I was wondering what people use for kanji. I used wanikani until level three but cant afford it Was wondering if anki decks were bad or useless. I am using a 1.5k deck as well, but I just want to know kanji before I touch on harder vocabulary.
ANKI deck i am using rn https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/1187569299
I used a deck for learning kanji on my first go-around learning Japanese. I don’t think it was a bad idea but learning them in isolation isn’t that useful. Your post doesn’t mention how you are trying to learn kanji but I would learn them indirectly through learning other vocabulary. People have said that learning kanji in isolation is like studying the letter “a” as a way to learn about words containing “a”. It helps, but only to a point.
I also find kanji way more interesting and useful when you learn words that go along with them.
i am using a 1.5k deck with it but i feel like while my vocabulary is increasing, I am not fully grasping a kanji. Let me explain.
eg言葉 i know what this means, which is word orことば; however, i dont know the second kanji i know the first one is say this is my issue as tho i know the words i dont know what the kanji means is this how people learn?
I think the important, and difficult, part is to realize that “ことば” is just the characters 言葉, not the sum of meanings for 言 and 葉. It does not matter if you know what 葉 means because it is its own vocabulary word and has a meaning divorced from 言葉. There is no requirement on the meaning of 言葉 just because it uses 葉.
It’s like saying that “I” means myself so “IN” must have something to do with myself. They share a representation, the letter, but the letter does not assign meaning. That being said, there can be a correlation between particular kanji being used for certain concepts like 生 for life, but it’s just that, a correlation. There is nothing about 生 that forces it to be about life, for example 生産 “せいさん” meaning manufacture.
All this to say that learning the “meaning” of every individual kanji can help you memorize vocabulary meanings or generate mnemonic stories for recollection but there is a certain point where that stops being helpful and you should learn the vocab as a whole. I’ve had 4 major efforts of trying to learn Japanese over the past 5 years and it’s only the second most recent time in December of last year where kanji have finally ‘clicked’ and it was learning kanji through vocabulary because you get a much better sense of how that kanji is used.
I’m someone for whom Heisig’s “Remembering the Kanji” (RTK) approach really helped. The general idea is that you learn to recognize the kanji through mnemonics that usually correspond to the general meaning. There is a set progression, where kanji are ordered based on similar components rather than by meaning. It took me about 6-9 months of daily study to complete an anki deck that I made myself, if I had to do it again though I would probably just use a website like Kanji Koohi.
Important note that studying kanji with the RTK approach is not studying Japanese, but it’s a time and effort investment that makes learning Japanese vocabulary much easier. That is to say, I didn’t study any Japanese pronunciation when I was going through my RTK deck, nor try to learn any vocabulary. But now I learn and retain vocabulary with kanji much easier because the words “stick”, like knowing the alphabet helps to learn English words because you’re not having to learn all at once : 1. how to write each letter, 2. how to pronounce the word, 3. the meaning of the word. RTK separates that first step. Even though I’m only studying N3 vocabulary now, I already know words with 80% of the kanji from N2 level and 44% of the kanji from N1 level.
I got you, so instead of learning kanji, you remember words, right? So i should just focus on my vocabulary and bunpro?
That’s what I would recommend. TavisP mentions a well known strategy of using RTK’s remembering the kanji which is a technique where you spend half a year or more and just drill all the kanji and readings, not vocabulary. It definitely has its own rewards like he says but I don’t think it is worth it for most people because you spend half a year or more not learning japanese and that can kill your motivation and also seems very boring and monotonous 
. Personally I want to be able to read, speak and see my progress but with RTK you are no closer to any of that than the day you started. You just recognize and can give readings for kanji
Breaking down the kanji is, for me, an important part of remember them. Don’t just try to memorize them as whole units.
Like 葉 in 言葉. 葉 Consists of 艹 (grass), 世 (world / generation) and 木 (tree).
Doing this will also make you learn the patterns of where in the kanji the different parts are likely to appear, 艹 on top etc.
And learn the readings through words, don’t just cram readings lists. That way the reading of native material will be able to replace SRS.
how many words do you think I should do to reach high levels of japanese and how many words do u do?
You can never learn enough and there will be a constant effort to expand your vocabulary no matter what. I’ve completed around 75% of one of those 2k decks you can find online but have stopped using those for a while because I found learning vocab in complete isolation can be a bit annoying when words have multiple translations or nuances. I find reading and the varied vocab practice Bunpro provides quite effective since it allows me to practice the various nuances of words. When I did the 2k deck, I think I had it set to 25 a day at the highest and 10 at the lowest. I’d say 15-20 is a good sweet spot for me but you’ll have to try different amounts and see what works for you. If your reviews grow to the point where you dread studying then definitely reduce the number because burnout is real and you really don’t want to burnout if you are serious about learning. Right now on Bunpro I have 15 vocab a day. A few times a week I might go 5 or so over my normal 15 on vocab for extra study which I think is healthy.
I agree with @jaysun_n , the vocab learning will be a process that has no endpoint, that goes for all languages. I’ve being fluent in English for more than 15 years but I’m still learning new English words.
How many words you need also depends on what your goals are, what you consider ”high level”.
Do you want to read mangas without looking up word definitions or do you want to read the works of authors like 吉本 ばなな?
I’m using JPDB because it only pulls kanji into your SRS when it is a part of a word you personally want to learn (not the other way around like WK and such). Also its free version is very much usable.
If I was starting from 0 today, I’d go through a small anki deck of ON components just to get familiar with the concept of “meaning component + sound component”. Something like this https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/470563167, although maybe there are better ones.
Also I think it’s a good idea to limit how many kanji you try to shove into memory to 5-10 a day, and use any extra study time to liberally learn several thousand common words as hiragana/furigana/sound only. Getting a massive backlog of kanji cards you’ve supposedly learned 3 months ago but can no longer remember is quite demotivating.
Since you mention Wanikani in your inital post I think I should point out that all the information from level 1-60 is available to view for free on the site. The only think locked behind the pay-wall is the SRS.
Nothing is stopping you from reading through all the levels at your own pace and learning that way, if you so please.
Or if you want their SRS you can wait for the annual Christmas sale, it’s starting soon.
I don’t necessarily agree with you on this one.
Learning the meanings and components of individual kanji first, including their radicals, provides a solid foundation for understanding how kanji are constructed. Many kanji share similar radicals that convey hints about meaning or pronunciation (e.g., 言 for speech-related words or 木 for tree-related concepts). By focusing on individual kanji, learners develop a systematic way of identifying and guessing meanings and/or pronunciations for unfamiliar kanji, even in new contexts.
For example, if you know that 生 relates to life or growth, you can more easily remember 生きる (to live) as “to grow/continue life.” This approach is particularly effective for beginners who are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of vocabulary they must learn.
Also, relying on vocabulary to learn kanji might make learners overly dependent on memorizing whole words, which can greatly hinder their ability to recognize kanji in unfamiliar combinations. By familiarizing yourself with the individual kanji first, learners are better equipped to infer the meanings of new words. For instance, if you know that 言 is related to “speech”, or “to say” and 葉 means “leaf,” you might deduce that 言葉 has something to do with “spoken words” or “expression” even without prior exposure.
Obviously, things are not as simple as 言葉 = 言+葉, but it is undeniable that for over 90% of the vocabulary, the meaning does in fact derive from the kanji found within the words. Sure, you might have to use your brain to figure out the etymology behind 先生, but rather than actively discouraging people to learn individual kanji, I’d say you should put everything in context, such as:
Radicals > Kanji > Vocab (using on’yomi) + Vocab (using kun’yomi) > Expressions (for example: vocab + particles) > Example Sentences
Radicals: 言 (say) + 舌 (tongue) > Kanji: 話 (talk)
Kanji: 話 (talk) > 話す - はなす (to talk, Vocab using kun’yomi) and 電話 - でんわ (telephone, Vocab using on’yomi)
Then you put every vocab in context, such as:
電話番号 - phone number
電話をする - to make a phone call
電話を切る - to hang up the phone
… etc. (Don’t put this thing in the Anki deck, just look up a couple of expressions.)
Then after looking up how the specific word is used, you can look up for example sentences:
それ、正しい電話番号ではないよ。 - That is not the right phone number
Fortunately, next time you want to learn a vocab, that has the very same kanji, you don’t have to bother with the radicals, nor the on/kun readings, because you already did that!
Yes, I get it, this seems super old-fashioned and also it is a lot… . I get that, you generally don’t have that much time to do this every time you learn a new word, which is honestly more than understandable. However, I do hope that you understand why this method is foolproof. Also, things like WaniKani are accessible which takes a bit more modern approach on these things (using SRS and mnemonics), and it pretty much does the hard work for you! (You don’t have to subscribe to access the radicals, kanji, and example sentences.)
I really hope this helped, and wishing you luck on your Japanese journey!
This is a really nice comment @sunnybot , best of the thread so far I’d say.
And I know it can be a lot of money for some people, but I personally really want to vouch for Wanikani and say that it’s worth it. Especially if you wait a couple of weeks for their Christmas sale.
An idea would be to ask your family or close friends for a lifetime subscription as a Christmas gift.
I’m going to share my personal experience—not claiming it’s the best or most efficient method, just what worked for me. I used WaniKani for almost a year and reached level 35. At that point, I was spending over an hour on reviews daily, which simply wasn’t fun. So, I decided to drop it and focus on learning kanji in-context with vocabulary. This change allowed me to spend that time immersing, which I personally find far more valuable.
That said, WaniKani was very helpful in teaching me what the posts above are recommending: to identify the different components of a kanji at a glance—or what this post calls “kanji fluency.” Once you develop this skill, you’ll be able to distinguish unfamiliar kanji more easily and learn them in-context with vocab. Over time, you’ll naturally acquire their readings and even start guessing them in other words.
The post I linked above includes a free Anki deck with instructions if you want to give that a try.
Bonus: If you’re interested in drilling kanji further, I highly recommend the free Ringotan app. It teaches you how to write kanji and their stroke order, reinforcing what you’ve already learned.
Best of luck!
Here’s a Wanikani chart to contextualize what getting to level 35 means.
Getting 85-95% kanji reading coverage is huge results for a year’s studying, well done.
@sunnybot but do note that the percentages are for the kanji, not vocab.
I use an Android app called Kanji Study. 
Many of the features, especially for beginners, are free. The version also has no ads, which I find pretty incredible these days. I’ve had the paid version for an extremely long time so I don’t know quite which features are paid or not, but I recall the price is about $30 if you don’t include the super advanced package on kanji-pictogram history.
I just used the wanikani mnemonics to study the meanings and an anki deck to remember them. The readings are superflous, they will eventually be learnt through vocabulary. The wanikani method is hightly inefficient in my opinion. With my method I studied about 1.7k kanji in 3 weeks and knew them well after another month of reviews.
Were you already fluent in Chinese? Learning 80 kanji per day sounds like a crazy pace otherwise. Actually that’s an insane speed in any scenario.