Do we really need to learn to write in Japanese?

A recent article by the BBC entitled "The slow death of handwriting" got me thinking about the need to write in Japanese.

When I first started learning I thought "Stroke order?! How will I ever remember that for every kanji?! It will take forever if I have to write down everything I'm learning! I'll just learn to speak and listen!"

Here's some advice that took me a while to come to terms with: It's going to take you years to learn Japanese. So get into good habits now and it won't be so painful later on.

If you were to ask me to write the kanji for "genki" (元気) on paper I wouldn't be able to, but I can type it on my computer with ease. This is because all I have to do is type げんき and hit the space bar and it changes to kanji. I recognize it's the right kanji because I know the overall shape, but I haven't memorized the stroke order.

This is great for quick communication, but bad for learning. It makes me lazy. I should have added 元気 to my word cards, iknow lists and wherever else I keep kanji for regular practice, but I haven't, because it's easier to just say it or type it at a computer.

So when will I actually have a need to write 元気 on paper? Not very often, if at all. That's not the point though. By knowing the kanji, being able to visualize them and their stroke order, it makes my ability to use Japanese that much stronger.

To help you draw kanji there is a certain rule to follow, which is to draw the kanji from left to right, and from top to bottom. There's some exceptions and extended rules which I'll expand on more in another article, but you're pretty much safe with the one rule to start with. Following the rules and stroke order at the beginning really helps with memorizing the kanji. When you become fluent you may forget stroke orders and end up writing them your own way, but that's probably fine as long as your writing is readable. I write English my own way and not how I was taught in English lessons, but following the rules helped me learn when I was younger.

As you draw the kanji and follow the stroke order your brain begins to remember the path the pen takes. It will be slow and difficult at first, but eventually your brain won't even need to recall the path and you won't need to think for long for how to write it. As with writing English, you just know it without thinking. Combined with Heisig's stories (or your own) it makes for a powerful way of remembering the kanji.

It's like your daily walk into work or walking home from the park. You just know the path so you don't even have to think. You can listen to your iPod, daydream about your next trip abroad or talk on the phone. You'll eventually be able to do the same things whilst writing kanji because you will just know them.

If you're serious about learning Japanese you can't avoid writing it. Take the step now to tell yourself that you are willing to do what it takes to learn Japanese. Make writing kanji a learning habit you don't even think about. Every time you practice grab a pen and some paper and just write out everything you can. Take it slowly, you've got time, because time and effort is what it takes to really learn Japanese.

Who knows, like me you might even grow an appreciation for Japanese calligraphy, which is just another enjoyable motivation for learning Japanese.

What are your opinions on learning to write Japanese?

You may also be interested in "Lacking the focus to learn Japanese? Doodling may help!"

Photo by abuckingham

GoddessCarlie said on Wed 2009/03/04 02:31 JST:

Many people don't write anything down in English but I'm not one of those people. I love to hand write, and keep a small journal most nights. I would love to be able to keep my journal in Japanese. So yes, while we may not *need* to know how to write, I want to and is one of my goals in learning Japanese.

It is frustrating when you know how to read something but can't write it, even when it is a *simple* word. I guess it is the same in English when you can't work out how something is spelt. Studying the writing of Kanji through Heisig and the reading of Kanji through Kanji Odyssey has shown to me how the two are somewhat separate but knowing one (i.e. either the reading or the writing of) helps you learn the other more quickly.

yonasu said on Wed 2009/03/04 03:01 JST:

When I first started studying Japanese I thought I would be fine without learning to write Kanji. I thought Kanji was a pain in the arse until after about my 100th character. Then I realized how Kanji makes learning Japanese so much easier overall. Kanji is also a big part of Japanese culture that one shouldn't miss out on. I don't write in English or Swedish very often with pen and paper either, but it sure would be bad if I couldn't do it when I had to.

Miss_igirisu said on Wed 2009/03/04 04:20 JST:

It's essential to learn basic kanji, but even Japanese people can't write many kanji these days. I'm a 4th year Japanese student and we have to, for our exams this year, write a few essays about the environment, declining birthrate, economics, without dictionaries. That means no kanji prompts. I just don't see the point as most Japanese teens wont be able to do this anyway.

ryanthewired said on Wed 2009/03/04 06:15 JST:

it is much easier for me to write sentences in japanese using the computer, but in regards to learning japanese it helps me to write it out. writing is another form of learning, helping with memorization. if you know how to write it, you'll surely know the character when you see it.

ikari7789 said on Wed 2009/03/04 14:03 JST:

In college, we've only gotten around to learning 60 or so kanji so far this year. They might not be the easiest to remember all the time, but for me, it has helped exponentially in making my ability to remember words increase. My sensei doesn't like us using kanji that we haven't learned yet in class, so in a way, it's really helpful. First we get these words pounded into our heads with hiragana and their proper pronunciations and spelling, but then we learn the kanji for them and it just makes the writing AND speaking easier to me. I'm able to associate a much smaller amount of characters in my head with a word for the most part. For me, it's more like a way to remember their meanings based on pictures, rather than having the translation step from japanese->english->japanese again to respond. It's not japanese->kanji->japanese.

bk201 said on Wed 2009/03/04 17:05 JST:

I find that writing something down will help you remember the words and kanji. Though I memorise alot of things, I should probably get back into the habit of writing my kanji so they aren't all out of proportion.

Daniel said on Wed 2009/03/04 17:55 JST:

Writing is the only way I can cement the kanji in brain matter. However, on reading this, I did question how much writing I even do in English. In general, 7 words.

Happy Birthday
Merry Christmas
Love Dan

And my last name when writing cheques and stuff.

Chris Gaunt said on Thu 2009/03/05 12:29 JST:

I agree, it's something that takes a lot of work to learn but it's better to be able to do it and never use it than always have it as something you're unable to do.

Chris Gaunt said on Thu 2009/03/05 12:31 JST:

I hope to hand write a diary in Japanese too. I have a long way to go before I can do that. I'm thinking of starting a photo diary where I have a photo and write some Japanese words or even a sentence underneath. It will be cool to see photos of my time in Japan next to my Japanese writing which shows my ability at that time.

Chris Gaunt said on Thu 2009/03/05 12:34 JST:

Without dictionaries?! Wow good luck with that! I have a long way to go before I could even dream of doing that

Chris Gaunt said on Thu 2009/03/05 12:38 JST:

Yeah I am the same. My writing is awful and my girlfriend puts me to shame with her English handwriting. Maybe I'll do the reverse with my kanji writing if I really practice.

The most times I write in English is to scribble a shopping list down.

Ryan A said on Thu 2009/03/05 16:59 JST:

I've been pondering on this. I haven't properly said, "I will learn these kanji and strokes" yet, but when I get stuck on a kanji (can't remember for more than 5 days), I tend to go find the stroke order and actually learn it that way.

The other fun thing is to at least know the guidelines for strokes, and then see new kanji and guess at the stroke order. Some kanji are much easier to get right on the first try, but the ones that are exciting tend to have me in this, "OoOo I want to know how this section strokes out" ... then I go look it up.

All fun and games really! I'm not sure if learning the meanings, pronunciation, and stroke order simultaneously is easier, but I've been staying away from kana learning (where applicable), which I do find more effective.