Hi! I’m just wondering how everyone practices writing kanji (or if they do)? I absolutely love WaniKani for learning the kanji and vocab and find it is teaching me to recognise the kanji but find that when I go to write or recall them I often have trouble. I most often have time to do my japanese study on my commute to work etc and so find it difficult to regularly / daily practice writing. Are there any apps or techniques that work for others? I’ve been using an app called Kanji Star which seems great, although you can’t just mark the kanji you need to practice. Any recommendations or tips would be really appreciated.
Also, does studying kanji like this outside of WK impact on SRS learning? (Sorry two questions in one post!)
Thanks,
Mandi
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I use Kanji LS on the iPad for just repetition with the characters. It lets me make my own sets and whatnot, so it keeps things streamlined and focused.
For more in-depth practice, I use Kanken Training 2 on my 3DS. I have complaints about certain aspects, but I would still recommend it on the whole, especially for people who want to take the Kanken.
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I have tried JA Sensei, Bimoji (the kanji version), Kanji Draw and Kanji Study on Android.
I like Kanji Study most out of these, because it prompts with meaning and asks you to write out the kanji.
I also hand write all my wanikani vocab and kanji when I learn them, to help remind me of strokes, but kanji study makes me try to get stroke order too.
I don’t practice writing at all, at least not for now.
Really depends on your objectives. My main goals for learning Japanese are:
- Be able to use some basic conversational skills when I go there
- Read some native-written content in general (books, whatever)
To those end objectives, writing kanji doesn’t seem like the best use of my time. I don’t think I’d have the need for it. So every hour spent on writing practice would be time better spent on vocabulary, grammar, listening, speaking, etc.
At some point down the road I will circle back to writing for completeness.
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Seriously though, I just write out kanji I have guru’ed for a couple of lines in a notebook until I feel comfortable with the “shape” of the character, and then I move on. Writing kanji is absolutely not a priority for now, only typing. When I look at how rarely I use my normal handwriting, there is simply almost no value for me in spending time learning to write kanji.
I’m sure that’ll change in the future some time, but for now, that’s where I am 
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I have an anki deck for my phone that gives me cards based on the WK level (that I may or may not have neglected for a long time x’D) trouble with this is it’s not great penmanship practice
I have mentioned other places that I use Kaniwani with a tablet input, and my IME set to decipher written text. The tablet I use is an XP pen, that I bought last fall for 30 dollars American.
This system may not be as perfect as Kanken training, but Kaniwani is synced with Wanikani, and I feel that it is a nice reinforcement that also reinforces writing kanji.
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I’ve used 手書き漢字ドリル app on Android. I can’t guarantee that it would be available outside of Japan.
Besides that, I’ve been copying the contents of my Kanzen Master texts for handwriting practice. Doing it this way serves multiple purposes in one activity. I review content I’ve studied before, practice my reading aloud, and practice handwriting. Though some people do it, writing kanji without context (i.e., in isolation with a purpose beside practicing the form) is not always the best use of time. Make sure you’re integrating other things that can help you remember how the forms are written as well sharpen other skills.
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Hi. I went about things differently than you are, having trained writing kanji before learning readings or vocabulary. I studied James Heisig’s books (Remembering the Kanji) and found them to be really exceptional for just what you are asking: learning the proper strokes and stroke order for the kanji. The books also help with recalling kanji when faced with the meaning of each one. One downside is that his books use different mnemonics than those found here at WaniKani, so I imagine it might possibly get a little confusing.
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Similarly to @RoseWagsBlue, I use KaniWani as the base of my kanji writing practice. I try to recall the reading (with the correct pitch accent) and write the kanji down on a mini whiteboard. Even if I get the reading correct, if my pitch accent or kanji is wrong I manually fail it.
That being said, this is my second time going through WaniKani and when I tried to do something similar the first time around it was really overwhelming, mostly because I was trying to recall things from memory I had just learned. I would recommend not letting vocab unlock until it’s master or higher in WK to prevent this.
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I also use a mobile device to practice writing kanji, but I’m also aware that this is not adequate. Writing on a glass screen is certainly a very different feeling than writing on paper. My kanji handwriting is atrocious, but at least my 先生 seems to have no problem reading it haha.
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There are probably better resources out there (mentioned in this thread, even), but I just use regular pen and paper, and a script that shows stroke order on the kanji pages.
Just a tip, if you ever want to write kanji in regular lined paper for whatever reason, get yourself a good fine-tipped pen (I’ve been using this one). My regular pens could not fit all the strokes in such a small area.
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Clicking on this link was a big mistake, I really don’t need any more pens but… LOOK AT THEM
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Well, if you don’t already have this type of pen… 
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Thanks! Where do you find the pitch accent?
Probably just the pitch accent user script.
But you can look in a number of references as well.
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For pitch accent on WK there’s a user script. On KW it’s built into the item info.
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I was also using Heisig (the idea being to get familiar with kanji and meaning before encountering it on WK) but did find the different mnemonics a bit confusing, so have given it a rest for now. I might give it a go with the earlier kanji which I’ve already got to guru level on WK to learn stroke order again.
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Took your advice @ejplugge 
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@hgbearawesome I like the idea of a mini whiteboard to use with KaniWani! I might pick one up
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