Everyone who chooses to study Japanese hears horror stories about the complexity of the Chinese characters known as Kanji. These characters are supposed to represent some kind of meaning but at first glance, most of them look like abstract scribbles. It is often said that fluency means mastering 2000 kanji. On top of that, many of them have multiple pronunciations. In order to balance out all the dread you may be feeling about all this, here are 5 reasons why Kanji rock and should be embraced rather than feared.
Even native Japanese forget Kanji
I have corrected Japanese friends on how to write Kanji on numerous occasions, even before I could be considered fluent. Even simple words, like cafe (喫茶店), can contain characters that rarely occur in other words (喫, for example）. It is not uncommon for Japanese to make mistakes when writing these, especially in the digital age. It’s important to realize that even your native language isn’t perfect. Language is extremely complex and varies from person to person and between communities and forms of print. If you don’t recognize a character, don’t fret. Sure you’re Japanese is lacking but in all likeliness, so is your English.
2,136 Kanji fluency is subjective
2,136 is the official number considered necessary for fluency but the matter is much more complex. Sure you may need all 2,136 and then a few more in order to read a scientific report with 100% understanding but, as I suggested above, how many native speakers know every word thrown at them? When you study Japanese, it is important to realize that not all characters are created equal. The first 100 presented in most textbooks and curriculum are worlds more important than some others considered “necessary”. The first 1000 is, without a doubt, much more important than the next 1000. Once you learn a few hundred kanji, you should be able to navigate your way around basic texts and may even be able to jump into novels or manga. Taking out your dictionary every once in a while is not a bad thing!
Simplify Complex Kanji
The most complex characters are often just a mix of simpler characters. These parts are called radicals and they can even give you hints about the meaning and pronunciation of the Kanji. If you develop a basic understanding of these, complex kanji begin to look much simpler. A 20 stroke character will become a combination of 4 characters that you already know, making it much easier.
Kanji work like the root of a word
Studying Latin and Greek will give you a better understanding of the English language. You may understand the meaning of an English word just from the prefixes and suffixes. Kanji works in a similar way. Once you break 1000 and start to approach 2000, you start to guess the characters used in words you’ve never heard before and have a much easier time understanding the meaning from context. In addition to this, you may understand the meaning and pronunciation of a written word you’ve never seen before because it’s characters are ones you are very familiar with and paint a clear picture.
Kanji are actually fun
Characters work very different from alphabets and the learning experience is a very interesting one. On top of this, there is an artistic aspect and they also give you a way to benchmark your progress as you study Japanese. Sure, that 2,136 mark is not completely objective but it gives you nice goal to measure yourself against. Use this to motivate yourself to continue studying Japanese and reach fluency.
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