Learning Kanji but not Japanese.

Quick question. I'm currently learning a second language. I've heard learning two languages at once messes everything up and slows down acquisition moreso than learning one to completion then moving on.

Can I learn to read Kanji by understanding them in English (not learning how to speak, not even learning the words, just reading the symbols in english), while learning spanish, without creating confusion and messing everything up? It's my goal to hit fluency in Kanji in two years.


I'm planning on doing an exchange student program with Spain as my first choice, Japan as my second, and I'd like to be able to read in the event I'm pigeon-holed. I also plan on a decent level of fluency in both languages in 5 years anyway.Quick question. I'm currently learning a second language. I've heard learning two languages at once messes everything up and slows down acquisition moreso than learning one to completion then moving on.

Can I learn to read Kanji by understanding them in English (not learning how to speak, not even learning the words, just reading the symbols in english), while learning spanish, without creating confusion and messing everything up? It's my goal to hit fluency in Kanji in two years.


I'm planning on doing an exchange student program with Spain as my first choice, Japan as my second, and I'd like to be able to read in the event I'm pigeon-holed. I also plan on a decent level of fluency in both languages in 5 years anyway.

Sorry, copy pasted twice

5 year Japanese student here.
I don't really see any problem with learning two foreign languages at once, Though it already is time consuming to learn one by itself. Nonetheless, I see a huge problem with you learning just Kanji.

Short answer: Yes and no.
Long answer: Yes, you can learn to read Kanji by understanding what it means in English. But this really only applies to single Kanji. For example, 月 is the Kanji for 'moon'. 水 is the Kanji for 'water', and so on.

No, because single Kanji is about as far as you can get with just understanding them in English. Some words in Japanese are made up of a mix of Kanji and Kana, or just all Kanji. For example, 繰り返す is the word 'to repeat'. See how it has two Kanji 繰, and 返? It also has り, and す which a two hiragana characters. And then words with all Kanji such as, 先生 'teacher' 北海道 'Hokkaido', and so on.

So ultimately, the tl;dr answer is
For your situation, no.

If you do get pigeon-holed in Japan, I suggest you learn to speak Japanese. And do it fast. But if you're really adamant on learning to read before you speak, start with the basics. Learn your Kana please. And grammar too.

If I worked through the three Remembering the Kanji books, would I be able to get by in day to day stuff? Like paying bills, using public computers etc?

I really wouldn't think so. Because to survive day to day in Japan requires a lot more than just knowing your Kanji.
While knowing your Kanji is essential, for someone starting out in Japanese, it's not recommended because it's considered above your ability.

So I still think you would be better learning to speak the language (and have someone read stuff to you until you become literate), or find someone who can translate for you and have them help you.

Let me ask you this: if you went to Russia and only learned how to read Cyrillic, how much would it fucking help you? Like, sure, you could read words that say "ATM" or something else transliterated from English, but if that's your goal then you should learn katakana alone. Learning kanji is stupid because why would learning kanji alone teach you vocabulary words? Do you honestly think the kanji are so literal that learning the individual components is sufficient to learn compounds? Hell, let me give you a more direct analog: does learning Latin and Greek roots teach you how to get by every day in an anglophonic country?