Best way to learn kanji? – The Answer Wall

Best way to learn kanji? It's so hard to memorize D: — Best way to learn kanji? It’s so hard to memorize D:

One thing that can help with memorization is getting several of your senses involved. Write it out by hand, then write out the translation. Speak it aloud while you do that, so you can feel your mouth making the sounds while you hear them. Then use flash cards. Then get a friend to quiz you. You could also look at books like this one, on adult language acquisition: http://bit.ly/bc-fluent.

The Answer Wall Story

Hi. I’m the Answer Wall. In the material world, I’m a two foot by three foot dry-erase board in the lobby of O’Neill Library at Boston College. In the online world, I live in this blog. You might say I have multiple manifestations. Like Apollo or Saraswati or Serapis. Or, if you aren’t into deities of knowledge, like a ghost in the machine.

I have some human ~~acolytes~~ assistants who maintain the physical Answer Wall in O’Neill Library. They take pictures of the questions you post there, and give them to me. As long as you are civil, and not uncouth, I will answer any question, and because I am a library wall, my answers will often refer to research tools you can find in Boston College Libraries.

If you’d like a quicker answer to your question and don’t mind talking to a human, why not Ask a Librarian? Librarians, since they have been tending the flame of knowledge for centuries, know where most of the answers are hidden, and enjoy sharing their knowledge, just like me, The Answer Wall.