What methods for learning how to recall kanji as well?

I know that WaniKani does not teach recall/writing intentionally but it is something that I want to learn and something that will help me cement the kanji I have learned in my head.

I already know ~300 kanji from Genki, read and write, and I was wondering if there are any methods that you guys use to recall and write kanji.

I have installed the stroke order userscript. Should I just write the kanji that I learn like 15 or so times once it comes up in a notebook or something? Maybe should I write it every time it shows up in reviews? Will this give me the ability to learn to recall that kanji? What do you guys think is the best way?

Also, I am new here but I am abandoning my old methods of studying kanji (just writing it a lot and learning the on, kun, and it’s useage) as they’ve gotten old, boring, and repetitive for me.

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If you want to SRS it, there’s the (paid) Skritter app, as well as this anki deck.

Those were both useful to me at least.

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What I found helpful was writing sentences and paragraphs by hand. You may consider a pen-pal, or diary, even its repetitive you’ll get good at those words and be able to free up space for new one’s when unusual things happen in your life. You’ll also get a good feel for common radicals that will help your hand learn words faster.

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From what I’ve read when looking for native writing-practice resources, most recommend writing a kanji at least forty times to really commit its strokes to mental and muscle memory.

For just reading, powerful sensory mnemonics can get it cemented to start, and then from there reading it in the wild (and writing it if you can) to lock it in.

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I do calligraphy with various kanji. Normally I go to a class, but with all that’s going on I told her not to expect me (the teacher is still running the class, but she’s old herself and I’m trying to minimize my social contacts). Instead, I’m just practicing with brush pens every once in a while, which is less helpful as I don’t get pro feedback but better for everyone involved. Writing the kanji in the calligraphy grids at mega sizes also helps me remember exactly how more difficult ‘stacked’ kanji are written and their proportions (darn you 書, 夏, and 薔薇). It’s also pretty fun!

I’ll also toss in to be sure to practice from the handwritten version of kanji, not the fonts you see on WK and in other places. Handwritten kanji often differ a bit, and they’re often harder to write and look horrible if you try and copy a computer font. Off the top of my head, 言 and 学. (calligraphy kanji often can have a few twists of their own, but I’ve found that handwritten kanji are just less dramatic in their strokes)

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There are sites such as Kaniwani and Kamesame which link with your Wanikani account and they show you a definition and you have to give the kanji to match that definition.

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It depends what you mean by “recall”.

If you mean “being able to select the kanji from an IME list”, KameSame usually is enough for that in my experience.

If you mean writing the kanji wholesale, consider trying out 空書 (air writing). It’s not an absolute replacement for explicit writing practice, but it’s a common way of learning how to write kanji by using embodied cognition (i.e. learning with the movements of your body, rather than just in your head). It’s pretty common practice in Japanese elementary schools, for example.

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Hi! I have anki but on a pc, how is it possible to practice writing?
And I like your Shirokuma Cafe profile picture :slight_smile:
Thank you!

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Thank you so much! Does the air writing work (for you) when it comes to recalling it when writing something?

Thank you :slight_smile:

And I don’t really know if or how you can do it on the pc. One method would be to use anki for SRS and stroke order diagrams and then still write them on paper, that’s probably what I’d do.

I see! I am not very knowledgeable so forgive me but isn’t WaniKani also SRS? So if I had to stroke order diagrams next to the kanji, I could just use WaniKani instead of Anki? I like the interface haha

Ah, you’re right! No need for a second SRS with the exact same materal as the first!

There’s probably a stroke order userscript for WK as well!

I write down all kanji and vocabs that I encounter in WaniKani, in a notebook I keep next to my computer - evert time i encounter them. Even if it doesn’t help too much with recollection, it at least helps with the muscle memory (which also helps me with recollection of meaning and reading).
Usually, I see the word popping, then trying to write it without looking at the screen. And if I have time, I sometimes try to write out other words utilizing the kanji, to check my recollection of other kanji found in compounds with the one that popped.

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If you want to practice kanji writing there is the Android app Kanji Tree.

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