Kanji originates from Chinese characters, and holds over 50 000 letters. However, only about 2000 are necessary to learn in Japan. It is the most used out if the three alphabets. There are a lot of kanji that is rarely used and unnecessary to know, so don't worry about learning every single 50 000 of them. We will only focus on the most used ones in this blog. There is a set of Kanji called Jouyo Kanji (常用漢字) which is what schools in Japan usually use, which is also what we will be focusing on.

 

Another thing about Kanji is that every Kanji character has two main pronounciations, the On-yomi way and the Kun-yomi way. The pronounciation of the word really depends on the context and what other Kanji it pairs up with. I don't recommend learning all the pronounciations of a Kanji at once, because it can get confusing. Instead, just slowly learn the different pronounciations through practice and reading.

 

Don't worry if you have trouble with Kanji, it just takes practice and patience. Even some Japanese people have a hard time with this alphabet.