I've never used ANKI | How I learn kanji (and vocab) + resources

[@TomJeffs]

“Forgetting is part of the learning process”. I needed to hear that. Thank you. I let it frustrate me too much when I forget stuff I worked hard to remember.

[@bunsuke.nihongo]

This stuff can get frustrating at times, but it just takes patience, focus, and consistency. Otherwise just enjoy the ride, bumps and all.

[@daltrooliveira7987]

I learned english in the same way, just starting reading harry potter book series and watching the big bang theory, always searching for every word written/listened and in the end I was able to understand english spoken and written. I am hoping to use the same method for japanese. The most import thing for me was not have fear of forget words but fear of not use the idiom in a certain day.

[@ae831]

That's one of the best quotes I've ever heard for learning.

[@vanessasmith9646]

Me too!!

[@julian2719]

Don't fool yourself. Failing is part of the process, yes. But it still means you failed.

[@Jay-vr8it]

"If it's important it will come up again" I can't stress how true this is.

[@Medivh73]

Only if you read enough. If you don't(my case) - you may want to add it to Anki

[@Rebecca-bz6ph]

”Reading is its own form of spaced repetition".. What a fantastic quote!

[@jpnpod8277]

It's not a very effective one. Some words are harder to remember than others, and seeing words twice a year isn't enough to keep it in your memory. And before you say "oh, well those words aren't that important", the vast majority of words are like that, and are needed to engage in anything adult-related.

[@Rebecca-bz6ph]

@@jpnpod8277 what is your language learning method?

[@jpnpod8277]

@@Rebecca-bz6ph I spend most of my time immersing, either actively watching and reading content, or listening to recordings of said content on repeat. I turn new words I find into Anki cards and then study them for about 30 min - 1 hr everyday. I also occasionally watch grammar videos on KZbin.

[@valeriaaraujo9962]

I would argue that doing space repetition by reading can be more effective than flashcards. If you pay attention to the context the word is used and make some of the connections the guy in the video mentioned (like comparing or grouping them with antonym and synonym) instead of having to see the same flashcards hundreds of times you can learn it by just seeing the word a couple if times, maybe even learning it and sticking it to your head forever having only seeing it once. In the end you just have to go and see what methodology works best for you, just keep in mind that flashcards aren't the only way to learn and they may not be the best way to learn for you.

[@猪武者]

it's true but it's not the entire story. It depends what words you wanna learn. For instance, in an intro textbook I learned the word 給料 (salary). and put that into Anki. Then I read books in Japanese, that is monolingual Japanese books shipped from Japan. I read 9 books before one of them mentioned the word 給料, which I was able to read because of Anki. Is that an important word? IDK. But I bet every Japanese person and nearly every learner knows it. Textbooks, anki, and reading books, all are forms of studying and all will refresh your memory differently and at different rates.

[@brinjpn]

Something I enjoy a lot is watching/listening to Japanese songs with the Japanese lyrics. Even if I don’t know the reading of the kanji, I can often pick up what the artist is singing after a few good listens. I feel like it helps me a lot to remember things to song.

[@bunsuke.nihongo]

That makes a lot of sense, I've heard of other people doing this a lot!

[@DeadlyLazer]

Same. I find simply looking at the kanji, even if I don't memorize it, even if I don't know what it means, just looking at it and subconsciously storing it in my mind greatly helps remembering it when I eventually actually try to learn it.

@brinJPN do you have tips for such songs?

[@brinjpn]

@ Most songs you can find the lyrics online which helps a lot. From there it’s looking up the meanings (I usually do that after a few good listens.) Will see that lyrics and hear them singing it and discover how to say the kanji. I can then look it up on a dictionary app. (Or if I can’t figure it out draw it in the app). Just keep in mind that lyrics follow song grammar and so some things sung might not word as an actual sentence so it’s best used for vocabulary building and minor grammar. But the huge benefit is listening (and if you sing) speaking practice. I also write out the lyrics to get extra writing practice too. I usually spend a month or two picking apart one song. There is nothing more fun than breaking out into Japanese song IMO. ☺️

[@Thanatology101]

Essentially, the key is making connections by using, contextualizing, and grouping kanji to make progressively more connections. This tracks with what we know about learning. Trying to memorize disembodied lists doesn't work as well as just reading or writing with the words you're wanting to learn. The more connections your brain can make with something the easier it becomes to recall. Stellar vid! Some great ideas to try.

[@takanara7]

You don't memorize them as arbitrary lists, but rather by their structure and etymology. And anyway, using SRS to memorize Kanji (along with mnemonics, etc) absolutely does work and works really fast. The reason so many people say it works great is b/c all those people used it and learned Kanji that way.

[@Thomas48484]

When you start out learning japanese, trying to solely learn through reading is going to be very time consuming and inefficient. The purpose of anki is to build a good foundation of vocabulary by remembering the basic meaning of a word, so that when you encounter it while reading, you are able to at least understand what it means, which makes it easier to draw connections to how the word is used and in which context it appears in.

[@ellikereelif]

You are absolutely correct. Reading is the magic trick. When I realized that I was making no progress with Japanese, I took a step back and ask myself "You've learned English before, how did you do it?" And the answer was that I've read fanfiction a lot. But the thing is, it is easy to read English, but in Japanese, whenever I came across an unfamiliar kanji I'd just mumble and move on. So I started playing voiced visual novel games in Japanese. I am still not at the level where I can read a book and I am a very impatient person so I just stop studying when I feel bored. But in visual novels, voice actors usually read most of the sentences, and from the context and their acting I can kind of make out a meaning, and if I can't, I look it up. After I encounter the same kanji a few times, it becomes a familiar kanji. Reading takes a lot of time, and at least for people who learn Japanese simply for entertainment like me, finding reading materials that you enjoy is very important.

[@linhtrieu4933]

@ellikereelif Im very interested in resourses that included both text and sound, can you tell more about the visual novels that you used? Thanks 🤩

[@ellikereelif]

​@@linhtrieu4933 I had written a very long reply before but it got deleted I guess, so now I will write a shorter one. You can watch ToKini Andy's video "How I Learned Japanese with Visual Novels" video. So, I turned to visual novels because watching Japanese movies with Japanese subtitles or reading books with audiobook version playing in the back doesn't work for me. They always move on so quickly and I need some time to process the information, but if I stop too frequently I get bored. Visual Novels are good because they move on my pace. I usually play them on PC, but there are also mobile games that you can download, but I use QooApp to download them because they are usually restricted to Japanese Google Play. I played HypMic like that, and it's free to read the story parts of it. The only downfall to visual novels that I can think of is this; if you are not interested in anime, you might not like visual novels either, because they are both part of the same entertainment culture. Visual novels have a very "anime" feel to them and I like it.

[@linhtrieu4933]

@@ellikereelif thank you for your "actually detailed" reply. I'll try it out on PC through stream, I guess.

[@leabeatricealmog2717]

​@Elif Thank you. I will try ...anime, reading, learning Kanji...sounds fantastic. Maybe I will finally succeed

[@tohaason]

I learned English by reading (and reading and reading..), I never used dictionaries, and it worked for me. Japanese has some obstacles there... and I seem to be a bit similar to you (based on that other comment), I get bored if I can't actually ingest what I'm watching (I need the story to be a story, not text or pictures on a page - it needs to be inside my mind or I don't learn anything). Will have to look up what those "visual novels" are, I haven't run across that before. EditUpdate: Seems like those VNs are only available via various gaming platforms which I don't have access to, unfortunately.

[@flexorlamonticus]

This is great. A lot to process here. My own personal story is, after majoring in Japanese at a university, I started working as a freelance Japanese to English translator around 2000 or 2001. Before that, I had not been able to pass JPLT level one (and barely passed level two, after two tries). After a couple years of sweating it out on translation projects daily, I decided to try JPLT level one again. I was SHOCKED at how much kanji I knew. When I went through my kanji texts for test prep, I was actually laughing at how much kanji I had not known before becoming a translator. Most of the areas I had marked as problem areas for me felt so basic now. And then when I actually took the test, I sailed through the kanji and reading sections so fast, I could not believe it (this after sweating bullets on level two a few years before). So, my takeaway was, translating 8 to 10 hours a day every day pushed my kanji recognition level up so much higher than my college or post college studies ever did. Don't get me wrong, it was tough. What I think happened is, when I was studying, before starting work as a translator, I spent a lot of time diving into each kanji. It was hard to move on to the next kanji or the next vocab word. You want to make sure you have fully memorized it. And then, I would get super frustrated and demoralized if I later discovered I had forgotten it. It was actually pretty emotionally difficult, especially after college when I felt like I had no clear goals. It felt like swimming in a giant ocean, with no land in sight. I never knew if I was making progress. It always felt like I was losing ground faster than gaining it. Then, when I started translating, I had no more time for any of that. Clients wanted projects done quickly, so I never worried about if I was memorizing words or kanji or not. I just kept looking up words I did not know and translating text as fast and as accurately as I could. If I made mistakes, I corrected them and moved on to the next job. It turns out that this was a great way to study, at least for me. After I was freed from the pressure of trying to completely memorize each vocab word or kanji before moving on, I wound up actually memorizing a lot more words and kanji through simple repetition. I should mention, my skills at writing kanji by hand are so horrible now as to be embarrassing, but that is because I spend my free time doing things other than practicing writing kanji. If I made that a core hobby outside of work, I'd probably be pretty good at it. (I mention this to show one downside of my method of learning) Also, I should mention, I do not study Japanese at all outside of work now. Oh, I watch the occasional Japanese show or movie, and sometimes I do read Japanese for pleasure, but outside of work, I mostly read English novels and make art. I barely ever do anything that looks remotely like studying kanji. So if your passion for kanji does let you keep studying after a full day of translating or reading, all the more power to you! You will be much better than I. So... for everyone out there studying... I do not know if it is right for me to say this method works for everyone, but I wanted to mention it here in case it helps you. I basically translated anywhere from three thousand to five thousand characters daily, five days a week, for about two years (after developing a firm kanji base in college), and that put me up to a level where JLPT level one kind of actually felt like a joke to me. (Well, except for the grammar. That was kind of difficult, because a lot of it was not commonly used grammar, so I was not used to seeing it in my translation projects) It does sort of echo the main approach here in this video, which is to basically read a lot. The main message I take from all of this is to keep moving forward. Whether it is reading, translating, or even just studying note cards, always be moving forward, and do not worry too much about forgetting. Important words will keep popping back up in your life, and you can relearn them as many times as you need.

[@cap1368]

thank you for this, I am currently majoring in japanese studies and doing my year abroad in Tokyo for my masters degree. I have no specific interest in learning japanese like anime or idols (like most people around me) so I often loose motivation to continue studying. I've been trying to find ways to learn the language that I enjoy doing and not because I am forced to learn it. I think I'll try a bit of translation daily to help me and Im trying to be okay with forgetting kanjis and remembering them later.

[@flexorlamonticus]

@@cap1368 Cool! Good luck to you! If that does not work out, don't forget about just reading a bit daily, too, like the video talks about. I'm also not into anime etc. (although I love comics and will read a Japanese comic if it is good, as I will read a comic from any country if it is good), but I do like Japanese novels. My first Japanese novel was by Yoshimoto Banana, and I cannot recommend her enough (apologies if you already know about her). Also, the Onmyoji novel series is pretty good. These days I sometimes download a Japanese novel on my kindle every now and then. Although, like I said, in my off time I mostly read English novels and comics these days, ha ha. Anyways, good luck!!!! And enjoy the Tokyo study oportunity! I never got a chance to go abroad when I was still in school, so even though I live in Japan now, I am super envious!

[@lucachristina5520]

Hi! I'm super curious to know how you got into translating. Its my dream job but it seems so hard to break into and I've been worried about not being up to jlptn1 level despite having finished my degree in Japanese studies

[@flexorlamonticus]

​@@lucachristina5520 I got into translating by applying online as a freelance translator at Japanese translation companies. Translation company websites will usually have a 求人情報 link of some sort. You click it, and then fill out their online form. Sometimes you might have to submit a resume, so go online to find some good examples and templates for freelance translator resumes in Japanese (have multiple Japanese people check your resume if possible). If they think you seem good, they will send you a "trial" (トライアル). One trial should never be more than about half a page, and it should never be a real job. It is a test. You translate the trial and return it to them, usually by e-mail. Then, if they like your trial work, they will start sending you real job. Just a very small amount at first, until you build up a trust relationship with them. This whole process takes a looooooong time, so do not get discouraged. Most companies will not send you a trial, and most companies will never contact you after you return the trial. Then, even if you perform well on the trial, most companies will not give you actual work, at least not right away. You have to keep registering at new companies. I did an average of three to five new companies per day when I was starting out. If you register at too many companies, you might get too many trials, but if you register at too few, you will not get any, so do what fits your schedule. Expect to make TONS of mistakes at all stages of the process, even the trials, and expect to not get any actual work for a long time. Just keep trying. Eventually someone will give you a chance, and you might even mess that up too. Just keep going. That is how I did it. My first year was horrible, but I kept going. Then, even after my first five years, I felt like I was making mistakes daily, and it was hard to keep clients coming back. But now I have been doing it for twenty years and it is a stable job. You will eventually get good at it. Just keep trying. Also, side note: no one at Japanese companies knows about the JLPT. It's great to take it, and it is great to have on your resume, but it is not even near a requirement. I passed level 1 of the JLPT after I had already been translating professionally for over a year, and no one ever really asked for it on my resume. Anyhow, good luck!!! Just remember: it is pretty normal for the process to go slow and be a bit demoralizing. Just stick to it and you will eventually succeed. Meet your trial and job deadlines, be open to criticism, and always work on improving. Make sure to look up official English names for companies, organizations, and places. Look up everything and check your work twice or three times, especially in the beginning! Double checking is your most powerful tool. And never forget: sitting and concentrating for hours and hours is the hardest part. You will get better at that. And my most important piece of advice: stretch. You will have such a better career if your body is stretched out and feeling good while you work. It will improve your concentration and your speed. Good luck!

[@lucachristina5520]

@@flexorlamonticus thank you so much for the incredibly detailed response!!! I'll take a look into some Japanese translation companies and see where I can go from there!!!

[@ytsangatsu]

You've learned kanji just by reading. So have I. Of course, in the very beginning, I copied a couple of hundred of them, enough to learn about basic strokes (all 9 of them!) and radicals, etc. But then I kind of realized that trying to memorize kanji was the same as trying to memorize vocabulary, and this is just not the way I think you can learn a language. So I started doing what I had always been doing for other (alphabet-based) languages, i.e. just reading everything I could get my hands on. In the case of Japanese, that meant finding stories (either actual books or on the Internet) with "okurigana" or romaji and comparing each original Japanese sentence with its translation, sometimes writing both languages side by side so as to make it easier to read again later. And wouldn't you know it? I started to realize that without making any special effort at memorizing, I was remembering quite a lot of kanji in a general way, in the same way that people remember faces. When you think about it, anyone is able to recognize (without necessarily being able to put a name on each one) hundreds, if not thousands of faces, without ever having had to analyze their different characteristics (shape of eyes, nose, mouth, ears, forehead, etc.), and I've come to believe that "recognizing" kanji works just the same. The mind is one extraordinary tool we humans have.

[@StrategicGamesEtc]

Furigana, but yes.

[@ytsangatsu]

@@StrategicGamesEtcStrange but true. I had actually never checked the definition of "okurigana" and just assumed it was basically synonymous with "furigana", perhaps just an older term. Thanks for setting me straight.

[@takanara7]

Humans have specific neural circuitry to recognize (human) faces, people with brain damage in certain areas aren't able to recognize them. It's not the same with kanji although once you learn all the radicals, etc it becomes pretty easy to recognize them by their sub-structures.

[@sethaldrich6902]

@@takanara7 I must have brain damage b/c I forget people's faces and I def can't remember Kanji like you guys can, smh.

[@vexationd374]

llol@@sethaldrich6902

[@kennedygolfhead4356]

I use the same method to learn English - reading. And, as you said, spaced repetition occurs randomly within the reading of different materials, including the healthy cycle of forgetting. It's interesting and encouraging to know the similarity in language learning, whatever language you are interested in.

[@figgettit]

the mystery of how people learn english pronuciation still completely blows my mind. i suppose reading along with audio books must help alot.

[@ivanrodriguez956]

⁠@@figgettit helps a lot how easy and abundant English media is, I watched so much Frasier 😂

[@yowo6105]

as a linguistics student i really enjoy your way of grouping kanji by phonetic component, semantic component and meanings. the kun-yomi method was new to me and seems very interesting! i will try to pay more attention to it, sometimes i notice kun-yomi relations but i never looked at it intensively. the 2 kanji compound relations categories are also something I've been doing sort of subconsciously, I've tried to look more into it but was never able to build a concrete study method around it, it was just something i would be aware of while studying new kanji and nothing more. I'll try to think of a more structural way to combine all these notions into a bigger concrete study plan, it really seems to be up my alley as I too dislike learning random vocab lists or drill anki flashcards.

[@bunsuke.nihongo]

Thank you for the generous comment, really glad you liked the video

[@misomar7193]

yo another ling major???

[@PopCorn_Culture]

Finally, I found someone who talks about reading, and a few people in the comments who talks about writing, because every single person on the internet nowadays talks about anki and 100000 of other apps, forgetting that everyone has different learning styles

[@Tedisdeaad]

@@PopCorn_Culture anki is a complementary tool. I hope ppl recommending you Anki are also reading and/or listening or they're totally lost.

[@braveisidor9122]

I would love it if you made a video with book recommendations grouped by their difficulty! I am sure a lot of other people would appreciate it as well.

[@ThinkerYzu]

Hi, I cross this video accidentally. I am a native Taiwanese and Mandarin speaker. However, my child and I are living in the US. This is how I teach him kanji (hanji) in Taiwanese and Mandarin. He starts with very basic simple words. For example, “日”，“月”，“金”，“木”，“水“，”火“，“土”， “一”， “二”... and some basic verb. "來“，”去“，”走“... Let him get familiar with these basic components (I guess less than 50 words). Once he knows these words well, learning new words will be easy since almost all kanji words are composed of these basic components. The next step is writing meaningful short sentences. For example, “上學“ (go to school). These meaningful sentences help children to learn quickly. As time flies, we increase the length of sentences. We pick a new sentence every week. And repeat the same sentence by writing it down once every day. Of course, he forgets words quickly. But, the commonly used words in books, videos, and signs will refresh his memory from time to time. So, he learns really useful words.

[@figgettit]

very instructive.

[@hello_akkie_room]

Hello! I’m Japanese😊 I just happen to find your video. Your Japanese pronunciation is very good!! Also, It’s not easy for us to learn kanji. You know about Kani better than Japanese. “悪女について“ Is my favorite novel!

[@bunsuke.nihongo]

Thanks! Glad you liked the video:) 有吉佐和子さんいいですよね！吉行淳之介の『悪女という種族』も、全然作風は違うけど、面白いですよー！

[@hello_akkie_room]

吉行淳之介の世界も好きです。 映画なのですが、「吉原炎上」という映画やばいです！遊女の物語で、女性の激しいさがが描かれています。

[@bunsuke.nihongo]

「吉原炎上」は初めて聞きました！今度調べてみますね、おすすめありがとうございます😄

[@hello_akkie_room]

@@bunsuke.nihongo 是非是非😀もしご覧になったら感想お聞かせください🙌

[@danielantony1882]

@@hello_akkie_room まだ聞かせてあげてないですね｡ 忘れたのかしら？人は物事が忘れがちなんですから｡

[@nyomnyom1809]

Your way of deconstructing kanji is so good! Never heard of anything like that. And I studied japanese for a long time, also in university. I am blown away! Thank you so so much for sharing!!

[@fabiothebest89lu]

These are really great advices. I have been learning Chinese for long time (I only know a few words and sentences in Japanese), but I can relate. I did use Anki but it has its downsides. All the techniques you mentioned are based on your experience, but I confirm they are also backed by science. Great video 👍🏻

[@marcussosa3542]

are you still using anki

[@cupidok2768]

Does he have an ig account

[@wildblackberry9164]

Thank you so much - these tips are really helpful and I’ll definitely start incorporating them into my own studies. Looking forward to future videos!

[@bunsuke.nihongo]

Thank you! I'm glad you found these helpful! Stay tuned for more ;)

[@SwitchXP8]

Ah this was refreshing, thank you for just sharing your learning journey and methods. Very useful and interesting! And unconventional, which always helps. Different perspectives are always good to know!

[@cwash08]

I also learn by reading and find it a little annoying that Anki is pushed so hard because it just isn’t for me (although I could be determined enough if that was truly the only way). I recognize of course that it could be very good for someone else. Anyway I like what this channel is about. I think it will be useful for people, and I wish success. I also found it funny you said that you were nervous

[@bunsuke.nihongo]

Thanks so much, I'll do my best to create more useful content!

[@cwash08]

@@abcdefg3315 I actually don’t care when they pile up, I just reduce the pile. But everything else about it is so annoying for me. I don’t want to trash too much another person’s method that might work for them, but I see people talking about sentence mining or reviewing the most common words with the flash cards. I think the opposite, that uncommon cards should be reviewed to the point that it would matter enough to use them and just read everything else. In other words, I think the same as you that it should be use for revision. But that is just me

[@odd1ty612]

Thank you so much for this incredible video, Bunsuke. I really like the unique methods you use to remember the kanji. It's very different from other videos I've seen on KZbin which always seem to promote Anki or rote memorisation writing drills. Please keep making more content, I'm very excited to hear more from this channel. :)

[@bunsuke.nihongo]

thanks so much for your lovely comment, I really appreciate it!

[@tonyluvbalony6837]

I like your tip about reading books and learning kanji and vocab through encounters. I personally love to read and don’t enjoy using flashcards and stuff, but most people online tend to focus really heavily on learning through study tools so I felt like ‘I was doing it wrong’. I will never forget the words 商品 or 防犯カメラ after reading kombini ningen though😅. I’ll pursue reading more and dedicate time to it in my studying schedule to treat it as a formal studying tool.

[@bunsuke.nihongo]

Hi Tony, trust me you are not alone, as you can see in the comments from others, many people feel frustrated with flashcards and other related systems/apps/methods. Keep at it, and do it in a way that suits your needs and goals. This stuff is supposed to be fun!

[@チャゴ-z4s]

Thanks for the tips and recommendations! The "deconstructing" part was really interesting, specially because I noticed that I have been using the method without even noticing. Now with more aware of it, I will try to implement it more consistently.

[@jxjiang3731]

Nice video! As a Singaporean Chinese, I have no problems understanding the meaning of the kanji. HOWEVER what I can't stand the most is every character has at least 2-3 different sounds depending on how it is matched with different kanji! Even a simple 月 has like at least 3 ways of speaking depending on if it's a moon, a month or a full moon! Knowing English, Chinese & Japanese, I am 100% sure Japanese is the toughest language to learn! Good luck to everyone learning Japanese!!! Gambatte!

[@figgettit]

@youknowkbbaby which at one time, did not exist at all. ;)

[@andrewparker6574]

Very helpful! Your learing approach aligns with mine and I will incorporate into my efforts to learn and use kanji. Thank you!

[@GiveMeCoffee]

Thank you for the explanation, I've been struggling for some years wanting to learn kanji since I want to read Japanese literature and miscellaneous books, but every time I get frustrated with how fast I forget what I just studied. I'll try again and make an effort of trusting the process, it helps knowing that forgetting is "normal" and part of it.

[@hontouhahitorikiri]

I liked your method for learning kanji and in the first stage of grouping I categorize them in verbs, adjectives, nouns and finally adverbs, conjunctions, etc. This way many of the kanji that you memorized in the verbs are the same in adjectives and nouns, and this way you memorize the readings of the kanjis in context.

[@bunsuke.nihongo]

Thank you, I'm glad you liked it.

[@toanoradian]

I thought I had enough of "how to learn Japanese" videos, as I've been inundated with them for the many years I've tried to learn this language, but what makes this video different is the list of incredibly interesting books. Origins of the kanji and radicals are very interesting to me, so those are up my alley. Hope they're not too expensive. Thanks for the video!

[@mayarushingwalker]

I watched this when it first came out, but I think I will re-watch it every once in awhile. Such good tips! You described some things that I didn't realize I already do in my head! And thank you for the references, I meant to look for the 音符 dictionary and forgot, so I need to go back to Amazon and see if I can get it. Please post more videos when you can!

[@gremarietta]

This is the best video on kanji!! Thank you!

[@brinjpn]

Amazing tips! I found that when I tried to use Anki I quickly lost motivation to keep reading. Seeing how much people swear by it I thought maybe I was doing it wrong. I think my brain just needs to be more fast paced with study and learning through genuine repetition of context and content.

[@bunsuke.nihongo]

Thanks so much Brin, I'm glad you enjoyed this. As you can tell from some of the other comments, you're not alone! You're not doing anything wrong, just try different things and see what fits you. Context based learning has certainly worked for me, so if you haven't tried it, why not give it a shot. And if it's not for you, move on or mix and match until you've found your style.

[@reynir775]

I really enjoyed this video - very refreshing to hear a different approach and the way you deconstruct/analyze the language. I have been in novice hell for a few years but I aim to start reading as soon as reasonably able. I look forward to your future videos!

[@dryagan]

This was amazing! Thank you so much for making this video Bunsuke. 👏

[@bunsuke.nihongo]

You're very welcome! I hope some of this was useful :)

[@labla8940]

I actually understood and could digest Most of what he was trying to convey. I surprised myself when I knew several Kanji. This would have been confusing to me not too long ago. Thank You. Whenever I watch a video like this it boosts my interest to learn the language, as sometimes I get a little complaisant and start to wain away

[@cbhhale]

This is all very advanced for me but very interesting! I've only just started learning kanji and have noticed that I recognize certain kanji better if I've encountered it in context before. I still struggle to read katakana sometimes so reading is tough, but this video is a good reminder that if I keep at it I'll see some progress.

[@renanimimi]

Finally, I found my answer why it's difficult for me to learn kanji. Thanks! I understand your explanation about kanji nicely! Good luck on your study!

[@Si1verArchAngel]

i have found myself spending more time reviewing flashcards on anki and repeatedly forgetting them rather than actually enjoying reading new things. This video helped so much and gave me a lot of inspiration on how to approach kanji as i progress.

[@Inocchy]

Right now i found it. I always get confused when ppl askd me how i studied kanji by myself. after watching your video, i feel like I'll just sent them this video & let em understand how the way I learn kanji. bcs i used very similar method as your video sir. Thank you ✨

[@MrGxmxe]

Thank you! I passed JLPT N2 a few years back and kind of hit a plateau. I am finding this channel useful in making a progress moving forward in my journey!

[@jporfirio_]

I was wondering where I knew your name from and then it hit me ahah glad to see you are still pushing your newsletter and now this channel! I know you are more focused on the reading side of things, but I would love to see your methods regarding what you did to improve your listening. Would also be cool to see your opinion and approaches regarding reading physical books vs. reading books in a digital format using tools like yomichan. Anyways, glad to see you pushing content like this and sharing your insights!

[@bunsuke.nihongo]

Great to see you back here :) Wanted to hold off on plugging this channel on the newsletter until I had some more content to share, but the video has taken off in an unexpected way. I'll start posting on the newsletter again too, but after I finish my dissertation. Personally I always go for paper. I've never used yomichan, so can't really give an opinion, but I'd say pick whatever suits your style of learning or combine until you've found a routine that works for you.

[@jporfirio_]

@@bunsuke.nihongo I always preferred reading paper over digital, but Japanese puts you in a weird spot where, reading paper kinda sucks since looking up word takes so much time, and digital makes lookups easy but reading on digital also sucks ahah. So I've been mostly listening and do some light reading here and there. Hope we get more videos from you soon 👍

[@adriangrana1239]

@@jporfirio_ Whtas wrong with reading digitally? The time you safe for looking up words is tremendous, so unless you're really fluent already I would highly suggest using Yomichan because it's so convenient. If Eyestrain is bothersome to you, I would recommend a Kindle (Or any other E-Reader) with E-Ink technology, this is the best of both worlds in my opinion since you can load your own dictonaries into it and read comfortably. (I have the 大辞林 and 広辞苑 on my Kindle and really enjoy reading there).

[@sauceboss7165]

this is really the best advice for every single human to have ever had the desire to learn a language: use the language/ read and listen

[@nidhishshivashankar4885]

The best best best vid I seen on the topic, your approach is extremely intuitive to me

[@BuckheadVolvoS4]

私は日本人🇯🇵ですが、オランダ🇳🇱に貴方のような方がいるのにとても感動しました‼️

[@tams805]

I've been half-heartedly trying to learn Japanese for eight years now. It's only been in the last couple of years that I fully realised that learning by rote just isn't very good. It is guaranteed to work, but it is incredibly inefficient and a very long slog. Part of sticking to it has been familiarity from my school days, but also laziness. I tried Anki several times and hated it. Learning things in context really is the best way once you have a solid foundation. It can be tough and frustrating at first, as you understand almost nothing. But you end up learning vocabulary, grammar, and phrases that are actually used and you will actually use. And you get entertainment and/or knowledge from it, even at the most basic level. I've been doing the Memrise courses for a while now, and I think they are good in-between way. Sure, it is rote learning, but they introduce words and then sentences or phrases that use those words. There's some basic explanation of the grammar at first, but they really just throw you in there for the most part. It's therefore something I recommend, especially if someone is struggling to find and choose material to study/practise with.

[@damtran993]

Awesome video mate, please make a video on how you dealt with listening comprehension as well. Would love to hear your take on this regard!

[@bunsuke.nihongo]

Thanks a bunch! Listening is a great idea, I'll look if I can do one on that.

[@rosarioesteban4792]

My mind is blown, I had no idea I could learn Kanji this way, it's fantastic! You just motivated me to study again, thank you! I think this video can help a lot of people. Have you ever thought about adding Spanish subtitles to it? I would love to do Spanish subtitles for this video and share it with my friends, so they can also get motivated too. If that's something you'd be interested in, please let me know! Love from Argentina :)

[@rociogb9889]

I am glad I ran into your channel. Looking forward for more videos about kanji. New to learning Japanese, everybody seems to think that my primary goal it is be able to talk but actually I am more interested on be able to read it. I been trying to learn in different ways kanji, but I been struggling. Repetition methods with flash cards kill me. I am going to give it a try to reading. Maybe some day I will be able to learn all that you know, I am only 17 years BEHIND! 😅.

[@bunsuke.nihongo]

Glad you found me, too! No rush, it's all about the journey, not the goal :)

[@takanara7]

If doing flashcards for a long time is painful, just set a time limit of, for example, 20 minutes a day or whatever. If you stick with it you'll probably have most of the Joyo kanji memorized in a year or so, I would think.

[@deborahm6682]

I am a Japanese student on a Master's Degree level and I can't be happier to find this video. Very useful tips and thanks for sharing this amazing resources!

[@PaulTheEldritchCat]

Hi, I just got out of the N5 exam, so your advanced advice comes a bit early for me, but I know I'll get back to this video in the future. Thanks for your thoughts.

[@maowav]

We did the n5 on the same day! That's so cool

[@benahouser]

I've been reading and using a lot of these tactics you mentioned with my own Japanese journey for some time now. You've broken it down it excellently. I let go of the habit of writing down words for Japanese, and instead just read a ton. It's like you said "if it's important it will come up again," but I think I will steal your habit of writing down words for reading in Korean, which I am a beginner at. I think in the early stages of reading, you don't have as many "categories" and ways to mentally associate words and so you're more likely to struggle to remember words. I think writing down sentences I've read will help me pick up the foundational Korean vocab. Honestly so glad I found someone else who uses reading instead of spaced repetition software. It's like, the more time I'm building flashcards, the less time I have to read.

[@ElwingWitch79]

thank you so much! I will watch it again since there are so many useful info😊

[@bunsuke.nihongo]

thanks so much for your lovely comment! I'm really glad this was useful😄

[@user-dz5vd2fe4v]

It was very useful, thank you ! I was pleased to hear that « reading is a form of spaced repetition » because that is what I have been doing this year but sometimes I start doubting because of what I see on the internet (everyone using SRS apps, also tried that before but I got tired of it and learning that way wasn’t fun). I would like to know what your notes look like, do you write a kind of « context », a sentence for instance or is it very quick notes only with maybe the source and the unknown word ? Or do you write in the book ? Do you tend to review that on a regular basis ? Anyway thanks for the awesome content, I will be getting one or two kanji books your shared.

[@bunsuke.nihongo]

@@user-dz5vd2fe4v Thanks so much, I am glad you liked it. I usually just make quick notes on a separate piece of paper, but I never keep it for review. The writing itself helps me remember, but reviewing them doesn't do much for me, so I just throw my notes out at the end of the day.

[@amandasmit9328]

Thank you...Light Smit channel is so good.

[@ntrg3248]

I started learning 2 years ago, I still use anki but the way I use it and the reason for using has changed over time. When I first started learning, I had this idea that anki was a magic ticket to learning Japanese effortlessly. That ended up not being true, but I ended up using it to remember words I encountered easier. The problem was that I was spending too long doing it, and not long enough reading or watching stuff. Nowadays I never need to do it more than 5 mins a day, because I don't make too many cards, and I don't force myself to perfectly remember. As you said, forgetting is part of the learning process.

[@deddrz2549]

I think one of the better ways to use Anji is as a supplement to your way of reading and writing down new stuff. People call this 'sentence mining', where they create an anki flashcard of a sentence from their input material that has a new word. This is a sort of way to try to get more repetitions out of one encounter for a word, to try to recognize it easier the next time you see it. I think both ways are good, and the anki isn't necessary, just an attempt to remember stuff quicker for some people.

[@joshlovesfood]

yes I agree about reading, it is so important to learning Japanese, learning Kanji is only part of it. I also find practicing listening and talking to be equally important

[@beci1994]

This guy is a kanji computer! Great video and I will definitely tries this method. But for us, more humble kanji learners I would recommend a more intuitive approach haha.

[@overlordartorius6688]

A good dictionary for the etymology of kanji in English is the Outlier Kanji Dictionary. The only downside is that it is available only as an app.

[@ポップパンク和訳]

17 years? You're so good at Japanese that it seems like such a short amount of time for someone your level. I can't even imagine having a time in your life not knowing Japanese. The language just feels so inside you when I hear you speak. Hard to believe you didn't know anything before 2007 (which felt like yesterday to me)

[@comradecameron3726]

Is that not every language?

[@alguien908]

Thanks for the tips, I tried to use Anki but frankly it did not work for me, both for Chinese and Japanese. Grouping characters was somwthing that never really occurred to me but it sounds like a pretty useful idea. I'm pretty much a beginner in Japanese but in Chinese I'm at an awkward stage where I can understand most basic stuff but can't read what I actually want. I havw a bunch of children's books I was unsure how to study with, I've read some in the past but I did not feel like most words stick to me, but grouping these words and your other methods never really occurred to me. For Japanese I'm doing RTK, it dors not teach readings but I see value in it because it teaches you writing (I really struggle with handwriting characters and want to change that). After I'm done with it I'll probably use a similar method for the remaining Japanese and Chinese characters.

[@linhtrieu4933]

Very useful method! happy that I found you when struggling with Japanese.

[@davezwieback1953]

Thank you for this very inspiring video!

[@bunsuke.nihongo]

Thank you and you're very welcome :)

[@Hugo-gu1sc]

Thanks for sharing the Hinoki Project link, it seems I'm going to be using it quite often from now on. 👍

[@bunsuke.nihongo]

It's really wonderful isn't it! Glad this was useful.

[@1hourAnimemusic]

thank you for sharing this video!! must watch for everyone !!!!

[@genrihk164]

That's a solid approach!

[@RossHall-UK]

This was quite useful. I've been mindmapping kanji, but it ends up all over the place because of a lack of logical structure. I'll take a look at the groupings and see if that works better. Thanks!

[@MarkieArkham]

imma be honest-- seems like your dedication is just way higher than mine. anki is easy. this seems hard, and like way more work.

[@cjceejaay]

i love the grouping system! im chinese so it can be like a double edged sword for me, when i see a word although i have an idea on what it means, i tend to read the word in chinese by default and it pushes the japanese reading from my brain, so the groupings really help. ps, i can see ur very passionate about books specially when u pulled out that big one, its fascinating to see 😂

[@trollingisasport]

Take out the random words from what you are going to read before you read it. Look them up to get an idea, then read and ask yourself questions about what happened in Japanese and answer in Japanese using the language in the reading. This is pretty much how we learn to read our mother tongues. I highly recommend the sight Satori reader.

[@EvgenyUskov]

although particular methods and mnemonic techniques may differ, one of the possible principles to guide one's kanji studies in terms of what kanji they study and in what sequence may be the scope of each particular level of the Kanji Kentei test (at least this is what Japanese people themselves do)

[@Papalagui]

Thank you very much for this excellent video and sharing of knowledge and resources.

[@3bouldersurban653]

A reference or link for the books you recommended would be nice in the description or show notes!

[@yume_eno7691]

Thank you for the tips, i think i will use this method 🤠I wish there was a complete and helpful video like this one for Arabic too 😂 finding good methods for learning languages on KZbin is so hard,, I’m glad I found your channel!

[@likelyowl]

I also don't enjoy Anki at all (only use it when I have to cram for exams) and love reading. The only downside is that I am not great at branching out outside what I usually enjoy reading, so my vocabulary consists basically of 専門用語, some useful vocabulary from popular Japanese novels and then extra random words from horror/sci-fi stuff. Since coming to Japan I also find that I learn best through super embarassing encounters where I mess some words up or I am stressed and need to communicate about something new. 😅

[@bunsuke.nihongo]

I completely get this. You start reading in a certain area and then get stuck after a while. But start picking up slightly outside your comfort zone and you'll pick up different vocab and writing styles in no time. If your like sci fi you might enjoy Abe Kobo. If you like mystery, you might also enjoy Matsumoto Seicho. Just a few ideas off the top of my head ;)

[@robinkuster1127]

I did that with English. I wouldn't worry. I knew vocabulary for medieval warfare way before I could talk about a lot of every day stuff just because of video games (I should add maybe that my native language is German and German is one of the big languages that get media translated. So this was a conscious choice for me and not something I was forced into due to the lack of availability in my native language) but your command over the language improves regardless of what you consume. At some point I just started to read the news in English and watched KZbinrs to get more into natural slang and stuff like this. I made incredibly embarassing mistakes when I started communicating with people. Forgetting basic words or not even knowing basic words. Like, I've read the word "glove" A LOT playing world of warcraft but it wasn't until I started playing with people on English servers that I had to say it and the way I said it just didn't make sense at all to a native speaker. 2 years later I wrote my bachelor thesis in English. It all just came together. The more I read and watched stuff I enjoyed the better my English got and the easier it was for me to get into the news and politics and all that stuff an adult should be able to talk about.

[@valeriaaraujo9962]

​@@robinkuster1127 your "glove" story remind me that just this year I learn the pronunciation of "knot" while learn the pronunciation of hiragana lol And I have been studying English for years! So yeah, the only problem with reading a lot in the language that you want to learn is if you only read. Practicing your hearing ability and eventually pronunciation will solve this issue tho

[@Lucky-xr9ib]

ジョシュアさんからきましたー！ 様々な言語を操れて羨ましいです！

[@manuelgonzales2570]

Excellent video! Thank you!

[@phen-themoogle7651]

I’m really looking forward to the new kanji kentei game coming to Switch in a few days ❤

[@DD-vu7ir]

My main reason for learning Japanese was to read the literature. So this is a godsend. I have a long way to go, but I really appreciate it.

[@carmenpascual3260]

Amazing video!!! Please keep doing this

[@spaghettiking653]

You really have one of the most impressive and mature attitudes towards learning kanji. I wish I had all these books too, they look very useful :) I'm currently preparing for Kanken. I'm looking to learn quite systematically, though, so I myself will still end up using Anki, but nevertheless for studying in itself there's surely no better method than reading! Are you doing / have you already done Kanken also?

[@HidenoriSasaki-e5i]

素晴らしいですね。漢字学習については私が漢検準一級を取った時の勉強法と重なる部分が数多くあり、漢字が苦手な日本人にもお勧めしたいですね。部首を理解するために阿辻哲次の本を読んでいらっしゃることに驚くと同時に嬉しくもなりました。私は、生前のDonald Keene氏と会って話したことがありますが、あの時と同じ感動をBunsukeさんに覚えました。

[@boomermcboom8609]

I started using Houhou (similar to anki, also a software for srs learning) recently and It does wonders for me. On top of that I keep reading like I was doing before, mostly news articles and research papers for my thesis and I feel like I finally found a good balance in my learning method

[@diddy_dante]

"I've never used Anki" is the perfect clickbait! I love it!

[@Whte-vo7df]

I recommend to you the monogatari series, is known by how the author (NisioisiN) play with the kanjis and all that stuff, is really interesting and great if you are trying to learn kanji-well, in my case, reading the first novel (Bakemonogatari) is being verry useful and entertaining. Is not only good for learning, is also a great story, so if you want something new (if you don’t know about the series) and a great story to read, check it out. Btw, the name (Bakemonogatari) is a kanji play, when the 化物, and the 物語, are combined to form 化物語. Sorry if my English is not that great, but I'm a Spanish native speaker, trying to learn two language because of fun (tee-hee).

[@Whte-vo7df]

@youknowkbbaby It is a light novel, but it have an anime and manga adaptation. In my opinion the light novel is better than the manga, but the manga is also pretty good (especially in the drawing, Ohgreat-the mangaka-is a genius). But in any case the anime is my favorite, a life changer.

[@nicongo6047]

Thanks for the suggestions! I'm ashamed to admit I didn't know that 漢検 association has their own books. I have a goal to pass 一級 one day, and I have a work book for 準一級 (not by the 漢検 association) , but I have been thinking about what materials could be good for 一級, although I still have 準一級 to pass 😁 The 四字熟語 books seemed especially interesting, since I really love them

[@asmaa_6042]

Thank you very much, this is very helpful :)

[@bunsuke.nihongo]

Hi Asmaa, thanks for your generous comment, I'm happy this helped!

[@levikain]

I’m so happy you’ve made it to KZbin! I really liked your instagram so it’s great to have you here too

[@YohanLiebert-u4m]

I like anki for learning the pitch of every word since I can't really get this from reading. Lately I add a lot of simple words I already know like 春, 冬, 忘れる, just to practice their pitch. But yeah, I also prefer reading as a method of studying, I spend less than 1 hr in anki at every given day and try to spend at least 3 to 4 hrs reading or listening.

[@Akage11119]

Wow that Hinoki-Project thing is amazing!!!! I used to just try to google phrases and see how many hits I get comparatively by switching small details around...but this is way better!

[@metals9372]

Bunsuke is an example of a very good "Teacher". I know a total of 10 Kanji. But he inspires me to learn more. Anecdotally, I believe "Good Teachers" should rank among the highest paid professionals in society. However, our society will not allow this. Good Teachers do their job because they Love it. How many people actually Love their job? Amen.. ha haa . Keep studying and improving. I am 67 years old and started learning Japanese 6 months ago. I think its time to toy with Kanji.

[@bureboburebo4188]

I've been "studying" Japanese for 36 years, and suspect I made less progress in that time than you did in your first 5 to 10 years (who knows the exact point, since I don't know precisely what your progression looked like). However, about 2 years ago I finally started trying to read a lot of Japanese novels (and also started avoiding English subtitles in other media), and do think I've make more progress in the last 2 years than I did in the prior 34.

[@thegahd]

I recommend ignoring onyomi readings of kanji when learning them for the first time. Learn meaning only, and as you learn vocabulary you will make connections and remember which kanjis make up a word (since you know the individual ones) and reading comes from knowing vocab. Learning several ON readings for 2200 first kanji makes the process much much harder

[@nly]

Hoi hoi! Leuk dat je een KZbin-kanaal bent begonnen (dit is Kristel, trouwens). Mooi om te zien dat de strategieën die je aanbeveelt voor het leren van kanji ook terugkomen in Kanji 2A bij Japanstudies. Nu moet ik alleen de tijd/motivatie/workflow vinden om ook in het Japans te gaan lezen. In ieder geval is het leuk om op ボケて memes te kijken (of het nou helpt is een andere kwestie).

[@bunsuke.nihongo]

Hi Kristel wat leuk dat je me hier hebt gevonden! Hoop dat het tweede jaar niet al te zwaar valt. Binnenkort weer een kop thee doen met z'n allen?😊

[@nly]

@@bunsuke.nihongo Laten we dat doen, gezellig!

[@tarotcomPauloEvoLua]

Thank you for this fascinating video It inspired me to keep studying

[@bunsuke.nihongo]

Thanks so much!

[@japaneselessonsfrombasicsw375]

Nice to know a great efforts to learn Kanji.

[@okaerimichi]

I know this video is from a year ago, but thank you for the rec for that particular book which organizes kanjis by themes! I'll try searching for it at my local Kinokuniya. I've actually been grouping kanjis manually in Excel myself because I couldn't find one like it 😅 Edit: Actually, thank you for all the recommendations in this video. A few of them, I'll be searching and using for sure. Into my second year of studying Japanese, and I'm doing a lot of reading. And a lot of forgetting too 😂

[@sdrklx]

I love learning new kanji, this video convinced me to purchase 角川新字源

[@A-bp9hq]

It would be amazing if you could list or write down the books you recommended

[@kylefenrick9168]

*he agrees while holding money wondering where to throw it Lol😂

[@A-bp9hq]

@@kylefenrick9168 I think they were added into the description box now!!!

[@kanireader]

I would like to point out that many of the things mentioned in this video (like the grouping of kanji) is something your brain will naturally do for you if read, the brain is great at picking up patterns and making connections with other kanji. That is why reading is so important when learning japanese. Anki can be an aid for reading if it is used correctly but a lot of people regrettably misuse it, they try to use Anki as a replacement for reading instead of a tool to make reading less painful. Ideally you should never spend more than 5 minutes of Anki for every hour reading. When I use Anki i never try to grasp the full meaning of the word, that is something that you acquire from context, instead I focus on getting the reading right so that I can read more in less time which should be the goal, understanding should come from context and dictionaries can be a tool for finding a defintion that can be applied to the specific use.

[@rayoflight6204]

Hello Bunsuke-san~! I just discovered your KZbin channel yesterday, and now I'm looking into your older newsletters. Right now I'm in #38. In no time I'll be catching up to your latest ones. I've been learning Japanese since 10 years ago, on-and-off, but assuming I learn as much as 8 hours a day, it's really 3 or 4 years, at most. I just took the JLPT N1 three days ago, but I don't feel like I did it that well, with how I ran out of time and had to rush marking down the answers, that I don't know if it will be correct or not, all the while scanning for terms that are repeated between the text and the answer options... The listening part was so-so for me. I still don't feel like I will be confident with the results... Then I found you! I'll be honest, I've been neglecting to read, with how many vocabs I had amassed, I realized that, even if I know a lot of the words, sometimes I still struggle with the semantic side of the language. Sure, I can probably spell how most Kanji should be spelled, but I kinda struggle to make sense of what does it all mean, like who does what, or what goes where, or what happens before, or after, etc. It can be disorienting just trying to follow up a certain text without tripping on anything because I hadn't properly understood the meaning of a preceding sentence and trying to read the next sentences.

[@kameneka]

Sizin yerinizde olmayı çok isterdim. Kanji yazmayı çok seviyorum

[@jpnpod8277]

Interesting that you left out how long it took for you to actually become competent in the language. While Anki may not be necessary, it does speed up the process quite a bit, as it ensures the timing between word encounters is appropriate (as opposed to just seeing them at random times), thus solidifying them in memory much sooner. I really don't understand why some people are so averse to it.