1.000 Kanji in one month

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I've a plan and for that I need a lot of energy and stuff. I want to lern 1.000 japanese Kanji in one month. What I mean with that is to learn the meaning and the Kanji itselfw. How to write it in Kana and the possible combinations would come after that. I guess it'll also give me a good start to already know approx. 1.000 Kanji and because of my visual memory I seem to be good in remembering them easily.

I had this idea two days ago when I realized that I could memorise them easily. Now I'm on day 4 and I've learned already 200 Kanji. I still have certain problems with approx 10%, so it's in reality approx 180 Kanji that I know.

I also want to learn the 214 Kanji radicals. All common 2.136 Kanji consist out of those 214 radicals.
So I'll propably end up with learning 214 radicals + approx 800 Kanji.

The day before yesterday I learned 80 Kanji easily, but today I was by the dentist and feel like crap, so 1.000 Kanji in a month is realistic.

I don't know if it'll really work, because it's a high goal, but I already have approx. 20%, so I've a good start

This is really astonishing and also confusing for me, because the paradox ist that I'm dyslexic, but Kanji are processed differently than letters. So I'm a very slow reader when it comes to Kana, but I'm really fast at recognicing and remembering Kanji.


Because I'm totally into this project, I'll post here how it goes.

Wouldn't it also be useful to learn sentence structure and basic phrases? I recomend Byki 4.0 Deluxe Japanese. It only gives you a certain amount of actual starting lists to learn from, but it has a flash card base to it, and mini games too. The thing is, with the deluxe version (costing $80+) you can download as many other list in any other language you want. Good for the picture memory but also to go with learning the individual characters. I got it for $40 after I scrounged up a deal on amazon.

Is your first language English or another?

another.
Of course it's also usefull to learn the structure of sentences and so on and I'll also do that, but I'm fast in learning Kanji, and knowing approx. 800-100 and the 214 radicals will give me a good start.
After that I can focus in the new year on grammar and stuff. It's not running away...!

It kind of confused me to learn Kana and Kanji at the same time, so I started with that what's the easiest for me because I'm a visual thinker and with the Kanji I already know, some sentences started to make more sence, because I already know some basic grammar. And understanding it all together gave me another feeling for the language. I think one month to practice Kanji is not that long actually and learning a fiew hundred Kanji in that time is a lot. It'll give me a good start with Kanji and then I've the time to focus on other stuff, like grammar and Kana and so on.

I'll look into it. Thanks for pointing it out.

cool goal

Thank you

I also want to show different things with that:
a) Kanji is not that difficult (at least not to me )
b) there are different forms of dyslexia and having difficulties with letters, doesn't mean you also have difficulties with Kanji and vice versa.

Yesterday and today I've a bit of a draw back, but I don't worry too much about it.
Yesterday I was in the dental hospital in the surgery becasue I had an abscess in my mouth that needed to be removed and I felt like crap the entire day. Today and tomorrow I've to come back.
And on friday I'm meeting my brother in another city. So not that much time, I still managed to learn approx. 40 Kanji yesterday and approx. 23 this morning, but I really need to go over them again when I feel better, but I don't woory too much about this.
I still want to reach the goal to learn at least 40 Kanji today, what's my minimun I'm trying to reach each day.

I think it's contraproductive (when you have enough energy, use it for the better purposes. Quantity is not a quality).

It's meaningless to learn only the kanji meaning, because of variety of a spectrum usage of kanji.
Do you learn to write them out of your mind? In the right order?
The next thing that came on my mind is - most japanese words are made up of 2 or more kanji symbols. That means their reading can change and their meaning as well.

Example:
退 - retreat;  withdraw
屈 - yield;  bend;  flinch
But 退屈 （たい・くつ） - boredom

I don't think it's useful to know only meaning of the sole kanji. My progress is slower, but assured. Now I can read, write and understand to words made of about 1400 kanji /1414 for today/, for the second year of studying Japanese. The main point is - I can use them. What about you?
BTW. We learnt about a half of it in the school and my classmates have big problems with that

Well I guess there are different methods. I read on some language learning pages for example that they think the best way to learn a language is first to learn about 1.000 words on vocabulary and after that all the grammar stuff. I think it really depents what learning type you are. Some first learn Hiragana for example and then the first words and some grammar, some start with Romanji and others with Hiragana and Katakana. A girl who studied Japanese at university told me that they learned Hiragana in the first week and Katakana in the second week and the first 30 Kanjis in the third week and then slowly how to use them and so on. So there are different technices.
So why see one method as critical, just because it uses a differen way?
I know some combinations, but not that many, because I first want to focus on the radicals and on the Kanjis and then after that how they are constructed and so on. I can write many of the Kanjis I learned, because I can visualize them very easily in my mind. Sometimes a detail is missing when I do that and then I can go back and look, but the after two or three day's I usually can visualise all the "old" Kanjis on the list and many of them even from the beginning, even when I'm not sure about the meaning. I remember visual information very easily.

So I'll also learn the other stuff, why arguing about it?
It's just one month, it's not that long and in January I can focus on the rest. It's not like I would spent years on just one detail.

I learned several languages and all of them a differen't way.
English mostly at school learning mainly words, French first at school, but mainly in France itself, studying mainly just the grammar first and afterwards training myself to read and the vocab, what lead to the fact that I couldn't really say anything for the first two months or something and after that it just came together. Italian it was also mostly in Italy with learning a bit grammar, a bit vocab and so on and Danish now at University with the method of developing a feeling for the language.
I was able to speak at different levels, but if I could choose, I would choose the way I learned French. First studying just one thing and than another, eventhough it lead to the fact I was able to speak later, but it all came together smothly and even now I've a good understanding of the French grammar. I stayed in Italy pretty much the same time as in France and my Italian is worse. I was never good in learning a bit and a bit and so on and it really frustrated me. I had no real understanding on the grammar or on vocab, from everything just a bit. In France I had the feeling to have one fundament, where I didn't really have to focus on and learning the rest later on. Eventhough I started talking very later, I can now understand more because my mind could first focus on one detail and than on another and so on...
I don't see a point in telling others to tell a language this or that way. Everyone is a different learning type.

I'm not arguing with you, don't worry

I just wrote my point of view, that's all.
I'm just now interested in your next step, how would it be for you to learn additional reading for symbols, or how would you learn words made of them (especially because there are so many homonyms - only made up of different kanji).
From my point of view, learning language like Japanese or Chinese is a bit different from learning Europian language, mainly because of their writing systems. And I think the way you're studying now would suit better for Chinese hanzi.

The fact that I wrote my own opinion doesn't mean I wanted to argue with you, blame you or that I don't accept different ways of learning. That's absurd

EDIT// The truth is I tend to study languages in-depth. And one learns foreign language for his/her whole life. As you could see, my English is not enough good either (as I'm not a native speaker)

You know some European languages do that too, construct a new word out of two or three words and the meaning changes to some degree. My native langauges does this too, so I'm familiar with that and I looked at many Japanese words made of more than one Kanji and some combinations were strange, but many were logical for me. I also learn with another book, so I'm learning additional readings for Kanji, I'm just doing it step by step and different steps than most would do, what has to do with the fact that I can learn Kanji very fast.



I'm not a native English speaker either.
So I don't get the point. Just because I'm using a different system than you to start learning Kanji means I wouldn't learn it in deph or what are you trying to tell me?
I really don't get it, telling me how to learn something or not to learn something when we are just talking about one month what I'll use to recognise many Kanji.
I really hate talking about it over and over and of course in some way it's arguing about it...!

Okay, I just won't reply (even though I've actually replied). Forget about what I wrote above.

Have a nice day

You know, even if I "wanted", I couldn't stop.
What I mean with that is, I read something, or vocabulary written in hiragana and next to it the Kanji, I just have to look at the Kanji and very often I remember it. Often I have difficulties rememberin the Kana, but the Kanji I just briefly looked at I still know. Because of that, I know Kanjis and Kanji radicals I haven't learned consiously. It's like hyperlexia. Hyperlexic children can already read words, they don't even understand yet.
Seems like I've Kanji-hyperlexia.
I never said I would know everything about Japanese or don't have to learn other stuff, so it doesn't make much sence in arguing about it.

The paradox is that I've still problems with kana, because in the "normal" letter system I'm dyslexic. I'm a visual thinker and not an auditive one. So I'll struggle for a long time with Kana, but not really with Kanji. The thing is that in Japanese you have an auditive writing system, Kana and a kind of visual one Kanji. So I'm made for writing systems that is based on visual information and not on auditive information.
Reading and writing was always a bit frustrating for me, because I just learned languages with a letter based system and never one before with a visual system like Kanji. So now having a totally different experience I totally enjoy it.

Now I've learned about 240 Kanji and 60 radicals. Some were the overlapping and I've still problems with some, but neither the less I know at least 250 alltogether by now. But I also know some I haven't actually learned, because I read them somewhere and remembered, so it's difficult to say. So I know about 25% to 30% of my goal on day six.

In the last fiew days I couldn't quite focus, so I've to go over them again. Because today, yesterday and the day before yesterday I was every day at the dental hospital in the surgery because I had an 6-7 mm big abcess in my mouth who needed to be removed.
So I still feel like crap.

But I'll have time at the weekend.

Now I've learned 294 Kanjis + 120 Kanji radicals.
Actually I wanted to reach 500 this weekend, but I've had a messy week.
I tested myself today and I had 93% correct.
Some of the radicals and the Kanjis were overlapping (I didn't counted how many), but I would guess max. 40.
So I've at least 374 alltogether (minus the overlapping once), 93% are about 348.

It's really awesome that you're doing this, Raziel. I probably couldn't learn characters at such a high tempo (I'm not much of a visual thinker). I hope you'll keep us updated on your progress!

Thank you.
Now I've about 354 Kanjis + 214 radicals
(again, some are overlapping and I know about 90%)
I started on December 7th in the evening, so it's not even half time.

Eventhough I get used to it and start recognizing more and more patterns and kind of a feeling for it, it's not getting easier.
I've to stay focused and also repead the old once and they are getting more nearly every day. Yesterday was the first day were I just repeaded Kanjis and didn't learn new once. I just go on studying new once, when I know at least 90% of the old Kanjis.