FAQ

What's the best way to learn Kanji?
Ask 10 people, get 10 different answers! There are many ideas on how to best learn kanji. Some of the popular tools are listed below.

One idea is to learn how Japanese children learn--learn the kanji in the order Japanese children do, and practice writing them over and over. An argument against this is that Japanese children take several years to learn the kanji (about 2000 of them) even though they are immersed in the culture, growing up in Japan. As adults living outside of Japan, perhaps there is a more effective method.

ANKI makes use of RTS to allow more effective memorization of the Kanji. This software is very popular amongst the Tae Kim crowd and has strong support in terms of a wealth of publically available decks.

RTK--Remembering the Kanji, is a series that teaches understanding of Kanji meanings (book 1) and readings (book 2). Opponents of using RTK note that after learning over a thousand kanji, the learner will not be able to read anything, as the books omit any learning of the readings. Additionally, RTK uses non-standard names for radicals. Using non-standard radical mnemonics makes it next to impossible for an RTK user to discuss Kanji with a native Japanese speaker.

Study the 部首(radicals). There are relatively few 部首 compared to all the Kanji, and learning them helps in several ways. Knowing the meaning and pronunciation associated with a 部首 will help you derive and remember the meaning or pronunciation of the character it is contained within. One radical is 人偏(にんべん). This radical means "person". Placing the "person" radical next to 木(tree) gives 休 (person leaning against tree). This is the character for "rest". Another use for radicals is looking up characters. The character　"音" is comprised of 立つ(たつ) on top and 日(ひ) on the bottom. Most electronic dictionaries will allow you search using radicals. Searching for 立+日 on Jim Breen's Kanji site gives 33 characters--the very first one is 音.

Another issue is that of vocabulary. Learning single Kanji can be considered not very useful, since many Japanese words are made from compounds--multiple Kanji together. Taken from this perspective, some say it's best to not focus on Kanji, but rather, focus on appropriate level reading and learn new Kanji as new vocabulary appear.
 * ANKI - flashcard software
 * RTK - Remembering the Kanji.


 * Wanikani - Beta website with non-standard radical mnemonics.

How can I read Japanese in my Firefox or Chrome browser?
Install the Rikaichan plugin for Firefox, or the Rikaikun plugin for Chrome. These plugins allow you to hover over any Japanese text and see a popup containg the word, pronunciation, part of speech, and English translation.

Rikaichan is here, and Rikaikun is here.

How can I type Japanese on my PC/smart phone?

 * Windows - It depends on the version, but most involve going to the control panel, and changing your regional settings.  You need to add a new "keyboard" called "Microsoft IME".  Here are Windows 7 directions.
 * Mac - You need to go to your "language and text" preferences and add input sources.  A guide for Mac users.
 * Android - Install Simeji keyboard, or Google IME.
 * iPhone - In order to type in Japanese on your iPhone (those instructions are based on iOS 7, if you have an older version, it may be slightly different), you have to go to General > Keyboard and then select the Japanese keyboard. There are two: one is in kana and the other one in rōmaji. If you want to change the keyboard (whether into Japanese or back to your mother language), you need to press the "globe icon" - that appears at the left of the space button - until the other options appear.

How do I start?  I don't have a school, Japanese friends, or much money!
Try this portal for learning Japanese, and then go from there!

You should learn the kana before doing anything else!

How do I improve my listening? Speaking? Reading? Writing?
See this page.

What are ANKI and SRS?
ANKI is a popular flashcard program that utilizes SR (Spaced Repetition) to effectively allow memorization. "Anki is a program which makes remembering things easy", says their website. "SRS" is the acronym for "Spaced Repetition Software", or software which utilizes the Spaced Repetition method.

ANKI is available for many platforms and can be downloaded from their website.

There are many publically available ANKI decks for learning Japanese.

What is RTK/Heisig? Is it any good?
"Remembering The Kanji" is a popular series of books (and iphone app) designed to teach kanji meaning--not reading, written by James Heisig. Books available on Amazon:

Application is available on iTunes.

RTK is contoversial and is not necessarily recommended for all users. See Tae Kim's blog for a fair review.

Where can I watch Japanese TV?  Dramas?  Anime?  How about Listen to radio?

 * TV - There are several options
 * keyhole TV
 * This Chinese website
 * Great Android app
 * Drama - If you are in the US, you can use Netflix, which has a decent amount of available material in Japanese with subtitles.  Check your local broadcasters to see if there's a Japanese/Asian channel.
 * Anime
 * Radio - Try "TuneIn Radio" or "iHeartRadio" and search for shows that are in Japanese (search by language, or region).
 * Radio - Try "TuneIn Radio" or "iHeartRadio" and search for shows that are in Japanese (search by language, or region).

Can you translate ____ for me?
No. We are here to study and help each other study, not do free translation work. First, attempt a translation yourself and we will most certainly help you correct it.