Why Studying Kanji is (almost) the Same as Playing Pokemon

A few disclaimers:

This is my first ever English post because I want it to be targeted toward learners of Japanese. Also, this is not an actual 'study method' and is probably just a joke taken too far. But honestly, the parallels were just so uncanny that I felt like I had to write a post about it. What I want you to take most from this is how easily Kanji study can be turned into a game; whether that game is Pokemon or not.

But let me ask you a question.

Do you remember the 90s? That quaint time when all was peaceful and beautiful?
(nostalgia-vision)

I was in elementary school and it was the height of the Pokemon invasion. I, like virtually everybody my age, was utterly obsessed. The chant, "gotta catch 'em all!" was drilled into my little brain over and over and I would stop at nothing to become a great Pokemon master.

Fast forward 10 years.

I was sitting in Japanese class and the teacher was introducing new Kanji. When she came to a particular Kanji, I saw several students around me groan (even though it was an advanced class and the Kanji wasn't actually that hard.) "When are we ever going to need that?" they whined.

To which I responded without really thinking, "Well don't you want to catch 'em all?"

And then I realized that for me Kanji could be Pokemon! And by treating them as such I could really enhance my study. (Because it turned into play.)

Here are the fundamentals I mapped out in my mind.

1) One Kanji = One Pokemon.

2) In order to catch new Kanji, I had to walk out into the grass (Japanese media) and allow them to jump out at me.

3) Kanji have attacks, these attacks are the readings. For instance, the Kanji 　役　has two attacks, やく　and えき. The more readings a Kanji had, the stronger it was, hence the more I wanted to learn it.

4) A Kanji that was used less frequently simply meant that it was rarer and that I wanted to have it in my collection even more.

5) If I were to look at the radical, I could even see how Kanji evolved.
　　雨　ー＞　雲　ー＞　曇
6) Also, when I looked at radicals, I found that Kanji could be grouped into types. For instance, Kanji that contain the　月　radical such as 肩、脳、腕、etc all relate to the body and therefore could be considered fighting type. And on top of that, Kanji that had the same radical often shared attack names in the same way that most grass type Pokemon know leaf cutter and most electric type Pokemon know thundershock.

7) Kanji needed to be trained (srs, writing letters, emails, etc.) And, just as in the game, Kanji were trained when I went into the grass (Japanese media) as well.

8) The primary difference was that Kanji always had a depleting HP and that in order to replenish it, they must constantly be trained in battle!

9) Every time I forgot a Kanji, that meant it had fainted. And unlike in the game, once a Kanji had fainted, the Kanji went all the way back to level one. Imagine if when your level 99 Mewtwo fainted, it would go all the way back to level 1. Absolutely devastating right? This made me want to train all of my kanji as much as I possibly could and essentially live in the grass.

For more information on using play to enhance your language skills please take a look at the ideas from my favorite Japanese language learning websites:

ajatt

tofugu

antimoon


Now Pokemon Masters! I say unto you, go and become the very best - like no one ever was!!

And I promise you that Kanji study will not make you spend an eternity in hell.
(See video for details.)