact with native materials (whatever you like - be it games, books, shows, whatever). Thank you for commenting ^_^
I just learn words and spot the kanji that I know how are read in the words I know, then I just learn how its read in the new word I dont know. Learning all the different readings in isolation will take too long just learn how they are pronounced in the words you see them in then you can more or less guess the meanings of them in words you dont know
@Pavme
Ай бұрын
I dont feel like I learned anything from the video unfortunately... seeing words that I dont know, say in a video game, doesn't help me figure out the reading unless I search it up, learn, forget, and search it up again many times. I already dont study kanji in isolation and just in words with my 2/6k anki flashcards deck, and I do make up mnemonics sometimes but seeing a word many times, like 楽しい, i have that character's reading memorized. The only bad thing is new words that I dont know, if that makes sense
@japanesewithniko
Ай бұрын
Yeah, it can be hard to study with native materials (e.g. a video game) until you are quite far into your studies because it is hard to even know how to look up words you don't recognize. (Learning radicals can help make this a bit easier, but really just having an already large foundation of words, kanji, etc. is what helps the most.) Anyway, it sounds like you are learning to read kanji by learning words in sentences already...? Which is good. You may be interested in asking people in our discord ( discord.gg/nativshark ) what they are doing. I know some people in there actually completed the whole 2/6k anki flashcard deck. I used to recommend those as a free option to learners 10+ years ago too. They do have some problems, but for a free learning material, it's hard to complain ^_^ Good luck with your studies, and thank you for commenting. Sorry if the video didn't give you clear takeaways.
@DarthRane113
Ай бұрын
Ive been hsing native shark for 2 years my private tutor was aurprised at a lot of what i knew which was all the testament i needed to continue using it as part of my studies
@Wawawa8842
Ай бұрын
Thanks for the video! A lot of people start learning kanji from core 2k anki decks not even knowing what to do, sometimes a lot of people use the wrong approach on kanji. It is awesome to get tips from an “accomplished” Japanese speaker. 🙇♂️
@codenamepyro2350
Ай бұрын
How I've been doing it: sentence mining, and learning the words
@happysquirtle466
Ай бұрын
daring aren't we
@codenamepyro2350
Ай бұрын
@@happysquirtle466 very
@josea3881
Ай бұрын
I think the trick it is to read in Japanese so you can be exposed to words in context. However, there is something to overcome with this approach and it is that Japanese is not only about kanjis, but also about the kana that goes with the kanjis. So grammar and be familiar with the meaning of all that kana, added to words or just working as particles, seems to be of the essential. So my question, how do you deal with the Japanese grammar?
@foilhat
Ай бұрын
The best way to learn Kanji is to just learn Mandarin first. Very easy.
@Skiddla
Ай бұрын
Yeah except even if you know traditional and simplified, Japanese often has their own variants. Plus, the pronunciations of native Japanese words mapped onto characters don't seem to be cognate to chinese pronunciation.
@japanesewithniko
Ай бұрын
lol, yeah, just do that. But before you learn Mandarin, go and learn all the oracle bone scripts ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oracle_bone_script ). On a serious note, it is pretty fun to look at these. I think the chart toward the bottom of the Japanese Wikipedia page is particularly interesting, since it compares them to modern-day characters: ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%94%B2%E9%AA%A8%E6%96%87%E5%AD%97 I think my favorite is the one for 鹿 (deer). Honestly, I should just make a video about these because they're awesome.
@foilhat
Ай бұрын
@@japanesewithniko My comment was semi-ironic, but I'm really surprised that Japanese learners don't use the same techniques for kanji that Chinese learners use for hanzi. You didn't mention that each character is divided into 部首 (radical, stands for meaning) and 声旁 (phonetic) parts. There are only 214 of 部首, so start with memorizing them first and then move on to whole characters.
@Infinite_Epicness
10 күн бұрын
been putting off kanji for months and I think this is how I’m gonna start learning it! can you please give a link to the site you used at 6:46 ?
@japanesewithniko
9 күн бұрын
The site featured in the video is NativShark: nativshark.com/ . I'm one of the people building it. If you're interested, we have a free trial, or you can talk to people who have used it in our free Discord community: discord.gg/nativshark Thanks for commenting. Good luck with your studies, whichever method you end up using! ^_^
@Infinite_Epicness
9 күн бұрын
@@japanesewithnikothanks bro 😄😄
@bozok6360
Ай бұрын
I am at 5:14 . Niko, I agree with your theory to some degree. But I have some doubts . What about writing ? Perhaps , one can recognise patterns but what about writing them? Personally , if I learn a languge, I never limitate myslef . For example , recognition of paterns is not fully satisfying, I want to be able to write them as well. Could you tell me, does your theory work for people like me?( p.s my friend in 3 days managed to learn 100 kanji from remembering the knaji book, and he can easily recognise them when he sees them but I told him wrote for me a sentence using the kanjis you leaned he could not recall them all . Also his writting was very awful.)
@philipdavis7521
Ай бұрын
Sensible advice. I used to think I could only learn kanji through some super complicated system, but really, just reading your way in is best.
@atomu27
Ай бұрын
great video, I have been studying kanji for over a year now and it really made me start moving with my japanese for real. I use kanji damage and really enjoy it. I mostly ignore mnemonics and such and just learn the readings and radicals
@kylespevak6781
Ай бұрын
Studying kanji independently is a waste of time. Just learn vocab with the kanji, because that's how you'll see it and you'll gain a sense of the kanji anyway
@japanesewithniko
Ай бұрын
Yeah, this is essentially the point of the video. You just put it very succinctly ^_^ Thank you for commenting!
@Applecitylightkiwi
Ай бұрын
Thanks for the video, the borrowed chinese chars, do they mean the same in chinese, lets assume i decide years later to learn mandarin, will i not encounter issues ?
@japanesewithniko
Ай бұрын
Yes and no. In mainland China, they use simplified characters, are essentially a shorthand of traditional characters, so they often look quite different. But there is still overlap, and it can still be helpful if you know kanji. I certainly find it helpful when I encounter Chinese words (although I don't really study Chinese). That said, they still use traditional (not simplified) characters in Taiwan (and Hong Kong?), so knowing kanji is especially useful in those locales, since there is more overlap. Good luck!
@joshbaughman6076
Ай бұрын
I think this is completely true, however I think mnemonics is the best method for those that also want to write the characters. But I learn 漢字 as a supplement to my Korean study with the goal of writing like the pre standardization mixed system, so connecting the characters to the readings is considerably easier (usually only 1 and at max 2 per character).
@jjd6137
Ай бұрын
The easiest way I learnt Kanji was to learn Chinese first. 😂😂😂
@japanesewithniko
24 күн бұрын
lol I am often tempted to try to learn Chinese, since I've already learned so many kanji at this point. Maybe someday... Thanks for commenting!
@omgabaddon
Ай бұрын
For me personally, kanji is the deal breaker. It is so random, both graphically and phonetically, something inside me just wants me to stop wasting my time. I really want to learn japanese but there's this mountain-sized wall in front of me and I don't know if I want to waste my time just repeating stuff nonstop in hopes of picking up something. Or listening to random conversations and trying to understand what they are saying. I'll check your website and see if it helps. Thanks!
@japanesewithniko
Ай бұрын
I used to feel very similar to this. I had an intense love-hate relationship with kanji for the first 2-3 years of my studies. Now when I try to study Korean, I get frustrated that they got rid of hanja (their Chinese characters), so all the words seem the same and blend together in my brain, so I end up looking up how the characters used to be written so I can actually remember them. For example, I kept forgetting what the food japchae (잡채) was and mixing it up with other foods. But then I learned that the hanja is 雜菜, which in Japanese would be 雑菜 (lit. miscellaneous/mixed + vegetables), and I never forgot it after that. And going forward, I wouldn't know what "jap" or "chae" should be associated with in other words in Korean. Do these pronunciations show up elsewhere? Conversely, seeing 雑 and 菜 in other words helps me know them (and often even guess their meaning) the moment I see them: 雑談 (zatsu-dan) (small talk) being "miscellaneous + discussion" 雑音 (zatsu-on) (noise; interference; static) being "miscellaneous + sound" Or I learn 野菜 (ya-sai) (vegetables) because it's such a common word, and then I see 山菜 (san-sai) and think "mountain + vegetables"? And I can guess the pronunciation. And then I learn the word is used to refer to "edible wild plants", "wild vegetables", etc. The problem is: explaining how this all feels to a person AFTER you've made these links in your mind does not comfort them. It makes them more stressed about learning kanji because I'm saying: "No, kanji are actually helpful because look at all these linked concepts" without acknowledging that the person I'm talking to might not know those concepts yet, so it feels even more like this insurmountable mountain of concepts. So there is not much I can say other than that it is really fun to slowly uncover all of these links in the language, and that kanji are a huge part of it. It can be really fun/fascinating. You said: "I don't know if I want to waste my time just repeating stuff nonstop in hopes of picking up something" and I actually would NOT do this. I think repetition can be helpful to an extent, but language-learning influencers online put too much emphasis on it. Seeing a single concept in a variety of contexts > seeing that same concept in the same sentence/context repeatedly. This is good news because you don't actually have to grind it out and "learn" a new kanji/word/concept/whatever the first time you see it (e.g. in a flashcard). That's just a way to "meet" this concept, and then you can recall this meeting when you encounter it again in various real-world contexts (i.e. forms of the language that you enjoy or that interest you), such as talking to someone, watching a show, reading a manga - whatever. The repetition of the initial presentation of the concept (e.g. a vocab flashcard) is helpful so that you're more likely to recall your first meeting of the concept when you inevitably encounter (and, in turn, learn) it in the real world. It does take a long time to get to a high level of proficiency in the language. And there is a "mountain" of stuff to learn. But kanji don't block access to the concepts one needs to learn. Once you get used to kanji, they help make the learning of those concepts easier, as they add just one more piece of context/info to the concept. Wow, that comment was way longer than I intended, sorry. Good luck with your studies! ^_^
@iosmusicman
Ай бұрын
Thanks for the video. I fully expect you to justify the cost of your product but it is out of reach for many and much more expensive than other offerings. Maybe it’s way better but the big problem is that if one has already invested in other products then the escalating costs just become ever more grim! Thanks again though.
@japanesewithniko
Ай бұрын
I think that is a fair point, and I think it IS too expensive and not realistic for many. We especially hear this from people who live in a country with a currency weak vs the US dollar. Some people wait until we have a big sale, which we usually do a couple of times per year. And we do consider needs-based discounts for people who contact our support email. But there are many paths to proficiency in Japanese, and we all just have to find the path that works best for us. In any case, I try to include actual Japanese learning content (not just talking ABOUT learning Japanese) in every video, so I do hope you stick around for those videos, which are of course free. ^_^ I'm planning some long-form videos too, which cover lotsssssss of Japanese concepts. Good luck with your studies! And thanks for commenting ^_^
@iosmusicman
Ай бұрын
@@japanesewithniko that is such a thoughtful response and much appreciated. Of course I'll stick around. Best wishes. Lee
@indymaximus1566
Ай бұрын
I’m wondering when I should move onto Kanji. I’m 1 month into my studies now and have more or less mastered Katakana/hirigana (if you ask how to draw a katakana, it may take a few seconds to remember) and currently learning grammar using Genki. I think Genki starts using Kanji later on, assuming I already know some of it, but not sure at what point I should really start learning it
@josea3881
Ай бұрын
In my opinion is a mistake not to use kanji from the very beginning. Seeing words like 日本語 written in kana にほんご or even worst, mixing up kanji and kana 日本ご。。。really make things harder in my opinion. Books can always add furigana in the first steps but kanji, in my view, has to be there.
@indymaximus1566
Ай бұрын
@@josea3881 Yeah, for certain nouns I try to write the Kanji with hirigana/katakana in small text below it. I agree it's best to start early, so will try to supplement it alongside my grammer/vocab studies
@madmax8620
Ай бұрын
So....the moral of the message here is TO NOT STUDY???... ...cool! No problem! !!
@japanesewithniko
Ай бұрын
Haha. Yeah, I personally wouldn't study kanji in isolation. I would just learn it as a byproduct of learning words in sentences. Thanks for commenting! ^_^
@anthonybrigante9087
Ай бұрын
Ive heard the Harry Potter series got a really bad translation - is that something youve noticed during your read?
@japanesewithniko
Ай бұрын
There have been a few moments when I saw something and thought, "That's kind of weird phrasing. I wonder what the English said." But I've been too lazy to go and check, so maybe the English was weird too? I was also surprised at how unnatural the dialogue sounds in many places. But that is a feature of almost all written representations of speech in Japanese, so I can't say that it's necessarily because the translation is bad. Anyway, I enjoyed the books ^_^
@digidoridvideos3672
Ай бұрын
Also skip writing kanji.
@Koggelxander
Ай бұрын
Yes. Not even many Japanese people write Kanji anymore. They just type it.
@JapanADHD
Ай бұрын
Skip perfecting kanji. I Think it's beneficial to write and get the general sense of kanji. Then you can write most kanji in your mind. But f me sideways if I'm going to master 3000+ kanji.
@Koggelxander
Ай бұрын
@@JapanADHD writing Kanji is not very beneficial at all.(to learn). We don't learn languages like we do math or other subjects. Our brain has a completely different area for learning languages. It learns differently. Just skip writing it out if your goal is to learn the language. Read it instead. Read lots and lots of books. Input is the key. If you want to work on calligraphy then sure go ahead.
@digidoridvideos3672
Ай бұрын
Best way to learn kanji is learning words.
@marielee6443
Ай бұрын
Space, opening: 間隙 [jian4xi4]↓;
@bogaty72
Ай бұрын
Please add the pronunciation readings for your kanji lessons and removed the mnemonics. The way they're presented currently is counter-productive and makes learning readings and words harder, not easier.
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