掲示板 Forums - Does anyone else find Kanji overwhelming to learn?

I would recommend not avoiding kanji for too long. You will find that when you learn kanji and words side by side, they reinforce each other. If you make a kanji schedule, you can learn kanji at your own pace separately from vocabulary. If you set it so unknown kanji have furigana it shows you the kana over the kanji until you learn the kanji. You can make a kanji helper schedule for your vocabulary schedule so that it only teaches you kanji that are in words you've learned.

You don't need to write notes for kanji, Renshuu quizzes you on on'yomi and kun'yomi and everything. It might seem important to write everything down now but you really don't need to unless you really want to. You don't need to learn every kanji in the words you're learning either. Learn them separately and they will catch up later.

Hi there! Thanks for posting

Kanji is definitely frustrating and you aren't alone. I do recommend learning it though since it is important. However, let's make it a fun and easier process

Start off by adding N5 Beginner Kanji to your pathways, you can find it in "Manage schedules" link on your dashboard. Find it in the renshuu recommended Kanji schedules. There are roughly 100 kanji which is perfect for starters

Once added, click settings on it and make sure only meaning questions are enabled (and writing practice if you have Pro, otherwise use a notebook and a pencil/pen, which I still recommend anyway since you're handwriting may start to suck if you use apps to do this (happened to me))

Don't worry too much about taking notes or trying hard to memorize them, just let your brain soak them up and find them interesting. Look at the different pieces and try to make a connection in your head, even if it's silly. They should show a breakdown of the pieces that make up each kanji (example: 明 bright = 日 sun and 月 moon, so try to wonder about why they decided that sun and moon would = bright.) Being curious and just keep learning until your brain feels tired.

You'll forget things, but that's 100% ok and it's totally naturally. Just keep doing "Focused Review" quizzes on it until you're getting 85% or so.

Turn on kanji display in words too if you aren't seeing it already, you don't need to memorize what kanji goes to what word too much because over time your brain will start to soak it up automatically. Example: if you look at 大きい, you'll start to remember "oh, I remember that one-it's おおきい!" Especially after learning 大 means big, it will start to feel fun seeing おおきい (big) and then the kanji makes sense!

Anyway, sorry it's a long reply. But hopefully it helps and make sure to have fun learning! You got this

When I first study a kanji in the mastery schedule and Renshuu tells me the meaning, onyomi, and kunyomi, all of that information goes in one ear and out the other. I do not process any of it.

But once I start seeing it in words in my vocab schedule, then my brain starts connecting that the 気 in 天気 is also the 気 in 電気. Not only does that help me actually understand the kanji, it helps reinforce the words too.

My Japanese teacher announced within my second week that we would be learning Kanji and I felt intimidated and overwhelmed but honestly looking back I can appreciate how learning Kanji gradually right from the start is the best way to learn. (I thought I'd add, there was quite literally a collective gasp in the class, but we all were able to battle our way through Kanji! )

You don't have to learn tons all at the start, but by continuously practising and reviewing Kanji you'd be surprised how much it can build up over time!
I personally find Kanji the hardest thing to learn in Japanese, and for this reason I put a lot of my focus on writing and testing myself as often as I can, but having done so for a good amount of time I can honestly say I am encouraged by how much I can remember, or at least recognize the meaning when reading in Japanese. Like others have said, creating little stories for the meanings of Kanji, or breaking it down into the radicals can help with both remembering the meaning and how to write it! Renshuu also has some tips for remembering the Kanji that way if you click on the mnemonics!

This is coming from someone who struggles a lot with Kanji, with enough time and effort you can absolutely get there!

(I should know, I'm still trying myself! がんばって！頑張(がんば)って！！）

I also often find kanji very annoying and scary at times myself, and starting to learn a bunch in school did start to scare me a lot, but it's always good to take it at your own pace, especially with an app like this! It might be scary and strange, but it's definitely a good idea to start sooner rather than later. Like the other comments said, just start with beginner stuff and take it slow, and you can keep the furigana on for kanji you don't know until you learn them, too!

You got this, I believe in you!

You won't believe me until it happens, but there comes a tipping point where kanji starts to work for you, and not against you. It happens to everyone that sticks with it, and when you get there, it'll feel as if (in your comprehension of Japanese) someone who had been physically slowly you down has just let you go, and for the first time, you're running at 100% strength.

I felt this at first, but I found that if you learn the individual meanings of each character used in the kanji , then look at the terms in which they're used it will help you create a connection for the characters.... Being able to directly look at the charters using the dictionary portion of this app is the best learning tool.