KANJI Learning for beginners
Here are some resources that I used/ use for learning Kanji. I will start from what I used in the beginning to what I use now.
1. Essential Kanji by P.G. O'Neill. - this book has stroke order with on'yomi and kun'yomi readings. It is a bit difficult to digest if you're new because the format is basically like a dictionary for kanji.
2. Genki 1 w/ workbook. - I only got the Genki 1 from school. It has a good base for beginners and you can do repetition writing on the workbook. The con is that the kanji is limited so it doesn't go over every single kanji.
3. The kanji tree app -I think this app is great if you have seen some of the kanji already because of how the system works. It has writing, reading, and recognition. I think its a bit for beginners though. I would not say beginners cannot use this, I just think that it won't be so overwhelming for a beginner because the app does have a ton of vocab with the reading if you wish to view it. And as a beginner that's too much to process. So I recommend to learn a bit of kanji and then use this as a partner for that learning tool.
4. My favorite WANIKANI - It is free for the first 3 levels so a beginner can try it out. The best SRS system I could find and the only kanji learning tool that really worked for me. This app is like a game where you learn both of the readings kanji meaning and use those readings on the vocab. Its a straight forward method and because of the SRS system you get a break. The breaks are important to help you retain the information better. There are also paragraphs that are mnemonics that helps you remember. The radicals are also introduced for the kanji. I use wanikani along with the kanji tree app just so I can improve with the writing part and learn more vocab. The only con is that it's pricey but if you are serious of learning Kanji and this tool suits your needs then its worth it. It has only been 3 months and I now know way more than I do using a book or any other free app I could find.
I hope this helps people who are struggling looking for kanji learning tools that works. I highly recommend Wanikani to those who liked it and use those other learning tool above as a side resource. I know that some won't even bother learning how to write Kanji but I feel like it is still essential especially if you're filling out documents or answering questions on paper. So best to learn it now rather than later.
