This NuGet package provides a C# interface to easily query and fetch kanji data from the Kanji Alive public API. This package is designed to simplify development of Japanese learning desktop and web applications on the C#/.NET platform.
I finished the first thousand kanji recently, and I can honestly say that in addition to learning a slew of new characters, I learned a lot about my study habits as well. I wanted to share some of the knowledge I obtained along the way:
There is a wealth of tools, applications, and media available to facilitate the study of Japanese. It is truly amazing people managed to learn without them. The following is a list of these tools and brief description of how I integrate them into my personal studies.
Without the neatly defined classroom aspect the first couple of years of Japanese study, it may be unclear what you should be doing or even where to start. So, let me define a formal outline of how (in my humble opinion) one should approach Japanese literacy.
Around a month ago, I began my second attempt at learning the 2,042 Kanji for Common Use (常用漢字) using Heisig’s method. It’s a grueling, daunting, and equally rewarding task that measures dedication, creativity, ingenuity, and sheer memorization skills. While one may be able to become skilled at conversation without learning these characters and their corresponding readings, it is simply impossible to advance beyond elementary school reading without rigorous study of kanji. Despite having taken traditional Japanese classes for three years, I only know how to read around 300 characters strictly from what I learned in my classes. That leaves the vast majority for independent study. While classes are often grammar and vocabulary intensive, they simply do not emphasize kanji, ultimately yielding largely illiterate students.