As all have said it depends on your goals. If you are just visiting japan then no. You don’t need to show off. Most of the country will work with your Romanji-dead-ass.
But I’ve been going to a kanji class here in Japan for the last 6 months just in case my job needs to to write something that the Japanese only workers at my job can read. Luckily this hasn’t happened yet, but it’s still a possibility that I’ll need to write my name, or put things down for people who largely can’t communicate with me. But living here is a different story. Anyways, do it if you need to, but if you’re learning just for the sake of knowing how to speak or whatever, you don’t need to bother.
Try the KameSame app that searls is developing. While handwriting may not be necessary as pointed above, I was concerned with the fact that WK builds a “one-way” path in your memory (i.e., Japanese > English, or kanji “recognition”). KameSame allows you to do it the other way around and you can match it with WK by level. It actually works much, much better than what I expected. Kudos to searls (and consider supporting the server).
Ouch. I wasn’t trying to be rude, just surprised that that could happen with kana. Good luck learning them again!
It is such a weird feeling to realize that what you have been reading for months or years, you can’t remember it mentally enough to write it! I am currently trying to fix this problem with my 漢字
I didn’t take it as a rude comment - it’s a fair inquiry. Most people learn to read and write at the same time, so it looks like the same skill. It’s more mutually exclusive than you’d imagine! WK leverages off this in a big way - that is convincing you that you don’t need to learn the Japanese way by writing them endlessly out of context.
I like to say, if I look at a Corvette and a Lamborghini, I can tell the difference at a glance. I can’t draw either one and most people that haven’t fostered this skill can’t either.
If you want to be truly independent when living in Japan learning to write is pretty important I’d say. Various official documents, letters, visa documents,etc… will require at least some written Japanese. I personally don’t want to always rely on my wife or colleagues to do these things so it’s a goal of mine to eventually write proficiently. https://skritter.com/ This looks like an awesome app for writing accuracy and memory recall. I plan to use it post wanikani.
Been here for four years, and writing is generally limited to my address and tax forms once a year. Of course, I’d love to be able to write beautiful heartfelt letters in Japanese, but it isn’t particularly necessary for day to day life, especially because we have cell phones and computers.
The only time I’d say I was embarassed at my writing skills was last week when my boss decided to torment me with a crossword puzzle that his 6th graders were doing. I could read all the hints and say all the answers (thanks WK!), but I couldn’t write like 60% them without checking my imiwa app every two minutes. But in terms of usefulness, I want to improve my speaking before I even give a thought to writing.
It’s still a priority, but definitely not the top one.
I have made it to N2 with almost no writing practice. At the moment I can write maybe… 100 kanji? Which as I have learned in every situation I have ever been in that has required writing is wildly insufficient. For me, being able to write or not doesn’t matter at all… until it does. Then I feel like an idiot. For that reason I have recently started writing practice I intend to repeat everyday for probably more or less many many years. So I don’t think I would call it a problem persay, but I want to be able to do it. I do wish I had started earlier now that I have decieded to learn though.
I agree with this 100%! The way I “learn” my wanikani lessons is to write them all out. It helps that I have a fountain pen I really like writing with!
This repetition helps me remember the concepts better and connect vocabulary that shares the same kanji. I’d like to be able to use the vocab I’m learning in speaking, too, and for me, the main way of recalling a new word is to be able to picture what the characters are…I’m not sure I’d be able to do that effectively if I hadn’t practiced writing them.
I’m a very visual learner, though, so reinforcement with that helps me loads. I know others learn differently.
