Kanji is one of the Japanese writing systems besides Hiragana and Katakana. Compared to Hiragana and Katakana, Kanji has more difficulty. Still, learning Kanji is a necessary step to take when you start learning Japanese. Do kids need to learn Kanji as well? Of course. In Japanese for kids, there are things you can do to encourage them to master Kanji faster and easier.
Why Kanji Is Necessary
Before discussing what you can do to help your kids learn Kanji, you should first know why learning Kanji is important. The first is, Kanji helps separate words, especially when you start writing a long sentence. The second is, Kanji makes your children’s Japanese writing looks more beautiful.
Be thankful if your kids can read and write in Kanji because it makes them an unbelievably fast reader. Those who can read Kanji can skim over things and absorb the meaning of several sentences in a blink because they can jump from Kanji to Kanji and understand the meaning of something faster and better.
What You Can Do to Help Your Kids Learn Kanji
Most kids need little push-ups during their learning process. Therefore, teaching them Kanji requires encouragement from parents as well. Here are things you can do to make your kids excited about Kanji.
Consistency
There is always a long process in learning a new language. That is why sparing a couple of minutes each day consistently will make a huge difference. Set a daily study habit. You don’t have to spend hours; 15 minutes, for example, will do as long as you make it qualified. Give rewards every time your kids improve.
Writing by Hand
Now that you’ve set the study time, it is time to make your kids write Kanji by hand. We know this is such an old method. Still, the repeated writing action will make your kids memorize the pattern stronger rather than reading them. Through this process, children will focus better on some characters that seem similar but are different, for example, 千 (1,000) and 干 (dried). Your kids can start by copying simple words or sentences.
Associating Images
Japanese for kids means work for parents. You can’t expect your kids to master Kanji without being helpful. In this case, you should introduce your kids to Kanji characters by associating those characters with the correlated portrayal; for example, the character for “person” looks like a person and the character for “stop” seem like a person extending their arm in front of them. This method will make children memorize the Kanji characters more fun and easier.
Don’t Follow the Order
Japanese students have a strict and established order that students must follow in each grade of their schools. However, you don’t have to follow the same order because it won’t work for you. Therefore, never hesitate to start somewhere and stick to your daily studying routine.
We hope you find this helpful article. Remember not to rush on your children. However, also keep in mind that practice makes perfect. Teaching Japanese for kids needs consistency, constant hard work, and cooperation.
