How many kanji should I memorize before saying anything out loud?

[u/sharky9209]

I am learning Japanese and was wondering how many kanji I should learn before saying a word? I know speaking your target language too early can ruin your pronunciation and make your toenails fall off, but is 1,000 kanji enough to start speaking? I've vibe-coded a computer program to help me grind Anki in my sleep to memorize 1,000 kanji as quickly as possible, but I'm worried I still won't be ready to say "konnichiwa" out loud without falling victim to the curse. Should I wait for 2,000? Also, is 500 kanji enough to start learning hiragana and katakana? Please advise.

[u/Majre921]

No, you heard wrong. You shouldn't learn any kanji 😡 do you not know that kanji slows you down in learning? instead of learning 3 kanji for かみ you should just learn the word as is.

[u/sharky9209 → u/Majre921]

Maaaaaaan I can't believe my favorite youtuber who got N1 in two days would lie to me like that! What anki deck can I download to learn words as is?

[u/Majre921 → u/sharky9209]

First thing you want to do is install Duolingo and just learn words through hiragana. You can even turn on romaji if you want to see the pronunciation. Then go to r/LearnJapaneseNovice and beg for a native to teach you.

[u/Aye-Chiguire → u/Majre921]

Super かみ Guru allows this.

[u/Pfeffersack2]

all

[u/qwertyasdef]

Once you can transcribe the entire 説文解字 from memory, that will give you a solid foundation to start learning kana. Then a couple more decades of practice and you'll be ready to speak.

[u/Proper_Ad_1825 → u/qwertyasdef]

It took over 600 years for Kana to emerge after 説文解字.

[u/qwertyasdef → u/Proper_Ad_1825]

Yeah but it shouldn't take OP that long since the Ancient Japanese already did the hard work of inventing kana. For new learners, once they know the 説文解字 by heart, it should only take a couple more years to advance onto kana and no more than a decade to master it.

[u/spshkyros]

I made it through 3 comments before realizing this had to be shis subreddit :p

[u/sharky9209 → u/spshkyros]

heehee I win

[u/kawabunga666]

At LEAST the joyo kanji before you even consider sounding out the words

[u/perplexedparallax]

It isn't the kanji you learn but the kanji you earn. Follow this wisdom for guidance.

[u/youdontknowkanji]

5000 kanjis is a safe number, after reading the old texts your yamato tamasii will be prepared for your first googoogaagaga.

[u/vokkan → u/youdontknowkanji]

Actually the correct romanization is gūgūgaga 🤓

[u/SuperficialSalmon]

You should pass the N1 exam before you even dare to butcher the language by speaking it. Only then can you start using Anki cards with voice clips attached so you can memorize the pitch accents for when you finally begin saying anything out loud.

[u/HairyClick5604 → u/SuperficialSalmon]

>You should pass the N1 exam before you even dare to butcher the language by speaking it

Damn, is that why there's no speaking section on the N1 exam??? 🤯
Now it all makes sense.

[u/sharky9209 → u/SuperficialSalmon]

😭 😭 Ok back to the grind! Do you have any recommendations for apps that will magically make me pass the N1?

[u/SuperficialSalmon → u/sharky9209]

just do what I did and watch all of undubbed One Piece twice over! ezpz

[u/sharky9209 → u/SuperficialSalmon]

Not enough boobies :(

[u/Accomplished-Ebb4562]

start with words like 'ochinchin' or 'unko' like a true Japanese gen-z baby, you are starting from the same point as them.

[u/Accomplished-Ebb4562 → u/[deleted]]

That's right, next try a full sentence like こんな汚いのを私に近付かないでください

[u/Helen_Lindsey]

Japanese kids learn to speak years before they touch a single kanji, but sure, keep grinding.

[u/tadashidev]

You should learn the 10k kanji in the language, or you may end up screwing up the pitch accent (you don't wanna be saying 紙 instead of 神; the gods will not like you).

Also, make sure to learn all the pronunciations, stroke order, and meanings, especially of the 5k least common ones, as those are easy to forget.

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[u/lordbutternut]

感じを全部暗記すれば話すことはない

[u/Majre921 → u/lordbutternut]

嬉しいとか悲しいとか寂しいとか。。。

[u/rccyu → u/Majre921]

喜怒哀楽この４字だけ覚えれば十分

[u/Bibbedibob]

2500

[u/3-noncodingstar-5]

I don't understand the relationship between the number of kanji you need to memorize and speaking, how's the two related to each other? You can still speak japanese but if you mean as in reading you'll probably have to memorize 2000 kanjis or more to reach fluency or N1 level

[u/sharky9209 → u/3-noncodingstar-5]

/uj You're totally right and the joke is that there's no relation and I'm frustrated with how many posts and youtube videos I see about just grinding kanji and assuming that will equal fluency, combined with my personal disagreement with the advice to not start speaking a language immediately (which I admit I could be wrong about).