Learning Japanese Kanji - What You Really Need to Know

In its written form, the Japanese language is one of the most interesting but potentially intimidating languages for a Westerner to learn. For languages that only use the standard 26 letter Latin alphabet, written Japanese has no common ground on which to compare or learn from. Japanese does not use the 26 letter alphabet that we are familiar with, it has three "alphabets" of its own: Hiragana, Katakana, and Japanese Kanji. Kana is the name given to the first two sets of characters which consist of 46 symbols each. The remaining set of characters is a large group of symbols called Kanji.

Estimates vary on exactly how many Kanji are in existence, but the total is over 5000 symbols. The Japanese did not have a formal system of writing over 2000 years ago so they adopted Japanese Kanji from the Chinese language. Many of the Kanji were changed and over the years many of the characters fell out of common usage. In an attempt to simplify the system, the Japanese government has compiled a list of 1945 Kanji that are considered the ‘essential Kanji characters’. To be fully proficient in reading and writing Japanese one needs to know the kana and this list of nearly 2000 Kanji characters, although many native Japanese do not learn them all until nearing completion of high school.

Unlike the kana which are single syllables, each Kanji represents whole words or parts of words. Many Japanese Kanji look like the words that they represent, such as a single horizontal line for the number one. Learning the Kanji that look just like the word they stand for is a good start but unfortunately they are not all that easy.

When learning Japanese Kanji, one very important learning tool is that the Kanji can be written out "long hand" with the Hiragana syllables. If you don't know the Kanji character for a word, it can be written out with Hiragana and it can still be understood by a Japanese reader but it takes a lot more symbols to communicate the same words. Another aspect that can help the learning process is that many Kanji build on, or contain other Kanji symbols which make it easier to expand your vocabulary.

Learning Kanji is like any other language learning, practice and repetition are the key to mastery. One big advantage that today's language students have is the wide variety of materials and programs available for studying Kanji. If you are committed to spending the time to practice, learning Japanese Kanji is a very rewarding challenge.

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Visit Japanese Language Now for a collection of resources and tips on how to learn Japanese Kanji.

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