Re: [tlug] Remembering the Kanji

[sjs@example.com]

Nikolay Elenkov wrote:
>
> Those are not too bad, but have no compounds. And it is virtually
> impossible (and often useless) to remember all the on/kun readings of a
...
> Japanese than if you know 2000 kanji alone (stroke order, reading and
> all).
Sorry if I over edited.  I know this browser will garble the  Kanji so I
don't even try with it.

Where I find knowing the basic kanji helpful is that it allows me to
remember the compounds more easily.  I already have kanji I remember in
part by their components (oh yea -- that's the one with horse...  and ...
has an ax in it, etc.) and it helps me to remember the complete
characters.  In many cases, the characters and the word are related and
the relationship helps me to remember the word.

>
> As for kanji cards in general, are they really helpful? I have never
> used any and shuffling cards hardly seems an efficient method of
> learning to me. Never heard of any Japanese people using them, and they
> should know best about learning kanji :) (but then again, they do use
> cards for 英単語).
>
The Japanese have a significant advantage in learning to write Kanji over
us -- several actually.  The first is that they already know the language
before they start learning to write.  I can't learn Japanese like they do
-- I already have a context in which I'm trying to put a new language. 
They start with a blank slate.

I see this as a crutch.  If I can hang the Kanji on something to help me
remember it, I have a better chance of remembering it until it's firmly in
my memory and I no longer need the crutch.

Steve S.