*** Note: As we will be using hiragana and katakana almost exclusively throughout these courses to interpret the kanji, it is required that students either have completed the Japanese Kana: All 92 Hiragana + Katakana course (https://outschool.com/classes/japanese-kana-all-92-hiragana-+-katakana-in-6-weeks-Ln3BxqkI) *or* can demonstrate having mastered hiragana and katakana by some other means before registering. ***

So you've got your basic Japanese kana character sets down and are looking for the next hurdle, are you? Sounds like you're ready for the big leagues: Japanese kanji. 

The purpose of this course is to do more than simply offer an introduction to Japanese kanji, although it is certain to accomplish this as well. It is meant to nip in the bud some of the biggest mistakes and bad habits that I've seen students make over the years in their kanji studies, even those students who have been studying them independently for some time. It's furthermore intended to demonstrate several key practices that unlock the secrets to effective kanji study and memorization, extending even into the ability to decode the reading and/or meaning to never-seen-before kanji to the learner.

But first, for the newer among us, what *are* kanji?

"Kanji (漢字) are the adopted logographic Chinese characters that are used in the Japanese writing system. They are used alongside the Japanese syllabic scripts hiragana and katakana. The Japanese term kanji for the Chinese characters literally means 'Han characters'. It is written with the same characters as in Traditional Chinese to refer to the character writing system, hanzi (漢字)."
 - Wikipedia

While the JLPT (Japanese Language Placement Test, which is held world-wide to assess comprehension of the Japanese language) tests test-takers on already over 2000 kanji characters, over tens of thousands of these characters are known to exist since antiquity.

--- Course and Lesson Structure ---

Day 1:
 - Brief historical introduction to kanji characters 
 - Basics of handwriting and stroke order, part one
 - Mastery check

Day 2:
 - Comprehension check on prior lesson content
 - Brief linguistic overview to kanji character set
 - Basics of handwriting and stroke order, part two
 - Mastery check

Day 3: 
 - Comprehension check on prior lesson content
 - Introduction to kunyomi and onyomi of kanji
 - Basics of radicals and kanji parts
 - Mastery check

Day 4:
 - Comprehension check on prior lesson content
 - Introduction to furigana and okurigana 
 - Learning the most important radicals for future kanji deciphering
 - Mastery check
 - Next steps 

--- Other Courses in this Series ---

 - IJC Japanese for Newbies: All 92 Hiragana + Katakana in 6 Weeks
 - IJC Japanese for Newbies: Level 1 (入) - Basics & Foundations (Live Class)*
 - IJC Kanji: Level 2 - All 80 JLPT N5-Level Kanji
 - IJC Kanji: Level 3 - All 167 JLPT N4-Level Kanji 
 - IJC Kanji: Level 4a - All 370 JLPT N3-Level Kanji, Part I 
 - IJC Kanji: Level 4a - All 370 JLPT N3-Level Kanji, Part II

* Current course

Wanting to practice speaking in conjunction with reading and writing practice? Be sure to check out IJC's immersion-based live Outschool classes for introductory, beginner, and intermediate speakers:

https://immersionlanguageclub.com/courses-resources/

Note: A minimum of four (4) students must be enrolled for this course to be held as scheduled. Students who wish to remain enrolled even in the case of there not being a sufficient number of enrollees will be transferred to the next available scheduled day and time of the same course.

Still got questions? Feel free to contact me for more information!