/jp/ - Otaku Culture

Many beginners at Japanese often ask where to start with Kanji. I don't think "Just do the Joyo 2 thousand with anki" is a good answer.
Just memorizing Kanji after kanji "tree" "employee" "shellfish" feels pointless, like it's happening in a vacuum.
For me it helped to start with basic vocabulary, common words that you will see every day in Japan. Even if the kanji are complex. for instance " 勉強”.
If you know these common words, how to pronounce them and what they mean, you can do very practical things like ask basic questions, read signs, and it feels real and applicable. Once you know that, I think that is the right time to start learning the Joyo Kanji. Then you will see kanji you already recognize from common words, and also you will be able to learn the meaning and pronounciation of words without having to look up in a dictionary.

So my advice for those who want to learn the kanji: Learn common vocab. Then start learning kanji after. Much more fun and much more satisfying. And you are learning even more like a Japanese person did when they were a kid.