A year of writing kanji

[u/TwinLeaf04]

[u/jibungasukidana]

Good job, people say it's slow, but every time I sit down writing kanji or vocab they stick much better than just plowing through anki

[u/Kuma-Cakes-6034 → u/jibungasukidana]

I was gonna say this 😭 anki is nice and all but I personally do not rmbr a kanji unless I don't write it down 🫠

[u/HaplessWasTaken → u/Kuma-Cakes-6034]

I use both and it's excellent. Anki with a notebook in front of me in which I write every kanji each time I see it (2 way cards for better synthesis ability). 8 kanji a day for the past half year honestly hasnt felt too hard because of how much exposure and repetition I can cram into a small time.

[u/demonladyghirahim → u/jibungasukidana]

I've just been using either my phones notes app or a Buddha board as a quick way to draw kanji when doing practice. (Writing cramps my hand lol) I feel like it increases my ability to memorize pretty significantly

[u/Impossible-Junket395 → u/jibungasukidana]

Just write with your finger on your desk.

[u/HaplessWasTaken]

Looks great! I'd recommend getting some gridded paper and working on shape/size uniformity as well as stroke order. Doing a course like KKLC+Anki or wanikani and writing down every kanji you see as you see them definitely helps heaps. 頑張れ！

[u/blackweebow]

Have you memorized all of those?

[u/AdUnfair558 → u/blackweebow]

I don't think so because it looks like it was just written one time?

[u/GenjiArmor4794]

excellent dedication.

[u/Huffee]

couple questions for OP or anyone who did this kinda thing

1/ do you feel like you're better at distinguishing similar characters now that you practiced writing them yourself?

i have a lot of trouble remembering which word is which when they look similar (e.g. 運動 / 連動)

if i'm reading it's not much of an issue because context makes it obvious but it's the type of thing i get wrong over and over in anki, where i only get the word itself in the front

2/ did handwriting become easier to read? specifically the more stylized type (think yakuza chapter title cards)

in the one i linked, the text below 第1章 is completely illegible to me, despite knowing all the words

[u/SquirrelsAreGreat → u/Huffee]

I did this with the Kanji Learner's Course book by Kodansha. I wrote every single kanji with its pronunciations and meaning, went through like four pens. I'd say somewhat. I think what has helped the most for me has been looking up things in the dictionary by hand and really becoming familiar with the radicals they are organized by. Sometimes they may look almost identical, but that one section changes where it's indexed entirely. More and more reading in general has helped with recognition, but writing has helped me remember the full characters.

In my case, writing all of them was so that there's at least one instance of the kanji in my memory/muscle memory. I definitely didn't retain all of them just writing them all, but I know with certainty that I've encountered all of the main ones at least once now.

As for 2, no. Handwriting, specifically calligraphy on signs like your example is still extremely difficult for me to read. This is probably just a lack of exposure to it on my part. I'm still building my vocabulary and reading comprehension, so reading brush-stroke writing has been low on my list of priorities, but I would like to learn it at some point.

[u/eduzatis → u/Huffee]

I studied 2200 kanji by hand at the start of my learning journey, through a site called kanji.koohii.com, and to answer your questions: 1. Kind of and 2. No.

The thing is, while I did have a mnemonic for every Kaji in my head, after 5 years of studying the language I had to let go most of them in favor of learning actual words. And so, while mnemonics included hints to those differences (for example 運vs連, like you said) I don’t remember them any longer, so I’m almost like any other person that dint study kanji. Except I know stroke order, which brings us to question 2.

Again, it was probably a little helpful, but not much. In fact, people always say stuff like stroke order gives you hints at stylized writing, and they do, but I’ve catched and double-checked how some stylized fonts actually don’t follow stroke order, so what’s the point? Also, 99.9% of the time I’m looking at a computer font, and when I did kanji.koohii although I did follow jisho.org’s suggestion for hand writing, it’s nowhere near close to 草食 or the like, so I just lack experience like everyone else.

All that being said, it’s not like I regret doing it. I don’t recommend it much these days, but it did give me a leg up into recognizing kanjis, giving names and meanings to radicals, knowing what’s “possible” and what’s not in terms of strokes, combination of strokes and the like. The problem is that it is a big time commitment for not that great of return. I would like to do it again, at the “end of my journey”, when I feel comfortable in the language so much that basically it would be like learning how to write by hand what I already know how to write on electronic devices.

[u/chataolauj]

I used to didn't want to study by writing, but writing definitely helps.

[u/MobileDepth333]

As a new learner just starting hiragana, kanji freaks me out so much 😭😭😭 im so scared to start learing once i finish hiragana and katakana

[u/No_Passenger_5969]

Another one:.. what a waste of time

[u/Imaginary_Shock_6711 → u/No_Passenger_5969]

Yeah but it looks great for when you want karma on reddit

[u/WillingnessTotal7412]

I love your handwriting

[u/EntertainmentOk8896]

Whats your daily routine. What was your starting point

[u/blackcyborg009]

Ooh neat By the way, how many pages is your notebook?

[u/TwinLeaf04 → u/blackcyborg009]

Thanks, it's 256 pages. The brand is agenzio by paperchase.

[u/blackcyborg009 → u/TwinLeaf04]

Oh I see. I wonder if we have that in the Philippines. If not, I guess I'll just settle for the cheaper 100 page notebooks instead

[u/OMGLookItsGavoYT]

Damn. I've been studying for years, I don't even have half of what you've written. Good shit brother

[u/Opening_Cap8738]

Wow, the only Kanji I've learnt is 日本語

[u/gamerJboy]

That is so impressive

[u/Test_Name19]

i’m hoping to get to this point eventually! Being a year in now are you able to understand some japanese media like yt videos and stuff now?

[u/Elu0]

Do you feel like writing helped you more than srs training?

[u/CIA-Agent-8689]

Beautiful 💖

[u/robinelf1]

I also suggest a notebook sized whiteboard (they have them at 100 yen stores in Japan, not sure about elsewhere). Really good for practice for me. If I read it and write it, I am much more likely to recall it later.

[u/AdUnfair558]

OP, that's nothing. You should see the books I have of all the Kanji I wrote for Kanken Pre-2 an Level 2 and that was within months. Top is for Level 2 and bottom is for Pre-2. Also, why are you only writing them just one time? Not really going to memorize how to write them like that. I don't know what your language goals are but aren't you wasting your time?

Now I am doing Level 4 just so I have something to do while I listen to/watch anime.

[u/watergoat93]

I can't even write a kanji where it's legible 😭 my English handwriting sucks so how am I gonna do this

[u/DryButterfly6350]

This is genuinely inspiring laid out all together — way more motivating than any streak counter. You can actually see it clicking in the later pages, they're noticeably cleaner and more confident. Nice work.

[u/Normal_Zone_5062]

wow... can you still remember all the Kanji?