would it be counterproductive if I limited my kanji studies to kunyomi/meanings at first, then once i feel confident with them try picking up their onyomi? it feels very overwhelming taking notes of kanji so extensively (kunyomi+onyomi+meaning), did anyone initially felt like this with kanji and how did you get over it?
There are probably as many different approaches to kanji as there are people studying them, but this is one variant of a common strategy that seems to work for many people.
One thing to consider is that not all kun’yomi are equally common. Some are so rare that you’ll never see them used.
That would probably work, but I'd suggest not leaving out the on'yomi completely, otherwise trying to assimilate them later might be a pain. What worked for me in the beginning was to study the kun'yomi with the kanji and just have a quick look at their on'yomi, while at the same time doing lots of vocab exercises to pick up the on'yomi from words. Remembering 元, for example, is a breeze once you know the very common word 元気(げんき).
But you do what feels like it works for you. If a method seems to help you remember them long-term, go with it and just adjust as you go. Practice will take care of the rest.
Not at all. I know someone that simply ignored all the readings and that person already studied more than 2000 kanji after not even one year. Which is really great and I sometime wish I studied like that. But at the same time, I don't really regret the way I studied because it has some advantages too. I only studied actively 1140 so far (kunyomi, onyomi and meanings) after 3 years more or less and it was even limited to the primary school readings too. Doesn't mean I only know primary school reading because I learned a lot of other readings through words but still. And compared to other people who studied more than me (by more, I mean in term of numbers of kanji), I'm able to guess the reading and meaning of new words more easily (for the ones which use a kanji I studied). Simply because I took my time on each kanji compared to them. Also, I'm "slow" compared to foreign learners but still "too fast" compared to native learners. When they start to learn kanji, they spend 1 year to study only 80 kanjis. And in total, they spend 9 years studying all of the jouyou kanji. So if you feel overwhelmed again later, please keep that in mind. You will still probably be "too fast" compared to a native learner.
Besides that, honnestly, any method is fine. Just, once you choose a method, keep in mind that will develop some "weakness" specific to that method. If you choose to ignore the reading, then keep in mind the warning from むじな. If you decide to study all the primary school reading first with the meaning, you will be "slow" and it can be frustrating sometimes. Also, when I'm learning random word with unknow kanji, it's also more difficult. That's the only thing you have to keep in mind. I also know people that didn't even study 200 kanji after 1 or 2 years because they choose to focus on their speaking abilities. But they don't care and have fun talking to japanese everyday while some others learners, 5 years in, sometimes feel frustrated because they focused more on their reading abilities. Some on this side also don't care and just enjoy reading after even after more than 5 years of studying.
So... keep in mind the warning of people that study differently and just enjoy the way you want to study (which doesn't make you feel overwhelmed).
ありがとう you all, very comforting to know the downsides but that if it helps it helps and how natives learn less than one would expect in a year, if i had to guess before reading this i would think like 300 per year or more. taking all of this into account i decided to focus on kunyomi/meaning but not put onyomi in the sideline, i will reserve 2 to 3 days in the week to study onyomi since i feel more comfortable with kunyomi/meaning, this way i can feel somewhat more at ease but still dedicate some time for learning the onyomi
