No Rush! - Learn Kanji Words Effectively

"I'll learn 2000+ 漢字 in 6 months!"
...Okep. Goodluck then.

"Ahh so stressful!!"
It is lol.

"Darn. I didn't think it was this tough. I might as well give up."

《《ㄧ》》

A conversation I had with a friend some time ago. Seriously. 'Learning 2000+ 漢字' in that period of time : wOAH. Some goals, my mate. Unfortunately, it didn't really work out. Hm. But pretty ballsy, isn't it? I mean, just 100 of 'em can already make me feel intimidated.

When you start learning Japanese, what are the first things you would want to learn and master? Radicals, 'cause you found out how useful it is to know about it. Then stroke order, which takes some time to get used to. On' and kun' readings that really mess you up. Definitions and that vary so much. Or maybe—memorizing each individual 漢字. One. By. One.

...Ack.

Wanna know what I did?
A little something I find helpful :

You Read, Search, Use & Repeat!

"You'Re SURe?" Definitely. I'll explain :

READ lotsa! You can start with children's books or short folktales, or if you start leveling up you can try newspaper or online articles about topics you're interested in. Or maybe you're a ヲタ or something—Japanese versions of your favorite 漫画 can help. Whatever you wish to read : 漢字 is always there...ready to haunt you. That's where your secret weapon comes in.

You don't understand, let's say, the meaning of 「漢字」itself : so you gotta SEARCH it up. You will need a dictionary/word reference app (or the likes of it) for the job. If not an app, a normal online dictionary will do as well. ...Unless you fam wanna use the paper-based dictionary, then I guess it doesn't matter as long as you know how to use it. There are lots of 'weapon' types out there, but I recommend Jisho.org if you wanna search for...pretty much anything! So you can type「漢字」in the search box and- BAM. Not just the meaning and usage of the word itself—the meaning, stroke order, readings and radicals of each character—all shown in the results. And there's more search options too. You can search by drawing 漢字, selecting radicals, speech recognition and by searching the English equivalent. There are so many other things you can do at Jisho.org but it's too much to list it here. Just try it out and see for yourself!

  ||   Oh, and a side thing, in case : You might need a community o' hoomans to assist you, if dictionaries aren't enough to tackle those 漢字. Sometimes you're in a stubborn mood and you ain't trustin' those thickass dictionaries, or you just wanna ask hoomans for fun. Let it be 漢字 or word meanings, usage, or just wanna rant 'bout some tough 漢字 ya tryn'a learn. You can try sites like Italki, WaniKani Community, or even HiNative  if you want some quick answers. Hoomans are nice, so don't hesitate to ask about things.

Okay, how do you remember words during your toddlerhood? You hear from your papa's conversations? Or mama taught you, maybe. And then you start imitating them since you got used to the words. Get it? You USE the words you have learnt—and that's exactly what you should do from now on. Start using those words you learn in daily conversations, chatrooms... or annoy your mates with it time to time. (I do that, it works. And sometimes even they learn from it. Killin' two birds with one stone, fam.) You can also try writing them in Japanese sentences instead of their hiragana alternatives; it helps a lot.

...Theeeen you just REPEAT! 'Cause repetition makes things stick into your head—naturally... Somehow. I didn't go that far into science yet, but whatever. You get the point.
Do the above with any pace you're comfortable with, and you're off! No stress!

《《ㄧ》》

By the way, found this quote by this amazing person :

❝—you’ll be introduced to a new word casually, hear it in a sentence a few times and then, without realising it, a few days later you’ve picked it up and are able to create a sentence using this new word without actively having to remember it.❞ — Collins Dictionary Team

...Whiiich pretty much sums up the whole post.

Ah- but of course, that ain't all I did. Don't rely on whatever I said up there solely. If you have other tactics to overcome this 'overwhelming 漢字 ' problem, please do share it in the comments. I'd like to hear more from you guys.

Before I finish, I'll give you this : Whatever you want to do or achieve, have commitment, consistency, and doses of motivation.

頑張りましょう！

Maya

P/s : Not sure about the 漢字 I use? Feel challenged! Look them up, learn them up.