Ok so i’m takin a two second break from studying Kanji to write a little blog that could show you what I do whilst I study for these crazy little pictures the Japanese call a “writing system”.  Let’s face it, they aren’t letters, they’re pictures.  Crappy ones at that.

Ok, I’m currently studying the Kanji from Chapter 14 in my Genki 2 Textbook.  16 of them total, not so bad.  However this is just part of my study for the final exam I have this friday.  Total Kanji I need to memorize: 177.

Yep, 177 pictures that all look the same but carry very different meanings.  Ok, so let’s get started…

First, let’s see what I’m studying:

Ok, so, the way I study is that I go 1 by 1.  I start at the first, in this case “he; boyfriend”, and write it out a million times taking not of my stroke order.  But, the thing with kanji, is that if you tack on other kanji before or after, it changes the meaning and reading.  So, “he; boyfriend” is pronouced “kare” (NOT “care”, Ka-Re).  But if I tack on the kanji for “woman” after it, it changes “he; boyfriend” to “she; girlfriend” which is pronounced “kanojo”.  So I also write down these modifications to the kanji to help me remember those too.

What’s stroke order?  Quite literally, it is the order that you write each stroke or line.  I find it useful to memorize the correct stroke order because it helps me memorize the kanji.

Stroke order… if you can understand wtf i did there…

As for the meanings and readings, I just say them out loud or in my head as I write the kanji out.

I then move on to write the next Kanji.  But I always close my eyes to try and remember the last kanji(s): their modified forms, readings and meanings.  Things sorta start off neat, whilst my brain is in tact:

But then my brain goes to shit and my pages slowly start to turn into this:

And this:

And this:

And this:

And this:

And then there are always failed study sessions like this:

…Fail

And that’s how I study Kanji!

Ciao for Now!