Tips on memorizing kanji and other advice

I’ve been studying Japanese seriously for the last two years, and one of the things that I have had to learn is how to learn. In other words, I have developed ways for myself to learn Japanese more efficiently and reliably. Everyone is different of course, but let me offer some advice that might help you:

1. Consistency is key – Like many things in life (including Buddhist practice), consistency is very important. Consistency doesn’t mean that you always study at the same time everyday for the same amount. That’s too inflexible. Instead, it’s about setting a consistent, but flexible routine. For example, I leave my Kanji flashcards on my dining room table all the time. So every morning when I eat breakfast, the cards are just laying there for me to look through. Sometimes I look through a lot of them, sometimes I am in a hurry, so I only do one or two. But I am usually studying at least a few cards a day. I read somewhere that if you do something for at least 21 days, it becomes a habit, so see if you can setup a routine you can follow at least three weeks.
2. Setup a no-fail environment – Willpower rarely works. I’ve discovered this so many times as my best-laid plans fail and fizzle out. This is true with studying Japanese or again with other things like Buddhist practice. The problem is that something always gets in the way, and I get distracted until it’s too late. So, instead of relying on willpower, outwit yourself by creating a situation where you can’t help but study Japanese. As I said before, leaving my flashcards on the table ensures that I see them at least once a day. Also, since I carry my iPod so much, having Japanese IPod lessons ensures I listen to them at work at least a few times a week. Recently, I started playing with a really cool service called Anki, which is optimized for memorizing whatever set of flash cards you design. I spent a whole weekend just loading vocabulary from the Japanese Ipod lessons into Anki, and at work, I have a daily calendar reminder to go through some of them each day. Since I am always at work on the weekdays, and since I always have something to remind me, and since Anki’s web service is easily accessible from work (and work-safe), I have no trouble practice a few vocab words per day. There’s no will-power involved here. I just spent a day setting up my environment to not fail, and that’s it.
3. Practice must be long-term, not cramming – One things I’ve discovered about myself is that in a short period of time, I can memorize a lot of things, but they quickly fall out of my head later. I’d study a bunch of vocab or kanji, but then a week later I would totally forget. So, I changed my focus to memorizing less per day, but planning a more long-term approach. The maker of Anki also has a nice video demonstrating that if you practice less often, but more long-term you tend to memorize things more permanently. Consistency is the key, but also remember your mind is kind of like a membrane. You can expand it for more information, but if you expand too fast, it will shrink back as soon as you let go. But if you let it slowly expand, it will adjust and retain information better. That’s how I look at it. This is true when you’re memorizing any information such as Japanese kanji, Buddhist chants, phone numbers, whatever.

Hopefully these tips will help. Good luck!

Namu Kanzeon Bosatsu